Teens in Between is an 84-minute documentary that follows five recent immigrant teenagers through a year in their lives at Annandale High School in Northern Virginia.

About the Project
During the 2000-2001 school year, Debbie Mintz Brodsky brought small digital video cameras into Annandale High School in Fairfax County, Virginia to track five recent immigrant teens from four different countries through a year in their lives. The school is one of the most diverse in the region, with a population that is nearly one-fifth recent immigrants.  The teens that were followed represent Somalia, Honduras, Egypt and Vietnam, with personal hardships as different as their homelands.  But despite their differences, each student gives viewers a glimpse into what it's like to be an immigrant teen--to not know the language, to never have been to school before, or to be separated for years from their parents.

The filmmakers hope the program will expose the struggles that young adults from other countries face when they arrive at an American high school, and challenge American students and teachers to become more aware and sensitive to these issues that may be very much a part of their school culture. Ideally, the documentary will be used in classrooms across the country to start discussions about new immigrants to the United States.
 
Film Synopsis 
High School...football players rule. You stress about homework, feel out of place, and your biggest concern is trying to fit in.  You think life is hard and no one seems to care. Meet Mariam, Tureya, Jorge Luis, Nhat and Yasmine. Five high school students--five recent immigrants. They struggle not only with the complexity of being a teenager, but with simply trying to survive. While most teenagers are ashamed to drive the family station wagon, these teens are forced to accept adult responsibility at an early age.  Jorge Luis works nearly forty-hours per week after school to support his family, who live together in a one-bedroom basement apartment.  How does he get to his job?  Driving without a license.  Mariam fled war-torn Somalia with the promise of a paradise.  Instead, she began her journey in Harlem, New York, at the age of 15, alone and without any real support.  Tureya never had the opportunity to go school before. Anywhere.  Ever.  Now, her head-covering hijab stands out among the western-based bellyrings and flip-flops of high school.  Did we mention that English is not their first language?

These are just some of the stories that make-up Teens in Between, a rare and intimate look at five recent immigrant teens as they struggle to make sense of high school in America.  The unobtrusive filming, done entirely with small hand-held DV cameras, covers a year in their lives.  The film was able to capture very personal, very poignant, and very real moments in these young people's still on going and changing lives.
 
About the Filmmakers 
Producer/Director Debbie Brodsky has over ten years of award-winning experience in public and educational television.  Her background includes editing on both linear and non-linear systems, studio and field camera work, with a concentration in producing for broadcast television. Her early work includes producing a weekly series, ECPDN, targeted to Head Start teachers and parents in remote locations across the United States and its territories. Since relocating to the Washington, D.C. area, Ms. Brodsky has worked with WETA (PBS), Fox, and The Learning Channel.  In 1997, Brodsky began to focus her efforts on producing internationally and culturally focused programming for independent public television MHz Networks. Teens in Between is Brodsky's first feature-length documentary film, which has won accolades, including the pilot production's pre-selection to the International Public Television Screening Conference for 2002.  Brodsky credits her love of all things international to her grandmother, a Russian refugee in 1921. She resides in Arlington with her husband Andrew.

Patty Stern has more than 25 years of experience editing independent, educational and television documentaries. Based in Washington, DC, her distinguished career has spanned numerous topic areas from the humanities to health-related subjects. Her body of work has consistently highlighted human-interest stories that have impacted society. She has worked in conjunction with national television producers including CBS, National Geographic Television, Discovery Channel and PBS. Through her work at both WETA (Washington, DC) and KUON (Nebraska), she has edited numerous episodes of PBS programs including Frontline, American Experience and Independent View.  For National Geographic Television, Stern edited several projects including a National Geographic Explorer piece entitled "Behind the Veil," which followed a Western reporter as she traveled through Iran. Patty Stern has a BA in Political Media from Antioch College and studied cinema verite under Richard Leacock at MIT.  Patty's grandparents immigrated with their families from Europe and Russia. She is happily married and the proud mother of three children.
 
 
Educational Resource Guide Available!
A complete educational resource guide is now available free of charge on this website. Simply click on Resources below to find activities and discussion guides for English and Social Studies classes (Grades 7-Adult), English as a Second Language classes (ESOL Grades 9-Adult), and Staff Training and Development.    
 
Purchase your copy of the film. For details on pricing and how to order, visit the Shop section of this website.

Teacher Resources 
The Teens in Between curriculum guide offers a variety of learning opportunities for English and Social Studies classes, ESOL classes, and staff training and professional development. The lessons are designed to help faculty and mainstream students understand the challenges faced by newly arrived immigrant students and to provide support and positive learning experiences for those new students. 
 
  
Introduction 
Immigrants have played an enormous role in the development of the United States into the great nation that it is today. People have come from other countries to settle here since the founding of the republic. One great wave of immigration—at the beginning of the twentieth century—brought huge numbers of people from southern and eastern Europe. The latter years of that century brought another wave of immigrants as large as the earlier one, but this time they came from very different parts of the world—Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

This latest influx of immigrants has resulted in a rapidly changing cultural landscape in our nation’s schools. Immigrant students now make up 16% of the school-aged population. As that number continues to grow, faculty and students alike will face the challenge of accepting and embracing the different languages, cultures and religions that fill the hallways of our schools.

We hope the resources provided on this site, along with the screening of the documentary film Teens in Between, will help mainstream students and teachers better understand the challenges that newly arrived immigrant students face and will provide support for those new students.
 
Curriculum Available for Download
English Curriculum (Grades 7-Adult) » Download PDF
Through writing exercises, discussions and selected scene viewing, students will come to understand terminology and literature related to the immigrant experience. Students will also be able to examine their own feelings and attitudes about the U.S. and gain an understanding of other cultures using experiential activities and interview techniques.   
 
ESOL Curriculum (Grades 9-Adult)  » Download PDF
After viewing the film Teens in Between or portions thereof, recent English language learners will be able to build their vocabulary through discussions and writing. More importantly, these lessons will give them an opportunity to express their personal experiences of life in the United States and share their culture with others. 
 
Social Studies Curriculum (Grades 7-Adult) » Download PDF
Targeted viewing scenes, combined with research activities and discussions, will enable students to understand the reasons for immigration and its effects on the United States. Extensions include becoming familiar with the local community’s immigrant population as well as opportunities for cross-cultural connections and service learning. 
  
Staff Training & Development » Download PDF
The activities and discussion guides presented here provide a framework for a workshop targeted towards teachers, community workers, and social service agency staff who work with teen-aged immigrants. The goals of the workshop include helping adult leaders develop awareness and sensitivity of the challenges and needs young immigrants face in adjusting to a new country, andunderstanding the need to adjust their own behavior as situations warrant. Activities and targeted film scenes can be modified to accommodate for longer or shorter time periods.