A compelling documentary about one group of activists who insist that the revolution will be televised.
Novela, Novela
Liz Miller 2002 30 min. USA
The main characters of Sexto Sentido ("Sixth Sense"), Nicaragua's only homegrown telenovela (soap opera), aren't rich kids, jocks, or beauty queens — they're working-class teenagers who help each other deal with tough issues like homophobia, racism, and domestic violence. An award-winning documentary, Novela, Novela examines how a group of Nicaraguan feminists have successfully fused human rights with popular culture and brought this ground-breaking series to broadcast television. The film also portrays the show's creators', writers', actors', and viewers' commitment to grappling with controversial themes like LGBT rights in an impoverished country heavily influenced by the Catholic church.
Our goal was to expose youth to people's different experiences. The community where our school resides is very sheltered. It is nice to see different perspectives on gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender, and straight ally people's experiences.
Students obviously enjoy hearing opinions of support for their identities, particularly conversations about Latin culture for students of Latino/a heritage. It was easy for students to link their own lives to the lives of the people in the documentary. It's very important for LGBT students to get to see themselves — I can't imagine how different my life would have been if that had been true when I was in high school.
—Dené Ehrhart, GSA Advisor, Lindhurst High School