the art of growing up: a documentary short directed by margaret lampert
“We have ideas, and they need to be implemented,” says a teenage girl named Marissa. Marissa is one of six subjects in Margaret Lampert’s new documentary short film, “The Art of Growing Up,” which offers an evocative glimpse into the hearts and minds of today’s youth. Divided into five loosely themed chapters, the film has all the Lampert signatures—lush lighting, bright faces, abiding authenticity—alongside the elements of sound and movement.
Lampert’s body of work has traditionally focused on still images. “I’m always telling stories in my work, but with this project I saw a way to flesh a story out in several dimensions—to have the time to shoot through a moment, rather than just capture it.” she shares. The theme for the documentary arose out of a conversation with her niece, a mother of three. “I found myself asking her, ‘How do you talk to your kids about what’s going on in the world? How do you explain to them what we can’t even understand ourselves, and make them feel protected?’” says Lampert. Her niece’s answer—“I listen to them. They give me hope.”
Lampert first presented her idea of making an interview-based documentary with adolescents and teenagers to a team she’d worked with in the past, creative director Andrea Diaz-Vaughn and producer Sarah Clough. Both were enthusiastic about the project, collaborating with Margaret on every detail related to bringing the idea to life. Their passion for the project and guidance in the development and execution of the piece made it all possible. Lampert hired filmmaker Aurora Brachman to serve as the director of photography.
Over the course of several months, Lampert and her team went about putting all the pieces together to compose the nine-minute film that features Carlos, George, Madeline, Marissa, Sienna, and Zoe, who share in depth about their inner lives, including their aspirations, struggles, interests, and worries. All six of the California-based teens and tweens are invested in how the course of history continues, speaking about equality and social justice issues they seek to engage with, while also displaying profound awareness of how their own wellbeing affects their ability to be changemakers. The lens lingers on the more vulnerable moments, and the subjects don’t shy away—they are there to share.
Many have learned the same lesson Lampert has: that making art is a powerful aid in changing yourself and the world. The film shows the teens at work—painting, making jewelry, writing music—and talking about why they find refuge in creative practice. “The process of creating something allows me to put that thought and energy into something else,” Sienna explains. “Then I’m able to release it, let it go.” For George, closely examining his features to paint a self-portrait was an exercise in self-acceptance.
“These kids, like all kids, are going through a lot,” says Lampert, who happily dug into the interview process, continually refining her questions with the help of Diaz-Vaughn and Clough so that a certain level of conversation could be nourished. “I’ve always thought that what sets my work apart is the amount of trust people have in me, and I really felt that in the moments we were making this film—more than I ever have,” she says. “It was visceral, so right there.”
Watch “The Art of Growing Up” in its entirety here.