Finding Radical Hope Documentary:
Drama class and the activist voice

FINDING RADICAL HOPE
co-directed by Chris Altorf and Andrew Kushnir

Finding Radical Hope profiles a multi-year international research project that examines how young people are doing in our recent years of global unrest. Dr. Kathleen Gallagher (University of Toronto) has for decades committed to a very distinct site for her award-winning research: the drama classroom. In this often-marginalized and underfunded space, young people have been testing their voices in the world and finding ways to ask for the world they want. Over the course of its 22-minute duration, Finding Radical Hope takes us through classrooms in North America, Europe and Asia, giving us a glimpse of over 250 students who participated in this remarkable study prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. It also sheds light on Towards Youth – the Project: Humanity/Crow’s Theatre theatrical production that emerged from this research back in spring 2019. Professional actors from Toronto embody the words of young people from across the globe in an effort to turn the public towards the power of arts education and drama’s capacity to foster youth citizenship.

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The making of this documentary was made possible through Dr. Kathleen Gallagher's research project 'Youth, Theatre, Radical Hope and the Ethical Imaginary', supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.