In this vérité film, intimately shot in the South Bronx over four years, three teenage friends form an intense bond as they evolve as artists.
Pearl is the support and soul of the three; Karina is the passion and heart; and Anthony is the energy and physicality. They are drawn together by the need to survive. What will happen to these three kids? Will they find a way to articulate their dreams? Does language contain the power to transform?
The seed of inspiration comes in the form of a radical poetry class called Power Writing, taught by a trio of outsider teachers. A lesson comes in the form of a motto: If you don’t learn to write your own life story, someone else will write it for you.
In the words of one critic, “What Hoop Dreams was to high school basketball, To Be Heard is to slam poetry.”

Awards:

Metropolis Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, DOC NYC Festival, 2010

Sponsored by Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School Arts Council (SMAC); YWCA of Peterborough, Victoria and Haliburton; KWIK Seeds for Justice