Screen Shot 2025-07-25 at 11.15.55 AM - Yasmin Y.png

On Story: References in Film | Nov 7th - 29th

from $80.00

Every story worth telling is in conversation with something else. On Story: References in Film invites emerging filmmakers to look at how myths, plays, literature, folklore, personal stories and film traditions from around the world get transformed into original work instead of just echoed.

Through comparing finished works to the sources that inspired them, a walkthrough of a few foundational story structures, group discussion, and hands-on exercises, participants will practice separating a source's emotional core (its feeling, image, or dynamic) from its plot and characters, then shape it into something genuinely their own. Participants are encouraged to bring their own references and points of inspiration, in whatever medium they choose, and use them as a starting point for a new project. With individual feedback throughout, each participant develops and pitches an original premise.

You'll leave with the tools, references, and a story premise ready to keep developing into your next project.

4 Virtual Sessions
November 7th, 14th, 21st, 29th
11 am - 1 pm CST

Payment options include sliding scale or payment plan with 50% deposit upon registration.
Payment plan is only available for $100+ orders.

You'll leave with the tools, references, and a story premise ready to keep developing into your next project.

4 Virtual Sessions
November 7th, 14th, 21st, 29th
11 am - 1 pm CST

Payment options include sliding scale or payment plan with 50% deposit upon registration.
Payment plan is only available for $100+ orders.

Sliding Scale:

Workshop Facilitator

Yasmin is a filmmaker, photographer, and researcher whose work explores subcultures and womanhood through a visual style that floats between tradition, modernity, and digital worlds, informed by a mystical logic drawn from her East African background. She brings a research background to her image-making, taking time to build relationships and understand context before picking up a camera, centering light, color, and the lived experience of the people and communities she documents.

As a director, she's a Mizna-Jerome Film Fellow, a Jerome Film Production grantee, and an SPNN Fresh Vantage fellow. Her short Woman Land premiered at Tampere Film Festival, won the Special Jury Award at MSPIFF, screened in ABFF's Voices of Culture, and is an official selection at HollyShorts Film Festival.

Her photography has earned the LensCulture Critics Choice Top 10 Award and an ADC Gold Cube for her work with Apple. She is a regular collaborator with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and has collaborated for her still/motion work with the New Yorker, National Geographic, Nike, and Adobe. Her work has exhibited at Walker Art Center and SOOVAC, and she is a member of MN Women in Film and Television.

FAQs

What is the refund policy?

1

7+ days before: Full refund of tuition.

Less than 7 days before: no refund. You can pass your spot to another person. Please contact us and share their contact info.

Instead of a refund, students may apply tuition toward another course in the same calendar year.

Where do workshops take place?

2

All workshops take place virtual through Google Meets. You will receive a link and additional information one week prior to the first session. Participants need access to a computer with camera and microphone.

Can anyone participate in the workshops?

3

Our workshops are affinity spaces for Black, Indigenous, and people of color 18 years old or older.

You can reach us anytime at info@mamapapaya.org