This summer, I had the chance to participate in an internship with the Regent Park Film Festival through the Arts Internship Office of Ā鶹AV. I had aspired to this internship for several years after learning about the Arts Internship Office, and was thrilled when I finally attained the position of Outreach Intern at Regent Park Film Festival. As an English Literature and Psychology major, I did not immediately appreciate the connection between my academic background and the responsibilities involved in this role. However, my mindset changed after I spent several fascinating months working as part of the Regent Park Film Festival. Following my experiences working for the festival this summer, I feel privileged to have not only learned about the power of relevant art within a community, but also to have gained first hand experience in the non profit sector.
The Regent Park Film Festival is the longest running free film festival in Toronto, and they are located in the downtown neighborhood of Regent Park. They aim to bring high quality and relevant films to Regent Park and beyond, with a focus on including people from public housing or low income communities. Furthermore, the Regent Park Film Festival screens films which foreground the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. Throughout my internship, I slowly grew more aware of the challenge of sharing these stories which are often suppressed or difficult to find. The socio-cultural pressures which influence the literary publishing world is something which I had previously learned about in my English Literature classes, and I was struck by the parallel challenges in the world of film.
Although I am a Ā鶹AV student, I was born and raised in Toronto, and have been aware of the revitalization project in Regent Park for several years. As someone who is very interested in urban planning, the impact of non profits, and the arts, I welcomed the chance to encounter all three of these areas of interest in my internship. I was specifically intrigued by how the Regent Park Film Festival focuses on bringing high quality and relevant films to the Regent Park community and beyond. Although my studies at Ā鶹AV were seemingly unrelated to my role as an intern, there were several surprising connections. For example, taking a course on Shakespeare, which explored the impact of popular communal theatre, led me to consider the outdoor community movies hosted by the festival in a new way.
Along with my academic interests, I also had more concrete objectives in mind as I went into the internship. I wanted to gain experience working in a non profit, and to see whether this was something I could feasibly do after graduating from university. As the Regent Park Film Festival has a small team of staff, I was able to learn about the different areas of the non profit ā such as logistics, communications, and even programming ā something that would not have been possible if I had worked in a larger or more corporate organization. I was also interested in learning about the neighborhood more deeply, going below the surface of the news articles I had read and trying to gain some knowledge about the revitalization project.
I was able to fulfill these objectives through my responsibilities as an intern. During my internship, I was supervised by the Festivalās Marketing and Outreach Manager. As such, I gained a lot of knowledge about how integral Outreach can be for small non profits. My role encompassed communicating with external organizations, promoting the festival through social media, and creating graphics for various initiatives and campaigns. Through these responsibilities, I learned valuable skills relating to outreach, marketing, and communication; I also had the chance to interact with guests of the Festival and hear their thoughts regarding its impact. I primarily assisted with the logistics and promotion of āUnder the Stars: Movies in the Park,ā an eight-week summer screening series of films in Regent Park. I was also able to help out with some of Regent Parkās other initiatives, such as the āHome Made Visibleā national archive project, and the annual festival.
I was lucky enough to receive funding for this internship, the Goodman Family Internship award. Since I work during the summer in order to dedicate myself to my studies during the school year, I was very appreciative of their generous gift. Receiving these funds allowed me to take the internship with the Regent Park Film Festival as opposed to a less meaningful summer job. Although I will not be receiving academic credit for this internship, I have definitely learned that my future career path lies in the non profit sector! I am very grateful to have had such a meaningful summer internship experience, and am excited for my final few weeks with the Festival.
