Education is our future.
2022-23 Summer Documentary Institute Intern Rebekah McAuley during a photography challenge.
“The Appalachian Media Institute is a welcoming environment that has offered many members of our community more than just an education, but a safe environment in which we don’t have to be scared to be ourselves. In this place, we are home.”
What we do.
Since 1988, the Appalachian Media Institute has provided opportunities for young people from across Central Appalachia to explore their home communities, address local issues, and become thoughtful, engaged citizens through the process of place-based media making.
Since our beginning, AMI has worked to train over 300 young people and supported the production of over 200 youth-made media pieces, ranging from profiles of Appalachian artisans, to regional identity, to studies of the economic, environmental and societal impacts of coal mining practices in the region.
At the core of our work, we have a strong desire to help uplift the voices of rural youth and guide them in telling their own stories through a lens that they control.
The work of AMI youth producers has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival’s CineYouth Festival, and been recognized with the Coming Up Taller award presented by Hillary Clinton, among other achievements.
The Appalachian Media Institute is a project of Appalshop, a multi-media arts and cultural organization located in Letcher County, Kentucky. Appalshop’s mission is to develop effective ways of using media to address the complex issues facing central Appalachia – a declining coal economy, a legacy of environmental damage, high unemployment rates, and poor educational opportunities and attainment.
Our mission.
AMI strives to:
Foster and promote the professional development and creative capacity of Central Appalachian youth and position them as initiators of dialogue and social action around issues affecting their local communities by providing pioneering community-based media arts training opportunities that are college accredited, nationally recognized, and fundamentally transformative.
Encourage our participants to explore the traditions, history, and issues of their communities and develop positive attachments to their communities, cultures, and the region by highlighting rural voices and inform national audiences of the unique challenges facing Appalachian communities and youth.
Develop the skills and behaviors that prepare young people to be successful in school, higher-education, and the workforce, and overcome the barriers to educational attainment that exist in many struggling communities.
Enable our participants to become informed, tolerant, and engaged citizens and to recognize the interconnections between Central Appalachia and the rest of the world.
“Cameras have told a lot of stories about our region, some true and some the furthest thing from it. The Appalachian Media Institute is all about letting local young folks use cameras to tell their own stories, the stories that often go untold. ”
SDI interns learning interviewing techniques
SDI interns receiving feedback on a film edit
SDI interns partaking in a camera skills workshop