Meet the minds behind the ‘Growing Up’ series

Disney+ premiered “Growing Up,” a documentary series that explores the challenges, triumphs and complexities of adolescence through ten testimonies about maturity. The series uses narrative, experimentation and documentary to accompany a person between 18 and 22 years old who tells his story. 

Each 30-minute episode features a young man or woman, or “hero,” and their experience of growing up based on a very personal interview that chronicles the childhood and adolescence of the protagonists. In addition to these interviews, creative cinematic recreations help bring his major turning points to life. Filo.news participated in a roundtable with some of the directors of the stories, and here we share some of their testimonies in the talk. Yara Shahidi: Sofia episode director

Photo: Instagram

“Working with Sofia was amazing. When he shared his story the most I was like ‘yes, it sounds like me’. I think we examine a lot of things that we tend to ignore growing up that really influenced us, and it takes a moment to fall into what happened, and it’s a positive experience to overcome the millions of microaggressions that one goes through,” he told this outlet. “What can be so dangerous about imposter syndrome is that it makes you feel like you’re just going through those emotions, that you’re not qualified to be here. The wonderful thing about the show is that it shows that it is a universal experience, that they are not alone and that they are part of a generation of young people who, although we have different identities and obstacles, the base feeling is similar and you can form a community based on that. So I think that was very inspiring for me,” he concluded. Nicole Galovski (“All Creatures Here Below”) – Director of Alex’s episode

“I had the opportunity to dive deep into each of the stories, even with all the directors, but I think I can talk particularly about Alex. I loved the way she talks about her courage, my episode is about mental health and depression and how she finally spoke up and told her mother how she felt,” he reflected to another of the media. Then he added, “And we thought about how those ten seconds could change your life, and we think a lot about that, like those 10 seconds it takes you to share with something what you feel or having that courage can be transformative.” If I had to define growing with one word, it would be: necessary. Kishori Rajam (“Random Acts of Flyness”) – Director of Alex’s episode

“I was one of the producers and I also helped direct and I got to see a little bit of both processes, and the constant theme we discussed with Nicole is how we redefine what an extraordinary step looks like, because I think all these heroes were successful, but the real story wasn’t that in many cases,” she told Filo.news. “In Gavin’s case for example it was the fact that she accepted help from other people who offered her, and the same with the episode I directed with Nicole, with Alex, she’s an incredibly brilliant student and leader and she just did a lot for the inner life, but the story we really have to tell was a decision to tell her mother that she’s not really right, that courage and that terrifying step. Those decisions are a real epiphany, moments of life, it’s not so much success that is incredible but asking for help is life’s work and I felt very fortunate to have access to so many stories to remember that.” If I had to define growing with one word, it would be: ongoing. Smiriti Miundhara (“St. Louis Superman”) – Director of the Athena episode 

“It was very important to recognize the enormous power of human vulnerability, I think we live in a world, even on platforms like Disney, where there are so many superheroes and bravery and great kinds of external displays of strength. I think what we saw in a lot of these heroes and a lot of what we were filming for the series was how much the world can change just by having someone talk about things and that’s the most vulnerable thing,” he told one of the Latin American media present. Then he expanded: “For me it’s a real revelation, speaking your truth and putting your heart, seeking guidance and help, you know it can really be more impactful and so it was for me.” If I had to define growing with one word, it would be: necessary. Ashley Eakin (“Single”) – director of the Emily episode

“I was born with a disability and didn’t accept it until I was in my 30s. Emily created this whole community for disabled people at 16, so it gives me hope that she’s starting decades before me, and the way the world is going to change because of her influence is really the answer.to feel lonely and feel different,” he revealed. Then she added: “I’m excited to see what’s going to happen, you know that in the world we’re building now it’s much better than the one we grew up in. For me, being a disabled person, I learned so much about the problems she faces.” If I had to define growing up with one word, it would be: a journey. Wkea Msangi (“Farewell Love”) – Director of the Vanessa Ayre episode

Photo: Instagram

“As a filmmaker in my career I tried to make stories that aren’t trauma-based, because that’s normally what’s portrayed. To have Vanessa’s story is to tell the experience of a normal woman, things that happen to many different people,” he told one of the media present. Vanessa’s story that is definitely about perfectionism. And being an African-American woman there is a very specific perfectionism and expectations. I think it was very powerful not only to include her voice but also that of her parents, as people who worked the best for their daughter. Vanessa and her family were so open and you just know, very loving and generous.” Elegance Bratton (“My House”) – director of the Amiri Nash episode

“I worked on the Episode of Amiri, which is at that point in his life when he is about to go to college; when I was at that point in my life I didn’t have any examples of how to do it right, how to get out of the difficulty of my life in high school in my adult life. So being able to tell the story of Amiri, this amazing poet, and this amazing human being in general was very healing for me. I came out of this with something that I feel the world needs to share, we can learn from each other how to survive,” he told another of the media present at the roundtable.
“I think something very important about the series is that we are going to teach and offer people of all ages strategies to address their problems that are going to transform their lives, as well as transform the lives of young people who are kind enough to open their stories to the world. I have many more tools in my toolbox than ever before after being part of this experience and I hope the audience will too,” he continued. A lot of times you watch documentaries of young people and it’s all so static, exact, but that’s not life. Life is this gray area and I think this program does a great job of complicating our humanity with cinema. I think it’s a transformative experience, what I wanted to do well for Amiri was to express the incredible beauty of this beauty of her mind. We see queer African-American guys on TV who are brilliant, successful and resourceful and struggling at the same time and I think that’s important; many children are dealing with a lot right now, as if life is not guaranteed for them. There’s a lot of depression and a lot of loneliness. I think people don’t know they can grow and things can get better, I didn’t know that when I was Amiri’s age. So it’s an extreme joy to be able to do it,” he said. Rudy Valdez (“The Sentence”) – director of the David episode

“From the director’s point of view, when I was growing up all I ever wanted to do was see people who look like me succeed and have a voice, so I dedicated my career to those kinds of stories… I’m tired of telling stories of people falling, I want to tell stories of people getting up, it’s important for people to look at that to see themselves as powerful, having control of their destiny and having a voice,” he said.
“One pattern we see in the series is that all the directors are really connected to the heroes, the stories they tell. I connected with David, the hero of my story, I saw myself as a young man. It also allowed me to confront one of the things that terrifies me, the pressure and the idea that with social media nothing happens in the shadows anymore, I think I’ve always been afraid of what this will do to a generation that has to be in this microscope all the time, and I think at least with David it’s been interesting to see how to empower you and understand that you can have. controlling your narrative in the same way that others try to control it by putting all those things on the internet and making them viral,” he reflected. Every time you’re telling someone’s story you want to honor them, do them justice. We all took advantage of this process and created an honest space to tell the stories, we wanted to honor this group that authorized us to tell their stories,” he concluded.

Original source in Spanish

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