Dreamscapes in Motion // A Collaborative Animation Camp (ages 11 – 14)

Camp overview Guided by teaching artist and filmmaker Sahar Al-Sawaf, youth ages 11–14 will transform inspiration from art, dreams, and film into animated stories, learning how imagination, collaboration, and creativity can combine to make ideas move. In this hands-on camp, campers will create animated shorts using a mix of paper cutouts, rotoscoping, and digital tools. They’ll film scenes with iPads, experiment with layering and coloring printed frames, and use stop motion techniques to bring ideas to life. Campers will also explore found images and online resources to inspire backgrounds, textures, and environments, connecting their work to contemporary artists’ practices. Using iMovie and stop motion apps, campers will develop, edit, and refine their animations, collaborating in teams to build cohesive stories and dreamlike worlds. The process encourages creative problem-solving, teamwork, and experimentation, allowing participants to contribute their unique ideas to the final animated shorts. By the end of the week, campers will showcase their collaborative projects, sharing their original stories and imagined worlds with friends and family to celebrate creativity, collaboration, and the power of animated storytelling. REGISTER About the teaching artist Sahar al-Sawaf (she/her) is an Iraqi-American filmmaker, visual artist, and photographer based in Oregon whose work explores the entanglements of war, memory, displacement, and cultural identity through a deeply personal lens. Her practice spans documentary filmmaking, hand-drawn animation, and analog photography—mediums she uses to amplify voices too often omitted from dominant narratives, particularly those of Arab women navigating the aftermath of conflict. Sahar has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East with her camera and sketchbook in hand, chronicling the lives of refugees who have fled. Her animated short films Uncle Ma’an, Um Abdullah, and Shadow of Paradise have screened at DOC NYC,

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