The Global Youth Documentary Exchange (GYDE) envisions creating a social network for the world’s youth through the medium of documentary filmmaking. The GYDE project is a non-profit organization whose goal is to close the cultural gap between young people in various countries. The project will provide these youths with the training and equipment necessary to create original documentaries, thereby facilitating free expression and the exchange of individual cultural experiences.

Through the assistance of translators, the project will allow young people from various cultures to overcome language barriers as they interact through the Internet. The online conversations will allow each documentary to serve as a vehicle for cultural exchange; participants will be able to share in the worldviews of their fellow youth, ultimately encouraging cross-cultural understanding.

A question-and-answer session provided at the end of each documentary will give students a unique opportunity to hold a dialogue with a worldwide network of young people who otherwise might never have interacted. GYDE will benefit youth of both genders internationally. Programs will be strategically located worldwide (in at least 5 countries at any given time) such that a balanced variety of intercultural classes will receive the opportunity to connect.

Each geographic location will consist of two programs: a 12-14’s age group and a 15-17’s age group. Group size will be kept to a minimum of five students per group (with a maximum of ten) to ensure the availability of proper instruction for each participant. Age groups will work together to create an original documentary on the team’s topic of interest. Teams will conduct planning for the film with the guidance and support of Program Leaders and Site Coordinators. When each team’s documentary is filmed and completed, it will be uploaded and viewed by all sites through the GYDE website at the end of the program.

The question-and-answer session, mediated by translators, will take place between countries in real time to maximize cross-cultural exchange. The program will also provide the Program Leaders and Site Coordinators
the chance to survey and interview participants about their assumptions of other youth cultures, their views during the program and their views after having completed the program. Collecting this data will assist the GYDE in designing future curriculums and outlining ways to dissolve cross-cultural stereotypes. Using documentary filmmaking GYDE will work with the youth of the world to encourage social interaction and promote cultural sensitivity in present and future generations.