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Perspective | Youth media camp returns to eastern North Carolina

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Photo Courtesy of Alexis Bell

Freedom Hill Youth Media Camp (FHYMC) applications are open for the fourth consecutive summer. The three-week documentary production program connects students to Princeville’s Black history through learning the basics of documentary filmmaking. 

For the first time this summer, accepted campers will be taking a field trip to BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In partnership with BlackStar, we are covering the cost of students to attend. Film screenings, pitches, and networking opportunities will expose our student filmmakers to the vastness of the industry. 

Students in eastern North Carolina who are 14-19 years old are encouraged to apply while applications are open from May 1 to June 10, 2025. FHYMC is hosted in Princeville, North Carolina and runs from July 29 to August 14, 2025. 

Started in 2022, out of the pockets of Kinston native and documentary filmmaker Resita Cox, FHYMC teaches students the tenets of filmmaking through hands-on experience under the instruction of independent filmmakers. The camp concludes with a graduation and a community screening of the student film produced during the three weeks. 

“One of my goals for starting this camp was to create a direct pathway for young Black people to become filmmakers in eastern North Carolina,” Cox said. “If we want to change the stories being told and how we are remembered, we have to change the storytellers.”

Perspective | Creating magic through film with Princeville youth

Unlike traditional media programs that typically charge tuition, students receive stipends of up to $1,000 for their work. Since FHYMC started, it has paid student filmmakers over $30,000. The inaugural 2022 cohort’s film, “Coming Home,” has received distribution on Black Public Media, and the 2024 cohort’s film, “Agriculture,” was selected for the 100 Strong Productions Student Film Festival.

FHYMC was born out of the impact work of Cox’s debut film, “Freedom Hill.” The film explores the environmental racism washing away Princeville, North Carolina — the first town incorporated by freed, formerly enslaved Africans in America.

The acclaimed film toured over 20 film festivals across the country and was named Best Documentary Short at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival and Best Short on Sustainability at the Environmental Film Festival.

“Freedom Hill” was acquired by PBS and had its national premiere on WORLDCHANNEL and AFROPOP in April 2024. Since its inception in 2022, the camp has gone from a grassroots operation funded by Cox to an official program under community nonprofit Freedom Org.