Amateur Visions is a collaborative film created with the young people of Over-the-Rhine Community Housing’s Children’s Creative Corner, a free after-school arts program serving youth in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. The project invited kids to pick up cameras and experiment with filmmaking as a way of telling their own stories. For many, it was their first time holding a camera not just as a toy or tool, but as a medium of self-expression. Through short scenes, improvised moments, and playful experimentation, the film captures how young people see the world when they are given the chance to author their own images.

Children’s Creative Corner was founded in 2007 to support low-income families in the neighborhood, offering year-round art programming, cultural field trips, and a safe space where kids can connect, grow, and explore their creativity. The staff and volunteers are trained in trauma-informed care and social-emotional learning, which means the program is built around trust, safety, and helping youth recognize and navigate their emotions. This foundation made it possible for the kids to approach the filmmaking process openly, with the confidence that their voices mattered.

Amateur Visions reflects that ethos: it is less a polished film than a collective experiment, a space where mistakes, laughter, and discovery are just as important as the final product. By turning the camera over to children, the project demonstrates how filmmaking can become a tool for empowerment, giving young people the ability to see themselves not only as subjects of stories but as creators of them. The result is a film that is messy, vibrant, and full of possibility—much like childhood itself.