It is not yet 8:20 a.m., and a number of students are already working intently at the screens in the third floor Blue Lab of the Unified Arts Building. These screens enable them to make their visions come to life.

Documentary Filmmaking teacher Krissie Jankowski hopes to inspire students to address and express the multiple dimensions of issues through this visual medium.

The class, running for its first year, was started by Jankowski, who has a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking. Jankowski, who also teaches the television production classes, said she was inspired by the opportunities of documentaries.

As one of the primary founders of Race Reels, a series of films addressing race, Jankowski had her students watch some of the films and then assigned them the task of shooting their own films addressing race.

“I thought it was important to open up the conversation about race and make documentaries about it,” said Jankowski. “After last year, I had seen some projects come through in my class that had some racist undertones to them, so I thought it would be nice to talk about it in class.”

To begin the process of creating these films, students were required to come to class with a proposal of their ideas to be approved by Jankowski. Senior Ollie Banton admits this task was not easy. His documentary investigates whether double standards exist at the high school.

“A little bit of inspiration came from a movie called Hoodwinked that was previously screened to us,” said Banton. “It touched on the subject, and I wanted to explore it deeper. Because Brookline claims to be so diverse, I wanted to see how people view it and to see if they’re treated differently because of their race.”

Freshman Alana Meyers, like Banton, drew her inspiration from Hoodwinked, which addressed the use of racial slurs.

“I was actually walking in the hall the day before we were supposed to give a proposal,” said Meyers, “and I heard some kids calling each other words that I had never heard anyone call each other before.”

After students chose their topics, they then went out to film and interview students and adults in the community. According to Banton, this proved to be particularly challenging when dealing with the subject of race.

“It was difficult trying to engage someone in a conversation about something that they’re not comfortable talking about, especially on camera to a stranger,” said Banton. “I was trying to talk to a girl in the cafeteria, asking her what she thought about race, and she just said in my face, ‘I’m not going to talk to you.’”

Senior Avery Grill’s participation in the local comedy scene for the past two years inspired him to focus his documentary on Boston comedians’ references to race in their acts.

He found that older, more experienced comedians typically referenced race more because they were keen to what was appropriate and entertaining to different audiences, while younger comedians typically avoided the topic.

After the students completed their films, Jankowski hosted a screening session of the films, which were judged by faculty, administrators and three local filmmakers.

First place winner Grill; runners-up junior Eli Davis and sophomore Jonathan You; and judges choice winner senior Isa Moss had their films submitted to the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, a Seattle film festival to be held this April.

Winners were determined by scores from the judges and the number of YouTube views the films accrued.

Ultimately, Jankowski teaches students that films can inspire and teach people, a lesson Banton, Grill and Meyers all recognize.

“A good documentary can bring to light issues people might not talk about in a normal setting, even among friends,” said Banton.

“I think the aim of the Race Reels project, which was unclear to me at the beginning, is to get people talking about race through filmmaking,” Banton continued. “I think in that sense, it will get kids to start talking about race when maybe kids might be uncomfortable. A movie is a good medium through which to have discussions and explore topics that you wouldn’t have normally thought about.”

Anna Parkhurst can be contacted at [email protected].