Homeless Youth Take Control of Their Stories Through Outside the Frame’s Filmmaking Workshops.

It's hard to imagine a world without creature comforts: the home waiting for us at the end of the day, the couch we plop down on, the bed we sleep in. Certain objects and spaces become so ingrained in our routines, we seldom realize what life would look like without them.

That's not the case for many Oregonians—namely minors—who live on the street. Multiple circumstances can contribute to homelessness, but one factor that remains fully within the youth's control is creative expression. Portland nonprofit Outside the Frame recognizes the merit of giving this underserved population a platform: public screenings of the films they've made as students of the organization's pre-production-to-broadcast workshops.

"Try doing your job from underneath a bridge and that'll help give you the feeling of what these kids go through when they're working on a project," says Nili Yosha, Outside the Frame's executive director. "As we're celebrating all the achievements of the youth we work with, I just want to remind everyone that they sleep outside and why it's a crime against humanity."

Outside the Frame helps marginalized youth visualize and process this crime by training them in various roles in the film industry and paying them throughout the process. Depending on their area of interest, participants learn everything from camera operation to producing. The final shorts vary in tone and content, but all encourage the students to reflect on how they've been treated by those closest to them and underscore how fostering imagination can help people overcome adversity.

"I've been rejected from film and art schools to the point I have emotional trauma from it," says River, a peer mentor who has been with the nonprofit for nearly a year. "I was uncreative for the entire time I've been homeless, even though all I had to do was write and draw to pass the time growing up. I'm back at it with Outside the Frame—I'm so full of stories."

Some of those stories will be on display this weekend at Lake Oswego's Lake Theater & Cafe, which hosts a screening of works centered on queer Latinx youth titled Mygration. The lineup includes Looking Back, a film about orientation-based school bullying, and Giving Tree, which provides one trans youth's account of being ostracized from her family. Other projects, like Vicious Cycle and Inside the Frame, zero in on the cyclical nature of street life—one even describes the systemic problems through an original song.

Makayla is another student who worked on Nobody's Trash, a collaborative effort with the regional government Metro that encourages viewers to see those without stable housing as people, not impediments. It's a project that helped her share an important message while gaining crucial experience needed to secure jobs in the film industry. Makayla has since worked on shows like the Hulu original Shrill and the Cartoon Channel's The Shivering Truth, and the upcoming Nicolas Cage movie Pig.

"I was homeless for about a year before I found out about Outside the Frame through Outside In," says Makayla. "I've gotten all these film industry jobs but OTF is my home base, so I always go back."

"These films are good because the filmmakers are good," says Yosha. "Making the movies reminds the youth what they're worth, and seeing the films shows the public what they're worth."

SEE IT: Mygration screens at the Lake Theater & Cafe, 106 N State St., Lake Oswego, laketheatercafe.com, on Sunday, March 1. Noon. Donations accepted.