CITYSCAPE FOCUS:Living through the lens

Cheikh Seck, visiting Laguna Beach from Senegal, found that the world is much smaller than he could ever have imagined.

He decided one day to film a video about his experiences while he was near Laguna Beach High School.

But as he rounded the corner at Short Street, far from finding a blond surfer kid to interview, he met a 6-foot-3 African-American male.

He said “shalom,” and the two started talking in French. It turned out that his new acquaintance was also from Senegal, and that they shared a common friend.

Seck was part of a global group of artists and educators invited to Laguna Beach in December by the locally-based My Hero Project to learn about American arts and culture, with a focus on film.

The visitors from Eastern Europe, West Africa and the Middle East were treated to a whirlwind week of filming, classes, screenings and all that the town had to offer.

They were brought over through an international arts exchange grant awarded by the U.S. Department of State to the My Hero Project, a nonprofit organization that offers an interactive Web journal in which students, educators and professionals can share artwork, short films and stories about heroes.

Launched in 1995, My Hero boasts more than one million page views a month. More than a quarter of its traffic is from outside North America.

It has also produced a book of essays by notables such as Magic Johnson, Michael J. Fox, Stan Lee and Rudolph Giuliani about their own heroes.

“It has just grown exponentially over the last few years,” said Margaret Dean, archival and research director for My Hero.

The project has simultaneously made the world smaller and more approachable for its partners.

While visiting the Laguna Beach High campus to help film Surfrider Club students performing water testing, Seck was surprised by students walking up to meet him and shake hands.

“They had never seen someone in a dashiki on their campus,” said Jeanne Meyers, director of the My Hero project.

Seck and many members of the group were fascinated by the idea of ocean-water testing, Meyers said. Although Seck lives in a geographically similar coastal area in Senegal, it was not a common practice there.

The interest continued when Seck saw Joan Corman’s new storm-drain marker design. He stopped to take pictures of it.

“He really thought this would be a great thing to take back to his country,” Meyers said. “The importance of this little documentary may be far greater than just what’s on tape.”

“We had a lot of fun with this group.”

Added Dean: “It was the first time seeing the ocean for some. The contrast between here and where they’re from was, of course, overwhelming. There were just a lot of interesting comments.”

The visitors attended a video art screening at the Laguna College of Art & Design, visited at Laguna Beach High and toured the American Film Institute in Los Angeles before attending the 2006 My Hero Short Film Festival at USC.

They also learned to use video cameras and software, such as Final Cut Studio and Adobe Photoshop.

“Everyone in Laguna was wonderful to us,” Meyers said. “We’re so lucky to be in Laguna Beach — this really was a dream for us.”

Laguna College of Art & Design donated computers for the workshop and hosted screenings and a reception. Such restaurants as Las Brisas and Gina’s offered reduced rates for meals.

The tools gained through the workshop have been taken back to the guests’ home countries, where they will develop My Hero projects in their home communities and encourage the exhibition of American video art.

Meyers said that My Hero plans to help the educators plan and implement workshops and screenings in their own communities, and eventually to host their own film festivals.

“They were really in awe of the resources we have in Laguna Beach,” Meyers said. “It gave them an idea of what their students can do at home.”

“It was just an amazing feeling,” Dean added. “Everyone got inspired to get involved and do something. This was just a slice of what could be.”

To learn more about the My Hero Project, visit www.myhero.com.