Filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell on Inspiring Students to Find Punk: NYT

Filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell toured colleges, including Emerson, this spring to screen some of his recent films and sitcom, and encouraged students to create work and do things in punk form.

This year’s students felt different: more scared, more open, potentially more radical? They know they need new skills to confront the very real possibility of a post-democratic America. In other words, they need to find their sense of punk. And I was here to help.

I am rooting for these wonderful kids to find their own punk that, at worst, might make them feel less alone, and at best create real change. After the screening, an Emerson student approached me. What she said gave me the hope I was trying to give her: “Mr. Mitchell, next time you see me, you’re going to be proud.”

Read the New York Times piece (subscription).