What we learned in our year as international students in Winnipeg

WhenTelma Gonzalez Surancame to Winnipeg last year from France, the Grade 11 student looked at the move as a test.

"I wanted to challenge my life," said Gonzalez Suran. "Leave my country and do something crazy."

After spending a year at a high school in Charleswood, making new friends, improving her Englishand living through a chilly Prairie winter,Gonzalez Suran said she discovered even more about herself.

"Before, it was really hard for me to stay alone. For me it was, 'I want to be with my friends, be with my family.' But now that I'm here, I just like my own person," she said.

That is just one major change in the lives of four international students wrapping up their year in a Winnipeg high school.

The four students Gonzalez Suran, DavideTodescoand Zora Spitaleri, both from Italy, andAdlaKyselov from the Czech Republic are also the subject of a new short film.

The short filmis the work of Laura Gross andIzabela Vielfaure,two filmmaking students fromtheCreate programat Sisler High School in Winnipeg, which offers multimedia training and experience.Thefilmmakers worked incollaboration withCBC Manitoba's Creator Networkas part of Project POV: Sisler Create.

Meet the filmmakers

CBC Manitoba's Project POV: SislerCreate is an ongoingstorytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC journalists to produce short videos.

During fall 2022, CBC journalists led storytelling and producing workshops over several weeks with filmmaking students at theCreate program at Sisler High School. Since then, the students have produced original videos for CBC Manitoba.

The Sisler Create program focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.