InterGeneration is a creative documentary that follows a group of Boston teens in an after-school program as they connect with elders in the community. Filmed during the early stages of the pandemic, InterGeneration is a glimpse into an educational process beautifully visualized through the teens' hand-made, stop-motion animation. The film shows the power of cross-generational storytelling to build community in a time of crisis.

The teens and elders are from Boston’s diverse, international neighborhoods of color. A multicultural tapestry, the film includes stories of the Wampanoag experience in Boston and the immigrant experience from places such as Haiti, Nigeria, Portugal, and Venezuela. Through animation, the teens bring to life the elders’ stories of vibrant art scenes, of overcoming racial injustices, and of finding community in unexpected places. The teens’ animations make the elders’ memories relatable, transforming the once solitary act of remembrance into a shareable experience.

INTERGENERATION documents the power of social and emotional learning —not just in our schools, but in the wider community. The film gives agency to teens and elders as they wrestle with issues of identity and belonging. It shows that strong intergenerational relationships are essential to our individual and communal health, and models how we can create multicultural, multi-age social connections in our shifting and uncertain world.

The InterGeneration Lab is a program of intergenerational connection through storytelling and art inspired by the film. It began at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and is now at Skidmore College.

InterGeneration began in the Teen Bridge Artist-in-Residence Program at the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts in Jamaica Plain, whose programming is made possible through the generous support of The Joe Kalt & Judy Gans Family Foundation, Linde Family Foundation, Maureen and David Moses Family, National Endowment for the Arts, New World Foundation, Plymouth Rock Foundation and general support from Mass Cultural Council.

The film was generously funded in part by New Work New England of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seedlings Foundation, the Fund for the Arts at NEFA, the American Rescue Plan, Anonymous Foundation, and from individual donors.

Additional support for the film comes from the the Boston Public Health Commission and from a project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. InterGeneration was produced in association with the Center for Independent Documentary.