Damian Christensen

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis Damian Christensen, left, and Steven McCormick worked with a team at Tyner Academy to to make the documentary "I Are Genius". The film will be shown Saturday at Grace Bridge Church.

After working on “Golden Grills and Satan Likes Puppies,” Damian Christensen was pretty sure documentary filmmaking was for him.

But it was shooting and editing footage last semester for “I Are Genius” that the Tyner Academy rising senior said secured his decision on a cinematography career.

“I finally found out what I want to pursue as a career, and I gained experience in it,” he said.

Thanks to a grant from the Association for Visual Arts, Mr. Christensen, 16, and eight of his classmates worked on the film after school for 14 weeks through the Real Stories documentary project. “I Are Genius” premieres today at GraceBridge Church on Lee Highway at 4 p.m.

In the second Real Stories collaboration between Tyner and AVA, the association paid two local filmmakers to meet with the students twice a week and coach them on scriptwriting, filming, interviewing and editing.

In Real Stories’ first year, the group made “Golden Grills and Satan Likes Puppies,” a documentary that focused on how kids tend to group themselves by musical tastes.

Mark Bradley-Shoup, AVA’s director of programs, said Real Stories is one of the most successful programs the association offers because it lasts an entire semester and has a smaller group of student participants.

“The students are being coached, but it is their film,” he said.

Emily Bowman, a local filmmaker who owns LandStryder Productions, said she enjoyed watching the students develop a sense of ownership for their project.

“I think a lot of times teenagers feel like their voice isn’t taken seriously. By using film, they’re able to find a way to express their voice,” she said.

“I Are Genius” takes a fairly critical look at the Hamilton County Department of Education, students say, and points out areas of needed improvement. Mr. Christensen said the film focuses on everything from cafeteria food to the way they say teachers “teach to the test.”

“I hope (school officials) will take into account what they’re seeing on the screen, and that they will change a few things,” he said.

Making the film was a learning experience for Tyner student Steven McCormick, a rising senior.

“I learned more about my educational system and how it works — the school board, the individual schools,” he said.

Mr. Bradley-Shoup said AVA has secured another grant to do a third Real Stories documentary next school year with students from Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences.