After the lights go down in Mount St. Mary's Hannon Auditorium, "What is E.L.L.A's?" comes across the screen. In-your-face interviews in English and Spanish tell the struggles of Latina high school students and how they're encouraged to go after their career dreams by going on to college.

The short documentary features live video, still shots, fancy zoom camera work, and colorful graphics about Long Beach's "Embracing Latina Leadership Alliance."

The next documentary starts off innocently enough with familiar cartoon bunnies, before close-ups zero in on real rabbits in cages. And printed factoids in "The Trials and Tribulations of Peter Cottontail" inform viewers that those cute, cuddly rabbits adopted at Easter time don't really make good pets. Bunnies, in fact, are fragile and high maintenance, requiring lots of care over their five-to-ten-year lifespan.

"Silent Night" chronicles a shooting in Compton that resulted in the violent death of an African American man. "Walking into 'A Place Called Home'" shows the dedication of volunteers at a Los Angeles organization that mentors inner-city children.

"The Enrichment of ISAE" profiles Mount St. Mary's own Institute of Student Academic Enrichment, while "The Boom Boom Dolls" follows members of the local transgender community, examining the prejudice these individuals face.

By focusing on a shelter for women and kids called "Alexandria House," another piece highlights the ongoing plight of homeless families in Los Angeles County. And "A Shining Star" examines an L.A.-based program that heroically works with developmentally disabled infants.

Telling their own stories
The eight documentaries screened together recently at the college's Chalon campus were the final assignments for students in the "Introduction to Documentary Production" class in the four-year-old Film and Social Justice Program. Under the umbrella of the sociology department, it combines a liberal arts social science education with the technical and professional skills needed to work in today's film and television industry.

Drawing on the social justice legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the program's mission is "to educate informed social justice leaders who'll be able to contribute to positive change in our society and in the world."

In just four years, three distinct emphases have developed: film production, social justice and film marketing. Twenty-three students are currently enrolled, with eight more expected next semester.

"So it's suddenly beginning to build," reports Pam Haldeman, professor of sociology and film who directs the innovative program.

While teaching sociology classes, she noticed that students really woke up and paid attention when a social justice advocacy component was introduced. Then she took her own love of film and threw that into the academic stew. The result was "awesome," especially when she encouraged members of the diverse MSMC student body to tell their own stories.

"It was for me, personally, an advocacy to get students engaged in this - have them take these massive problems in our world on through film," Haldeman says, with a pumped-up expression. "And they'll reach more people. It's strategic. Film is what their generation listens to.

"Using a camera is the ultimate way to reach people today. It's not a pencil or a pen anymore. But this is a way to teach them how to write. They have to write a good story in order to project it up on the screen. So it brings all of those traditional skills into something they can relate to."

Haldeman notes that the Mount's program focuses on documentaries. She calls it a "good genre" because doing a documentary involves using all the creative juices one can muster to tell a real story. Moreover, the Catholic college doesn't have to compete with USC and UCLA, the two film school goliaths in town. And then there's the popularity of Michael Moore's recent works: "Bowling for Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11," et al.

Mixing film and social justice is also a natural for one of the last remaining women's colleges in the United States today. Haldeman, who holds a Ph.D. in sociology from USC with a specialty in social stratification, says handling a video camera is very empowering, especially for minority female students.

"What I want our film students to leave here with is that ethical, moral foundation you get from a Catholic education," she stresses. "They may go into the film business, they may not. But we want them to be active students. Take your craft and do something meaningful with it to help the world be a better place."

Unique academic combo
That's exactly what juniors Shanta Smith, who co-directed "Silent Night," and Ericka Solis, the co-director of "What is E.L.L.A's?" hope to take away from the Film and Social Justice Program. Smith, 20, transferred to Mount St. Mary's last semester because she "needed to be in L.A." if she was to really reach her goal as a screenwriter.

Solis, 21, entered the new program as a freshman after learning about it while going to Holy Family High School in Glendale. What attracted her most was its social justice emphasis. She's interested especially in film editing as a career, "It's very unique," she says. "I haven't heard of any other film program that concentrates mostly on social justice issues and being able to express them through film. I think for our generation that's basically where everything is going. Like everything is media-based now; and the faster you can get it, the better."

Sitting next to her in Hannon Auditorium, Smith nods. "It is really a unique combination," she says. "And I think more schools should follow it because there are a lot of social justice issues that need to be spoken through film because that is what people are attracted to."

Solis concurs.

"I feel it's a direct way to reach audiences and like everybody at once," she says. "I think that's what attracts me to the program also. You don't have to say something to each person individually. I mean, in a group even if you get one person inspired, that's one more person that you have concerned about the issue. Film really gets to people."

Both agree that most good documentaries, by definition, raise serious social and moral issues about subjects as diverse as gun control and immigration. And they believe telling human stories dramatically is the best way to not only uncover these issues, but also to advocate for what's right and just.

Have they been changed at the Mount?
"This program empowers me," Smith declares. "It gives me the essentials that I need to go out there and actually know what I'm doing. Because we're a small program, the teachers, the counselors, the advisors focus on you and your goals. And they push you to your goals.

With a half-chuckle, Solis says going to a woman's college is definitely a different college experience. "But I think it's a really empowering one," she continues. "We're able to make connections with each other and also make connections out in the world. And that way we help each other out and, by extension, we help women in general and especially in the film industry."

Behind-the-scene skills
As a teaching assistant at Stanford University, Laura Murray knew at some point in her documentary making career she'd want to go back to teaching. And that's what she did last January at Mount St. Mary's, teaching the intro documentary production class with 16 students.

"I'm incredibly proud of all of them," the 34-year-old woman says. "They teamed up and completed eight finished pieces, and we were able to screen them tonight. That, in and of itself, is a huge feat. I'm just astounded that they were able to take a lot of the concepts that we talked about in class and then actually put them to use in the field technically.

"But what I think is even more important is they stepped up to the challenge of going out and gaining access to people in a nonprofit, which is not easy, developing relationships with their subjects, and then talking to these subjects about some fairly intimate things. So I'm thrilled."

Murray stresses that it's these behind-the-scene skills - including writing a clear script, contacting people, interviewing subjects and even being assertive at times - that will serve her students best in life.

"Simply being able to sit down and talk to someone and ask them questions is a big deal," she notes. "I mean, some of these students were so shy at the beginning of the semester that they would barely speak in class. And at the end of the semester, you know, they're out there on the street corner with a microphone asking questions." She laughs. "So, that to me is a success."

Yajaira Alonso learned a lot by making "A Shining Star." The 22-year-old senior didn't know there were programs that focused on infants with disabilities. But then she discovered the Exceptional Children's Foundation, only five minutes from the Mount's Doheny campus in Los Angeles, which wound up being the subject of her final college documentary.

She also got an intense education being an intern at Warner Brothers, working for producers and directors on different sit-coms and reality shows. Her big break came being an assistant on "America's Best Dance Crew," where she interned for eight weeks. And starting June 7, the young woman has her first industry job with the production company at least through the summer.

Alonso hopes to eventually produce her own films and documentaries.

"After being in the Film and Social Justice Program here at Mount St. Mary's, I realize that I want to do it not just to have that professional career [in the industry] everybody aspires to have," she points out. "But I also want to make a difference to help others and reach out to those who've pretty much come the same way where I've come through, because I've had a lot of obstacles myself.

"I'm from a single-parent home in Los Angeles, so I've had a lot of struggles." Alonso confides. "But, thankfully, there were a lot of people who were able to help me along the way. And now I want to be able to return that passion to others."