Maital Guttman is a 24-year-old independent filmmaker whose socially impacting films have been seen all over the world. I wanted to interview this Duke University grad—and daughter of a rabbi—because of her inspirational desire to better the world using her own creative nature. She’s a positive Jewish role model, and her demonstration of tikkun olam, repairing the world, is one that we should all aspire to follow. Check out my interview with her right here.

When did you develop a passion for filmmaking?
I have never taken any film classes. I bought my camera and kind of learned on the spot. My friend took an editing class, so I learned a lot from her, and I really picked up on it when I realized how much it impacts people. I was very frustrated with the way people were talking about Israel as just a place of conflict and violence, and film was a way to let Israelis actually speak for themselves. When I saw how young people connected with the kids in my first film, I realized how much impact my film had on people.

Did your Jewish upbringing play a role in your choice of subjects for your films?
Definitely. My first film, Mechina: A Preparation, was about my cousin going into the Israeli army. I grew up in a “Jewish bubble.” I was born in Israel and lived there until I was 7, and I went to a Jewish day school. When I went to college, I saw for the first time people who were anti-Israel, and I wanted to show them the way I view Israel. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam, making the world a better place, played a major factor in my choice for the subject of my second film, Three in a Million, about HIV/AIDS in South Africa. I was really able to share and connect with South Africans, even as a white, Jewish-American woman. I feel filmmaking is really the way that I’ve been able to do my part in social action.

Tell me a little bit about the films you’ve made.
My film shot in South Africa is about kids whose experience with art therapy has helped them see that they can have power over their problems. Many of them have HIV or live in a community where one in four people has HIV. It shows how kids affected with HIV can be strong survivors. Many Americans view people with AIDS as helpless victims, and I hope my film will help to show them as strong, individual heroes.

My first film is about my cousin going into the army. In America, we usually get to go to a university after high school, whereas they have to go into the army [in Israel]. I want my audience to see the similarities and differences between our lives and those of young people in Israel.

What effect do you hope your films will have on others?
I would love for people to see the human side of others and remember the importance of the individual story—not only what we see on the news—but the individual people who are strong and trying to positively impact the world. There are so many more stories out there, and if I can do it with such little background in film, anyone can do it. I just really have a passion for learning about other cultures, and I’m hoping to empower young people to continue to learn about others, because I believe we are the ones who will contribute positively to our world.

Do you have any plans for any new projects?
The one project I’m working on now is about Moldova. I’m working on a film—about seven years in the making—about a once-Jewish community in Moldova whose thriving Judaism was destroyed by the Holocaust, but is now being revitalized through a partnership with the Jewish community from Greensboro, N.C. I also really want to make a movie that focuses on my friend Beaty from South Africa and her strength in coping with HIV.

In your films, you address serious social issues, including the effect of AIDS on people in Africa. Is there anything teenagers can do to help raise consciousness about these issues?
There’s a lot we can do! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the problems of the world, and the key is to figure out what you personally are passionate about, whether it’s politics, music or sports, and to figure out a way to use that to raise awareness. You don’t have to go to South Africa; even volunteering in your own backyard will make a difference. Young people are really creative, and we can really think outside the box. Find your own way to impact your community. It will make everything so much more personal, and you can really make a difference.

To learn more about fighting AIDS in Africa, visit www.grassrootsoccer.org, an organization started by past JVibe interviewee Ethan Zohn.

Emily Siar, 15, is a freshman in Greensboro, N.C. She loves to sing in temple with a local klezmer group and has a passion for opera, French and literature. She is also a member of the JVibe Teen Advisory Board.