Extending the Link hosts annual documentary premiere night

Extending the Link (ETL) debuted its latest documentary, “Mottainai: Everything in Between,” on Wednesday in the Steven B. Humphrey Theater at SJU. The fast fashion-focused film explored a topic encountered daily: the clothes we wear.

Founded in 2008, ETL turns a global social justice issue into a short film and a CSB+SJU-based outreach project intended to spark discussion on under-reported issues. This year’s project took six members of the filming team to Japan for a week in January to examine how fast fashion has influenced the strong textile industry and cultural connection to clothes found there.

Each year, the ETL documentary premieres on campus on or around Scholarship and Creativity Day in the hopes of reaching as much of the CSB+SJU community as possible. The film will also be available to view on ETL’s YouTube channel shortly after the event.

Emily Cavanaugh, CSB senior and one of the co-directors of ETL, explained that the process for this documentary actually started in April of 2024. They began by brainstorm- ing different topics and narrowing them down to one: fashion and con- sumerism. The team began researching their chosen topic and started to reach out and develop connections in Japan. There are six teams that are focused on different aspects of the ETL’s process: Marketing, Events, Financing, Research, Outreach and Video.

Josie Meyer, CSB senior and the head of the marketing team for ETL, said that research continues and interview questions are developed throughout the fall semester. Alongside this process, fundraising, contacting interviewees and connections and travel preparation are also underway.

“We always operate under the assumption that the story will tell itself, so we work broadly on questions we plan to ask and the direction of the story,” Meyer said.

ETL’s research team also completed local interviews as well as conducting interviews in the countries they travel to.

Once spring semester started, ETL worked on weaving the film together through a process called storyboarding. Team members will analyze the film they have and try to find a central theme or story, then begin brainstorming an “act local” project component.

“ETL is all about ‘thinking globally’ and ‘acting locally,’” Meyer said. “We take what we have learned while abroad and apply it to a local initiative.”

In the past, these “act local” projects have involved pushing for ADA disability compliance on campus, strengthening ties with Bahamian students and alums and further educating students on diabetes. This year, ETL is working to establish a sustainable Share Shop where students can donate and shop gently used clothing items to propose a solution to the problem of fast fashion.

The official shop will debut this upcoming fall, but ETL held a pop-up event to kick it off on April 25, drawing over 160 people from both campuses.

As the Share Shop project progresses following the premiere, Meyer said she’s grateful for all the different perspectives and knowledge their team brings to ETL as students from many different academic departments.

“We work with people from all majors and minors towards a shared goal of enacting social justice change,” Meyer said. “Understanding the world around us makes us better humans by having the ability to empathize and learn.”

Lydia Mattern, CSB senior and co-director of ETL, said she hopes the documentary and Share Shop project will bring attention to the problem of fast fashion and the people most effected, and encourage CSB+SJU students to work towards change.

“I hope people consider what clothes they wear and where they get them,” Mattern said. “My favorite thing about ETL is that we provide a platform for people to share their voices.” Mattern said. “We get to encounter people and hear their story — it is a special honor.”