On July 15th, winners of the 4th Annual Youth Film Festival on Social Justice were welcomed by BADWest at the Writers Guild, where young people shared their work and talked to filmmakers. Our members got to view 5 works of the winners of the Frances E. Williams Artist Grants. The competition, organized by the Bresee Community Center, included schools and community centers throughout the county. This year’s theme was Hard Times for the American Dream: Personal Stories of Struggle. Five of the entries were screened and discussed by the youth filmmakers: “Defining The American Dream” by Mel Mooring, “Hollywood Homeless” by Jasmine Tatum, ehT naciremA maerD by Cord Brooks, Colin Sentence, Atiyeh Hess, Ismael Garcia, Samantah Hernandez, Niki Cornejo, “Problems” by Cheraya Evans, and “Through the Eyes Of An Artist” by David Doperoy. In turn, the students got advice about traditional and non-traditional producing and distribution from presentations by filmmakers Dwayne Johnson-Cochran and Pearl Jr, and then talked informally to BADWest members over refreshments.
Representatives from the various organizations instrumental in getting the youth involved in filmmaking were also present to discuss their programs, including Covenant House, Breese Community Center, Echo Park Film Center, and the Center for Digital Storytelling. It was encouraging to hear that despite drastic cuts to many community arts organizations, these groups were managing, with difficulty, to provide these teens with a vision about filmmaking.
Big ups to BADWest member S. Pearl Sharp for recommending this opportunity for us to share our knowledge with young people. It’s the continued involvement of members like S. Pearl and Clarence Williams that helps our organization be supportive of the next generation of documentary filmmakers.
- Denise Hamilton
