FIRE IN OUR HEARTS, made by Jayshree Janu Kharpade of India, receives it first festival selection. Selected for the 2012 India International Film Festival of Tampa Bay, FIRE IN OUR HEARTS is screened in February 2012, in the festival’s main venue at Channelside Cinemas IMAX in Tampa.

BYkids ongoing collaboration with DoSomething.org now features trailers of BYkids films on DoSomething.org’s Cause Video platform, bringing BYkids films to social changers under 25 years old and reaching two million teens.

Namgyal Wangchuk Trichen Lhagyari, BYkids’ second youth filmmaker who made MY COUNTRY IS TIBET, is selected as a Global Teen Leader for the We Are Family Foundation’s (WAFF) Three Dot Dash Initiative and attends the Just Peace Summit in March 2012. Chosen from amongst an extraordinary group of teen nominees representing 37 countries, Trichen was selected for his ‘leadership and vision’ in contributing to a more peaceful world. Three Dot Dash Initiative provides Trichen with a mentor and a small stipend for one year to further develop the work that he launched with his BYkids film.

16-year-old Jayshree Janu Kharpade, BYkids youth filmmaker of FIRE IN OUR HEARTS and mentored by Joyce Chopra, is celebrated in a lengthy feature in the December issue of Femina, one of India’s oldest and best known magazines.

2011 Academy Award winner Karen Goodman becomes a BYkids Film Mentor. A renowned documentary filmmaker, Goodman has received three previous Academy Award nominations, many Emmys and the Dupont-Columbia Award for Independent Programming. Her documentaries have been broadcast nationally on PBS and HBO and screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlin, London, Montreal and St. Petersburg. Goodman describes BYkids as ‘an extraordinary opportunity for the next generation of cinematic storytellers’.

BYkids third film, FIRE IN OUR HEARTS, made by 16-year-old Jayshree Janu Kharpade of India, is completed and begins distribution. Mentored by the esteemed Joyce Chopra, Jayshree’s film sheds a personal light on the immense social and economic potential of educating girls in the developing world. See trailer here.

Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations, becomes a core advisor for developing BYkids partnerships with United Nations agencies, extending the story sourcing, on-site logistics and strategic outreach for BYkids films. Secretary-General Mulet states, “Each BYkids youth storyteller mobilizes our conscience towards a larger sense of global solidarity. BYkids reminds us that we are one Humanity.”

BYkids partners with Discovery Education, the nation’s largest and most prestigious education distributor, to stream BYkids films to over one million educators and half of all American middle and high school students across the country. Kelli Campbell, Senior Vice President of Discovery Education, says that BYkids films “not only inform, they engage students’ imagination and passion – which is always at the heart of true learning, true understanding and insight…”

Sold out BYkids Benefit is a smashing success! A sneak peek to celebrate our third film with guest hosts including the President of the Asia Society, a journalist from The Economist and the film’s film mentor.

Film legends Joyce Chopra and Albert Maysles work with us to make our next BYkids films. Albert will soon begin teaching the art of filmmaking to a Muslim teen in New York City. The film will open our eyes to the impact of religious intolerance on young people. In January, Joyce will travel to India to work with Jayshree, who’s story shows us the social and economic necessity for educating young girls in the developing world.

MY COUNTRY IS TIBET, by 17-year-old Trichen, is nominated for the MY HERO Film Festival’s RON KOVIC PEACE AWARD, which celebrates peace and those around the world working for non-violence and an end to war. MY HERO creates educational programs using media and technology to celebrate the best of humanity and to empower young people to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world.

The film is also an official selection at the Sun Valley Film Festival and the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival announces that BYkids film MY COUNTRY IS TIBET has been chosen for the 2010 Main Festival Program. Out of thousands of entries, TIBET is one of 30 films to be featured in this prestigious festival.

Thanks to the Ford Foundation’s ongoing support, BYkids has attracted more world-class talent to our board. Now under the leadership of Chair Lucy Price, new board members include writer/film producer Hilary Adams, social entrepreneur Tamsin Smith of the PRODUCT (RED) campaign, political journalist Michelle Mitchell and business leader Eduardo Martinez.

BYkids is invited to UN Headquarters in New York to present our work to the 2010 United Nations Youth Assembly. Over 50 youth leaders from around the world attend a BYkids screening of MOZAMBIQUE and participate in a BYkids workshop on the power of film as a leverage for political action.

TEDxRedmond screens BYkids film, HOME, for their annual conference held at the Microsoft Conference Center. TEDxRedmond, a conference “by kids, for kids”, was launched by 12-year-Adora Svitak, teacher, author and celebrated TED speaker. Adora describes BYkids as “wonderful” both for the filmmakers who have the chance to share their stories, and also for those of us watching them and learning more about their lives.

BYkids Founder/Executive Director Holly Carter travels to Bogota and Cali, Colombia to search for a young filmmaker for our next film, BYkids:COLOMBIA. Colombia’s overwhelming number of displaced people – second only to the Sudan – is primarily driven by civil war and drug-related violence. Mentored by Hollywood great Susan Hoenig, our young Colombian filmmaker begins filming in March, 2011, and will surely bring insight to a social and political crisis that is ravaging the lives of millions of Colombians.

BYkids recognizes the impressive and highly committed work of our Summer 2010 Intern, Connor Cowdon. 15-year-old Connor, a sophomore at Dalton in New York City, brings thorough, in-depth research, strategy development and administrative support to BYkids’ hugely successful agenda of summer events.