BYkids is thrilled that James M. Brasher, Founding Principal, Development Counsel, has joined the board. Jim is a chief strategist, development and communications officer with major clients including The Carter Center, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at Georgetown University and the Global Fund for Children. Jim is the Founding Director of Global Philanthropists Circle with Peggy Dulany and David Rockefeller. In addition to the BYkids Board, he serves as a trustee of Future Generations University, Madoo Conservancy and LongHouse Reserve. He lives in Sagaponack, NY.
May 13, 2021
LOTS OF GREAT PRESS ABOUT FILMS BYKIDS SEASON THREE ON PUBLIC TELEVISION
Cultural Survival Quarterly published this profile of BYkids filmmaker, Daunnette Reyome-Moniz, and her film, AGAINST THE CURRENT. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
The Forward’s PJ Grisar published a feature on the BYkids film L’CHAIM as two generations of Germans look to the past and future of the countries Jews. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Creative News announced that Final Cut has collaborated on all three seasons of the Films BYkids series for public television alongside Significant Others, Final Cut’s sister company, which completed the finishing for all three seasons. Stephanie Apt, founder of Final Cut and board member of BYkids adds: “I am passionate in my belief that film gives voice to issues that we need to confront. The films in season 3 lend fresh, deeply empathetic perspectives to some of the most pressing issues faced by humanity around the globe. Final Cut is proud to help cultivate the talents of the next generation of storytellers.” READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
BYkids Founder and Executive Director is interviewed for WNET UP NEXT. LISTEN HERE
The Baltimore Sun features Faith Guilbault and her BYkids film, FAITH’S WORLD about being differently abled and how her film will serve as a global teaching tool. The story was picked up by Yahoo News and the Kaiser Health News. READ ARTICLE HERE
“Nothing stops 17-year-old filmmaker, model and activist, Faith Guilbault – not cerebral palsy, epilepsy or cortical vision impairment.” Meet Faith on An Apple a Day podcast. LISTEN HERE
Our partners at HundrED wrote this wonderful piece. “Films BYkids gives voice to young people and uses film as a tool for global understanding,” says Sandra Sheppard, executive producer for THIRTEEN and director of WNET’s Kids’ Media and Education. “We are delighted to provide resources that can help educators foster cross-cultural awareness and empathy in their students.” “Virtual learning provides an opportunity to evolve education — by bringing the world to kids – wherever they are, in classrooms and homes,” said Holly Carter, founder and executive director of BYkids, a nonprofit, which uses documentaries made by kids to support social-emotional learning. “Film is the perfect medium for 21st century learning. It is intimate, authentic and captivating.” READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
April 23, 2021
PRESENTING OUR NEW PROMO
Thanks to the profound words from Messiah Ramkissoon and everyone at Final Cut and Significant Others (especially Stephanie Apt and Miky Wolf) we are proud to present this powerful new message about listening to our youth. WATCH HERE
April 22, 2021
THE NATIONSWELL COUNCIL HOSTS SCREENING OF “AGAINST THE CURRENT” AND DISCUSSION WITH FILMMAKERS TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY
BYkids partnered with the NationSwell Council to screen and discuss AGAINST THE CURRENT with filmmaker, Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, her mentor, Evan Mascagni, and BYkids Executive Director, Holly Carter. It was a lively Zoom conversation, moderated by A Picture’s Worth Elissa Yancey. The audience was blown away:
“So moving. One of the best short films I’ve ever seen.”
“Bravo! This was amazing and powerful storytelling! Thank you for sharing your journey!”
“Wow! Just wow. Thanks so much for this beautiful, heart-warming film, Daunnette”
“This is extraordinary. From turning negative experiences into love as a form of medicine to embracing two-spiritedness to healing oneself from historical trauma and being a cultural warrior — so many lessons and sources of inspiration!”
“Wonderful, powerful imagery and messaging. Healing trauma by acknowledging it, releasing it, sharing the experience with others. We do not have to he held back by our past, ancestral or in this life! Beautiful film!”
“So inspiring! To sustain tradition and community amidst so many barriers and direct resistance! an incredible model of resilience.”
April 22, 2021
“Buddhism, Bhutan and Me” Airing on Public Televison
Eighteen-year-old Rinzin Jurmey from Bhutan decided to become a monk and student of Buddhism when he was eleven years old. While many of his peers in modern schools are more materialistic, Jurmey enjoys a contemplative lifestyle. Bhutan, a small nation which was cut off from the rest of the world until only a few decades ago, uses a Gross National Happiness Index rather than gross domestic product to measure economic and moral progress and promote Buddhist spiritual values. But tourism, technology, and globalization have had a major impact on the country. As Jurmey travels between his monastery, his mountain village, and the city, he meets with hip hop dancers, video game enthusiasts, and sports fans, seeking to understand the intersection of tradition and pop culture. With guidance from cinematographer Cat Papadimitriou, Jurmey documents the ways in which he–and his country–are striving to preserve ancient practices while embracing modernity.
New York metro area, THIRTEEN: Sunday, April 25, at 7:30 PM
BYKIDS PARTICIPATING IN THE 2021 WNET YOUTH COLLECTIVE SUMMIT, FROM PASSION TO ACTION
Join BYkids at the WNET Youth Collective Summit 2021 for Session #3/Taking Action on April 28 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm Eastern.
In addition to a panel with Changemaker Award recipients Nupol Kiazolu, Dustin Liu and Meera Dasgupta about their work as youth leaders, our BYkids workshops will focus on how young people can take action.
We will lead two workshops: Documentary Filmmaking for Change. For students interested in documentary filmmaking, we will give young people a stage to share their perspectives on today’s most pressing global issues by empowering them to explore topics that impacts us all. In this session, explore how filmmaking can be a form of action and shed light on issues that are important to us all.
BYKIDS MENTOR, EVAN MASCAGNI’S NEW FILM PREMIERING AT TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL IN JUNE
Evan Mascagni, BYkids mentor of AGAINST THE CURRENT, has a new film. Named after the book by Father James Martin, BUILDING A BRIDGE follows a priest on his journey to make the Catholic Church more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, despite loud opposition from both within and outside the Church. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. Congratulations to Nick Capezzera (cinematographer and producer) and Michal Labik (editor), who also worked on AGAINST THE CURRENT with BYkids.
April 19, 2021
“FAITH’S WORLD” Airing on Public Televison
Sixteen-year-old Faith Guilbault, from Baltimore, Maryland, loves skydiving and horseback riding and has walked the runway at Fashion Week in New York City. She is also one of 61 million people in the US living with a disability. Guilbault is visually impaired and has cerebral palsy, which affects her ability to move and maintain balance and posture. Yet she does not want anyone to feel sorry for her. She is resilient, hard-working, and determined to realize her dreams. With guidance from filmmaker Joyce Chopra, Guilbault shines light on her world, inviting viewers to focus on the similarities rather than differences between abled and disabled people.
New York metro area, THIRTEEN: Sunday, April 25, at 7:00 PM
Nineteen-year-old Semon Shabaev, a Jewish native of Berlin, is proud of his religious and cultural heritage, attending a Jewish school, participating in a Jewish theater group, and playing on a Jewish soccer team in his hometown. As the last generation of Holocaust survivors fades into history, a new wave of Jews, including Shabaev’s family, has emigrated to the country that attempted to eradicate them. Shabaev interviews community leaders, friends, and rabbis, observes a remembrance service, and facilitates a cross-cultural workshop as he examines German-Jewish identity. Mentored by filmmaker Anja Baron, Shabaev shines a light on resurgent Jewish life in Germany at a time of rising worldwide antisemitism.
New York metro area, THIRTEEN: Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 PM
FILMMAKER OF “AGAINST THE CURRENT” SHARES HER STORY WITH A PICTURE’S WORTH
In this special episode of A Picture’s Worth: Refocusing Narratives, award-winning documentary filmmaker and teen Daunnette Moniz-Reyome shares the story behind a single frame of AGAINST THE CURRENT that shows her in conversation minutes before her long-awaited feathering ceremony.
The BYkids’ film, which debuts on public television in April 2021, was named Best Documentary Student Short at the 2020 Woodstock Film Festival and won the Emerging Filmmakers Award at the Socially Relevant Film Festival.
“It felt like in that moment, it was like all these women really became like, like mothers to me and like a sister to me,” says Daunnette.
Daunnette Reyome’s feathering ceremony in August 2019 was a testament to the strength of the women in her life. The image she chose for this special APW episode shows a scene just before the ceremony, where she is surrounded by her mother, her Auntie Marissa, her Auntie Shelby (who holds her ceremonial feather) and Shelby’s daughter Sidney, who has become like a sister to her. Reyome was selected by the New York-based nonprofit BYkids to direct a documentary about her life in Nebraska, and that film, Against the Current, debuts on PBS this month. In advance of its release, Reyome took the time to connect with APW for this exciting collaboration.LISTEN HERE
