Congratulations to director Daunnette Moniz-Reyome and her mentor, Evan Mascagni. AGAINST THE CURRENT has been selected for the 2020 Woodstock Film Festival (Sept. 30 to Oct. 4) as part of their Student Short program.

“In her film, Native American teen activist Daunnette Moniz-Reyome shares her family’s journey to retain the sacred rituals and values of their culture in the wake of centuries of loss from disease, war and government policies,” says Shorts Programmer Amanda Naseem. TICKETS

Thanks to the Professional BusinessWomen of California (PBWC) for the opportunity to close the first day of your For Good conference with 6,000 powerhouse women including Cate Blanchett, Lisa Ling and Tererai Trent. WATCH HERE

Great news! FAITH’S WORLD (one of four new films for Season Three of FILMS BYKIDS to be broadcast on public television in early 2021) has been selected for the 23rd United Nations Association Film Festival.

In FAITH’S WORLD, 16-year-old Faith Guilbault shares life with physical disability and her wish that students and society embrace our similarities, not our differences.

“The Jury reviewed almost 600 submissions and found your film to be extremely pertinent and well suited for this year’s festival theme, THE POWER OF EMPATHY, and we feel strongly that the audience will be captivated by your work.” The festival usually happens at Stanford University, but this year will be held virtually. The film will be open to California residents starting at midnight on Thursday, October 22 and culminate with a panel discussion on Friday, October 23 at 6 pm PT. TICKET INFO

I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE is selected by the San Francisco Documentary Festival to screen September 3-20! Congratulations to the amazing team that brought this film to the world including Mike Martin, Chiemi Karasawa and Hollis Meminger.

19-year-old Michael Martin reflects on his life in Harlem, his interests in music and art, and how his incarceration on Rikers Island affected him. His film plays in Shorts Program 3 – The Real World: Four ways to tell unique African-American stories: through self-reflection, poetry, essay and oral history. TICKETS

We are honored to get the Gender Equity Prize for WALK ON MY OWN from the prestigious Prix Jeunesse 2020 children’s television festival. We also got second place from the International Youth Jury! Congratulations to the whole team and our wonderful partners at Tostan.

Congratulations to the amazing team that brought this film to the world! The winner of the 2020 Prix Jeunesse Gender Equity Prize goes to…“WALK ON MY OWN presents an informative and empowering documentary for all girls, particularly for those living in traditional regions. It offers an important perspective on the possibility of social change against harmful traditions and emphasizes the role of women leading it. Congratulations WALK ON MY OWN.”

Full award section starts at 56:38 and the jury comments are at 1:00:44. https://bit.ly/3hihd4G

“Gender inequality is still a major concern for children’s television…The purpose of this award is to remind us all that there still is a lot of work that needs to be done, but also to celebrate innovative programs that do make a difference like the ones we reviewed for the prize this year.”

Congratulations to our amazing filmmaker, Ndèye Fatou Fall, everyone at Tostan, the Wheeler family, composer Javier Arau; Editor Danielle Coates-Connor; Executive Producer Holly Carter and our broadcast partners at WNET – Thirteen PBS, especially Suzanne Rose and Sandra Sheppard and to PenPal Schools and Discovery Education, who connect the film and the educational material with kids around the world.

Thanks to our wonderful partner, the United Nations Association of New York for our first virtual screening premiere of AGAINST THE CURRENT and a riveting conversation with filmmaker Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, Evan Mascagni (BYkids mentor), Holly Carter (BYkids Founder) and moderated by Cynthia Benitez (Film Programming Manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian).

BYkids Founder and Executive Director, Holly Carter, and BYkids film director of I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE, Mike Martin, present at PBWC’s Conference for Good in San Francisco talking about the work they did together to let Mike tell his story and reflect on his incarceratation on Rikers Island and the affect it had on his life.

The conference features eight women-founded, women-led nonprofits that provide vital services to underserved women and girls in the greater Bay Area. The conference brings leaders, pathfinders and trailblazers who are creating a shared vision of equal opportunity for all.

“Your BYkids keynote presentation with Mike had a deeply profound impact on our audience; leaving them inspired and determined to apply the messages you shared for their own professional development and personal growth. Your devotion and commitment to underserved youth, and the importance of hearing their voices and giving them a platform to share so that we can learn of their stories spoke volumes to our attendees which was clear in their feedback. You may have seen the real-time responses in the live chat, but if not, the statements were wonderfully positive. Your contribution to the day was so very important and much appreciated—our audience was truly engaged and energized!” said Dominica C. Anderson, PBWC President and Board Chair.

Working to help parents home-school their children during the global pandemic, I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE and MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA broadcast on the WLIW World Channel.

In I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE, Mike Martin tell his story and reflects on his incarceratation on Rikers Island and the affect it had on his life. Mike’s mentors were Chiemi Karasawa (award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder of Isotope Films) and Hollis Meminger (a Presidential Leadership Scholar and prolific cinematographer with television credits including The Blacklist, Narcos and Younger).

In MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA, 12-year-old Edelsin Mendez and her family in Nicaragua show us how coffee is a way of life. But climate change and shifting weather patterns are contributing to a crop disease and threatening coffee production in her community. Mentored by filmmaker Joyce Chopra, Edelsin conveys how her community is striving to maintain its traditions and livelihood, while forging a sustainable future.

Thank you Greenwich High School for inviting us to screen and discuss POET AGAINST PREJUDICE with almost 500 kids during your Diversity Awareness Week. The student questions were inspiring and thoughtful about racism, immigration, self expression and the power of film! “That was the most engaged I have seen an audience of high schoolers for any of these talks! Nice job!!!” says one student.