Congratulations to Mike Martin and his mentors Hollis Meminger and Chiemi Karasawa, who helped Mike create his documentary I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE. The film has been selected by the Harlem International Film Festival, and screened on May 19.

Thank you to the Future Filmmakers Forum for screening I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE at the Dwyer Cultural Center!

Holly Carter closes the Healing Hotels of the World’s Healing Summit 2019 with an introduction to BYkids’ work and a magnificent panel of kids. Although they are young in years, these kids are a fresh reminder of how social change now will benefit future generations. On the panel, they talked about their hopes of adults coming home less stressed, the need to remember the magic inherent to our world, and how the oceans and environments need to be kept clean to ensure a healthy future for all.

Holly Carter is honored to participate in Principal for a Day at P.S. 149 Sojourner Truth School. “It is very exciting to shadow Principal Claudi Aguirre and see all the positive things happening at the school,” shared Holly after her experience.

Thank you to our partner Tostan for hosting a screening of WALK ON MY OWN at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, United Kingdom. In this short film, director Ndèye Fatou Fall (age 13) shares how previous cultural shifts in her community shaped the futures of her and her peers. With award-winning Elizabeth Hummer as her mentor, Ndèye shows how solidarity and inner strength can empower women everywhere, and help pave the way for future generations that are free to make their own choices.

I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE is screened and discussed with 180 seniors from Regis High School and the Dominican Academy in Manhattan. The kids discuss Mike’s story, and specifically Mike’s return to his life in East Harlem at the age of 19, after having served time on Rikers for two years. “It was really interesting to learn about someone’s story from the neighborhood I grew up in,” shared a student at Dominican Academy. Even when people live among us, we might see them, we might pass them in the hall, we might sit next to them in class. We might not have heard their story. We believe in the power of storytelling. We believe that storytelling creates understanding.

Congratulations to Mohammad Shasho and Anja Baron for OUT OF ALEPPO being chosen as part of the Nice Film Market’s official selection from May 8-10 in Nice, France!

OUT OF ALEPPO is screened at Stony Brook University as a part of their Islamic Awareness Week. The screening is followed by a discussion about empathy, inclusion and shared humanity. Special thanks to Friends of Thirteen, and especially to Dorothy Pacella, Kala DeStefano, WNET, Kristina Kirtley, everyone at Stony Brook University, Chaplain Sanaa Nadim, Dean Richard Gatteau, and all the amazing students from both the Islamic Society and Muslim Students’ Association.

BYkids team up children from across the world with filmmakers in order to document global issues from their own point of view. READ FULL ARTICLE

Holly Carter (founder and executive director of BYkids) is featured during a television interview with MetroFocus to share the work and story of BYkids. See the interview here