We are thrilled that BYkids was chosen from 1,600 outstanding ideas to present at SXSW EDU. Please join us at SXSW EDU on Wednesday, March 6 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm in the Austin Conference Center in room 6AB for Teaching with Film: Life as a Teen Ukrainian War Refugee.

See the film and learn from Tymur Tsapliienko (teen filmmaker), Holly Carter (BYkids Founder and Executive Director) and Sandy Goldberg (WNET, Director of Education).

BYkids’ PBS documentary, “Return Date: Unknown” is a powerful first-hand account of human solidarity and the hope for a chance at a new life through teenage eyes. Discussion between our panelists and clips from the film, in which the storytelling of Tymur Tsapliienko helps us understand the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine’s exiles as well as what has led to this crisis. Tymur’s film travels from Germany back through Poland to meet his father, who was injured in a Russian bombardment while reporting for a Ukrainian news channel. Along the way, he interviews other teenage refugees.

We are thrilled that BEEKEEPER has been selected for Closing Night of the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York to screen on Monday, March 18 at 6:30 pm at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan. Congratulations to the team! Hope you can join us. TICKETS HERE

Thanks for the great profile of BYkids in SEE Change, the global digital publication about social entrepreneurship and social impact.

Our films are ‘designed to inspire a new generation of changemakers’, says Holly Carter, Executive Director of BYkids. READ FULL ARTICLE

So exciting to have some of our Board and Supporters together to watch the WNET broadcast and celebrate the PBS launch to 83 million households across the country.

In advance of the PBS broadcast, BYkids hosted a sold-out world premiere screening and discussion of BEEKEEPER with the teen filmmaker, his family and mentor. The power of nature, family and mental well-being was celebrated. One guest said, ” the work you and your team are doing at BYkids is amazing. Our world needs this more than ever! Bravo!” SEE PHOTOS HERE.

Films BYkids returns to public television with four new films by young filmmakers beginning November 1 featuring Emmy nominee Ashley Judd as narrator. This fourth season explores war and displacement, mental wellbeing, climate change and sustainable agriculture. WATCH THE TRAILERS

Films BYkids, a collaboration between The WNET Group and BYkids, pairs accomplished filmmakers with youth from around the world to create short, personal documentaries that encourage understanding about universal issues and help foster empathy and global citizenry. This new season of the four-part documentary series premieres nationally on public television beginning Wednesday, November 1 (check your local listings).

In the New York metro area, the films premiere on THIRTEEN:

Saturday, Nov. 11
7:00 pm – RETURN DATE: UNKNOWN (Ukraine)
7:30 pm – SEEDS OF LIFE (India)

Saturday, Nov. 18
7:00 pm – BEEKEEPER (United States)
7:30 pm – ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE (Germany)

“This compelling season of Films BYkids shines an important spotlight on young people’s stories dealing with tremendous challenges such as war and displacement and climate change,” says Sandra Sheppard, executive producer for The WNET Group and director of WNET’s Kids’ Media and Education. “These films and accompanying resources provide teachers and students with tools to promote global understanding and empathy.” 

Congratulations to Tymur Tsapliienko (director) and Rom Barnea (mentor) for being chosen as a finalist in the prestigious Japan Prize.

The Japan Prize works to advance the quality of educational content around the world and support films that foster people’s aspirations to further learn, reflect, empathize and take action for the betterment of the world. There were 391 entries from 55 countries and we are all thrilled to be part of the Youth Division finalist. Congratulations to the other six films. WATCH TRAILER HERE.

17-year-old Ukrainian filmmaker, Tymur Tsapliienko, came to New York in June to screen his new film RETURN DATE: UNKNOWN at the Youth Collective Film Festival at Lincoln Center in front of 300 NYC-area high school students and he won Best Film.

The next week, the United Nations Association of New York hosted a sold-out screening and panel discussion including Tymur, Rom Barnea (his mentor), Holly Carter (BYkids executive director), Susan Bissell (Harvard FXB Center for Human Rights and former Global Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF) and Pablo Espiniella (Chief of Staff at the U.N. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children).

This film is part of the BYkids climate change series, airing on PBS this fall. It is a moving portrait of a boy coming of age —  his relationship to himself, to home and his father. Tymur eloquently shares what it means to be a Ukrainian refugee and personalizes the high cost of the war and the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. Tymur’s dad, Andrii, is considered to be Ukraine’s leading war correspondent having covered Iraq, Afghanistan and now the war at his home. We were thrilled to have Andrii with us.

Congratulations to Ndèye Fatou Fall and her BYkids: WALK ON MY OWN for winning Best Youth Documentary Short at the Women’s Voices Now Festival. Thanks to everyone who brought this important film to the world.

The head of the jury says, “WALK ON MY OWN was made by 13-year-old Ndèye Fatou Fall from Senegal. She is just the embodiment of women’s freedoms and the importance of education for girls…This film really shows how important these generational, cultural shifting conversations are and it highlights how much further we have to go in achieving true women’s rights. So again, congratulations to Ndèye Fatou Fall for WALK ON MY OWN.”