BYkids is featured in Education Week’s blog, Opinion: Global Learning, in an article titled “Teaching Empathy Through Documentary Films.” Written by Holly Carter, (founder and executive director of BYkids) and Zoë Barnstone-Clark (summer 2019 BYkids intern), this article highlights how film empowers kids to not only share their stories, but also connect to audiences in a manner that promotes both compassion and activism. Read the article here
Thank you to the United Nations Association of New York for hosting a screening of OUT OF ALEPPO at the Dolby Screening Room. The screening was followed by a panel with Holly Carter (founder and executive director of BYkids) George Batah (co-founder of Syrian Youth Empowerment), Firas Kayal (senior policy advisor at UNHCR), and Marlene Spoerri (UN representative at Independent Diplomat). The screening and panel helped to not only tell the story of Mohammad Sasho and his family as they journeyed from Syria to Berlin, but also shed light on the refugee experience through the perspectives of loss, art and hope. “The BYkids screening was one of the most striking accounts of the Syrian refugee crisis. The way the documentarian spoke about his story, and invited other refugees to do the same, was lighthearted but poignant. BYkids has such an incredible way of showing the viewer all sides of a human. The insightful panel afterwords topped off a wonderful story, and invited us all to keep the dialogue going, beyond the film,” says Emmy Heyman, Colorado College 2018.
OUT OF ALEPPO is screened at the 2019 Roadmaps Festival at Lincoln Center, followed by the panel “Innovations in Education as Response to Conflict,” moderated by critically-acclaimed journalist Ali Velshi. The panelists include Holly Carter (founder and executive director of BYkids), Scott Cameron (executive producer of International Social Impact at Sesame Workshop), George Batah (founder of Syrian Youth Empowerment), and Lina Attar (founder and CEO of Karam Foundation). It is an honor to take part in an evening full of visionary leaders who are designing new ways to both educate and accelerate the future generations of social change.
POET AGAINST PREJUDICE is screened as a part of the WNET Youth Collective Summit 2019 at the Paley Center for Media. In this short film, Faiza Almontaser (age 17) shares her trying experience of immigrating to New York from a small farming town in Yemen. With the help of the award-winning filmmaker Albert Maysles, Faiza armors herself with words and language to challenge misconceptions about Islamic culture and bring attention to social integration in a post 9/11 world.
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.