The Pendragwn Youth Film Festival (PYFF) returns to the Atlas Performing Arts Center tomorrow from 1pm to 6pm. PYFF gives youth ages 11 to 18 years old an outlet to hone their storytelling and celebrates the achievements of young filmmakers on the big screen. (Seriously? I have an 11 year old and I barely trust him with a cell phone, so I can’t imagine him and his buddies using an expensive camera.) Festival director Jon Michael Shink said “We don’t believe age should be a limiting factor when it comes to storytelling and these young filmmakers have proved that once again by delivering thoughtful and engaging films.”Check out the festival trailer here.
PYFF will open with remarks from renowned District artist, BK ADAMS•I AM ART. Fifteen short films in four categories– documentary, narrative, music video and super short– will be screened. The films are as varied as the young people who created them; some are deeply personal, some are experimental and others simply want to make us laugh. Last year’s Audience Choice Award winners Luz Bauer and Sophia Pink of Washington, D.C., have returned to this year’s festival with their short film, Help Wanted. Their stop-motion film is a humorous take on a mother’s overwhelming day. More Than That, a short film made by Native American students in South Dakota that took YouTube by storm and was featured by NPR’s Morning Edition, aims to raise awareness about Native American stereotypes. Corner of the World, a documentary from Armenian filmmaker, Hovan Baghdasaryan, gives a view of daily life in Armenia from the perspective of a young boy. Fifteen finalists were chosen from 75 films across 7 different countries. The festival will also include a performance from Zip Zap Circus, a South African based non-profit dedicated to transforming youth through the performing arts.
A full schedule of the festival can be found here.
The films are competing for four awards: Grand Prize, Creative Lens, Golden Dragwn, and Audience Choice. This year’s prizes include a two-week documentary film camp with Docs in Progress in Silver Spring, Maryland; an editing class with Future Media Concepts in Washington, D.C., passes to SilverDocs-AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival; and copyright free high definition stock footage from Footage Firm as well as a year’s free download membership to Videoblocks.com.
So where so they find these kids? Some have come from our own backyard, Michael Skinner, founder of the Pendragwn Film Foundation said, “We were really pleased to receive submissions from some of the kids who were in the audience last year and were inspired to go out and make their own film.” Could the next Scorsese be skateboarding on the mean streets of Capitol Hill? Why not?
PYFF is free and open to the public. To reserve tickets, please visit www.pendragwnyouthfilmfest.org or call 202-546-0065.