YouFilmFest
Schedule
Sat Apr 02 2022 at 11:00 am to 10:00 pm
Location
The REACH at the Kennedy Center | Washington, DC
YouFilmFest showcases Youth, Experimental & Short Films from the US & around the world.https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/film/2021-2022/you-film-festival-r/
11 AM - About, For & By Youth. Part 1
YouFilmFest is honored to open with The Day I Had To Grow Up (US), a documentary about Youth Activism in America. 18-year old Jeremy Ornstein delivers an emotional speech addressed to all members of the US Congress. Within minutes, he is arrested outside Nancy’s Pelosi’s office. The video of his speech and arrest goes viral. The filmmakers interview Jeremy and 5 other activists about the events that shape their political lives. Directors: Stefano Da Fre, Laura Pellegrini.
Keep Your Head Up, Sweet Pea! (US, Germany). After starting in a new school in a foreign country, American teenager Naddie must find her inner joy to embrace her challenges with confidence. Sophie Meissner wrote, directed, starred in, and performed her own songs in this film when she was 14 years old.
Street Kids (Australia, Bangladesh). Director Simon Mundine was doing research on Bangladesh’s sweatshop garment factories when he encountered the plight of Dhaka’s street orphans. Two barely surviving boys share their tragic stories.
And They Were Roommates (US) focuses on a pair of college roommates: Kylie (a junior studying Education) and Olivia (a freshman studying Studio Arts who identifies as an individual with a disability) as they navigate a year of unique emotions, challenges, and successes. A film by Kylie Walter & Olivia Baist
Silence with You (US). Introspective poet, Babette, must decide if her online date's flaws are something that she can look past, or if it’s time to find someone new. Director: Allie Duke. DC LOCAL FILMMAKER
Screenings followed by Audience Q&A with the creators of The Day I Had To Grow Up, Keep Your Head Up, Sweet Pea! and And They Were Roommates
1 PM - Films About, For & By Youth. Part 2
Bark (US). A teenage biracial girl struggles to come to terms with her identity in a racially driven world. Directors: Laura Coleman, Anthony Penney
Saint Autumn (US). After moving to a new city, a teenage girl adapts to her new lifestyle as she learns about herself and the people she stumbles upon along the way. Director: Julia Lysik
Dickhead (Israel). Two high school geek-freaks decide to sneak into a bar despite being underage. Director: Jordan Agian
I'm On Fire (US) is a student short experimental-narrative film about the paradigm shift between how romance is presented in movies versus what happens in real life. Director: Rose Trimboli
Drama High (US). When Archer transfers to an elite high school with a student body straight from an Asian drama, she capitalizes on her knowledge of the genre’s tropes to climb the social ladder and get the guy. Pilot episode for romantic comedy series. Director: Elizabeth Jaeleigh Davis. DC LOCAL FILMMAKER
Screenings followed by Audience Q&A with the creator of Drama High
3 PM - Experimental/Art Films
Regret (US). An under 2-minute, woman empowerment, motivational musical. Director: Waqar Peter Gill. DC LOCAL FILMMAKER
cOmmunity (US). Create the cOmmunity you want to exist. Director: Luis “L.T.” Martinez
Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles) (Australia). Caris Vujec is Lady Macbeth in Sally McLean’s internationally acclaimed series. Filmed in isolation during the lockdown.
A Warm Orange Color (US). A young woman recalls gatherings with her family before two members passed away. A revisitation of memory, hypnotherapy, a process of healing—as she answers the question, “When did you feel most complete?” Director: Cecilia Kim
Alice By Night (Portugal). Observational fiction by Matilde Calado. An analysis of the old illusion that Prince Charming will come and fill the emotional weaknesses we have in life.
Lucy Palustris: The Dinner Party (Canada). Lucy, a solitary woman in the landscape or built environment, manifests a conflicted relationship with the living world. Is she an agency of care, a destabilizing force, or a menacing presence? Costume performance and the film medium itself poke fun at the stereotype of the middle-class white woman, more specifically, Hollywood film stereotypes embodied by the artist’s mother’s generation. Director: Patricia Coates
Screenings followed by Audience Q&A with the creators of Regret, A Warm Color Orange, and Lucy Palustris: The Dinner Party
6:15 PM - Films from the US & Around the World. Part 1
It's Your Turn (Spain). Ten students go to a lonesome island to study the Basque language. Some of them start to die, but who is the killer? Genres: Horror, Terror, Comedy. Directors: Rose of Dolls & Oliver Mend of A Film To K*ll For
Ostinato (US). A woman takes refuge in a strange house, only to find it inhabited by her worst fears. Starring Sandra Saad who is the voice of the Marvel character, Ms. Marvel, for video games and a Disney Plus series. Genres: Horror, Thriller. Director: Julie Fergus
Coronalone? (UK). Made alone in one small room during lockdown, this film explores themes of loneliness, identity, and hope that have become familiar to us all. Genres: Magical Realism, Quarantine. Director: Nigel Gould-Davies
Netfins & Chill (US). Two young DC lobbyists have a fishy secret they have to keep during date night. Director: Joe Carabeo. DC LOCAL FILMMAKER
13 Shots (Italy). A very sad woman who has lost her daughter finds an antique camera that’s able to do magical things. Director: Leonardo Barone
Screenings followed by Audience Q&A with the cast of Ostinato and the creators of Coronalone? and Netfins & Chill
8:30 PM - Films from the US & Around the World. Part 2
Midlife Crisis (US). A middle-aged couple’s fight about what to order in a restaurant turns into a questioning of their relationship’s survival. Directors: Charles Germain, Ramata Eller. DC LOCAL FILMMAKERS
Phoebe (US). Phoebe has been unable to leave her apartment in over a month; her sister’s wedding is fast approaching. Anna, the next-door neighbor, is determined to help Phoebe. Director: Sandra Camargo. DC LOCAL FILMMAKER
Esperanza (US). A Jewish family and the woman they're protecting face a life-changing decision when their bigoted neighbor pleads for help in a moment of crisis. Director: Tom Procida
Soyka (US). Losing hope under the pressure of pursuing a creative dream in New York City, Belarusian emigrant Anna takes desperate measures—all while sugar-coating stories of her life to impress her grandmother. Director: Anastasiya Sergienya
The Offer (UK). Lyle Stanton is a politician with a nasty little secret. Now the most powerful intelligence on Earth wants to make him an offer. Genres: Sci-Fi, Thriller. Directors: Nick Lazar, Katina Thomas
Screenings followed by Audience Q&A with the creators of Midlife Crisis, Phoebe, and Esperanza
Tickets & More Info https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/film/2021-2022/you-flim-festival-r/
Festival Trailer
https://vimeo.com/679770431
Cover image is film still from 13 Shots by up & coming Italian film director Leonardo Barone. Screening at 6:15 PM as part of Films from the US & Around the World. Part 1.
This event is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office & is not produced by the Kennedy Center.