Today’s youth filmmakers are tomorrow’s future film legends, and this eclectic and inspired collection showcases some true up-and-coming talent. In a dazzling array of almost two dozen short films, young artists from around the Bay Area and the country (and Turkey!) share their original stories and singular views of the world. The program is the result of a unique peer jury process that takes place each summer during CFI’s Summerfilm series, in which teen participants in the Behind the Scenes program graduate into the Young Curators program, where they view, discuss, and curate from more than 100 films submitted from around the globe, all produced by young filmmakers ages 18 and under. Their selections include nearly every genre of filmmaking, from deeply personal narratives to fun fantasies, musical explorations, poetic visual essays, social commentary, and more: One 12-year-old student filmmaker pays loving tribute to her own grandmother in a story of a young woman coping with her grandfather’s memory loss. A local teen creates a conflicted cinematic love letter to San Francisco and his discomfort with its gentrification. Other films explore the value of green spaces in cities, musical traditions in Guatemala, body image, and how Prince Charming finds a princess when there are no actual damsels in distress to save. Many local youth media programs are represented including SF Art & Film, BAVC, Drake High School’s ComAcademy, and CFI Education’s own My Place My Story program. Meet some of the filmmakers and the Young Curators at the end of the program when they will come together onstage for a lively Q&A. Age 12+
*Oct 10 screening is a CFI Education screening open to school groups and general public.