2012 Chicago Youth Community Film Festival

Last week on May 31^st the staff and friends of the Community TV Network had the great honor to attend and be part of the fifth annual Chicago Youth Community Film Festival.

Young film makers from the Alternative Schools Network came from all over Chicago to celebrate their achievements and enjoy a film screening. Over 400 kids showed up for this amazing event!

The event started with an awards ceremony. Each school proudly filled the stage to receive trophies for their winning category. After the all of the awards were passed out, Kuumba Lynx rocked the stage with some hip hop style dance. The energy from the members of the Kuumba Lynx dance crew was contagious.

A film screening had clips from all of the award winning films. This was a great opportunity to really see the hard work and dedication the filmmakers had put into their projects. All of the clips were unique and told the filmmakers’ stories. The clips included humorous, disheartening, real, and at points overwhelming methods of informing the public on different topics.

This year’s winners:

1st Place Award for Best Screenplay: “Cruz Romero: Info Tech Specialist” by West Town Academy Film Crew with Video Instructor: Mario Contreras.

1st Place Award for Best Treatment: “Ain’t That Right, Best Friend?” by Winnie Mandela Intergenerational High School Film Crew with Video Instructor: Chris Rose

1st Place Award for Best Public Service Film: “High School Lows” by Academy of Scholastic Achievement (ASA) Film Crew with Video Instructor: Joe Riina-Ferrie

1st Place Award for Best Film on an Issue of Urgent Concern: “Love and Abuse” by Community Christian Alternative (CCA) Academy Film Crew with Video Instructor: Jonathan Vogel.

1st Place Award for Best Drama: “One Week” by Charles Houston High School Film Crew with Video Instructor: Dan Mihail

1st Place Award for Best Short Film: “Consequences” by Howard Area Leadership Academy Film Crew with Video Instructor: Philister Sidigu

1st Place Award for Best Experimental Film: “Soccer Poem” by Lake View Academy Film Crew with Video Instructor: Mary Horan

1st Place Award for Best TV-News Program: “1000 Miles Away: Trayvon Martin” by Ada S. McKinley  Lakeside Academy with Video Instructor: Mel Gonzalez

1st Place Award for Best Youth Culture Documentary: “How People View Dance” by Sullivan House High School Film Crew with Video Instructor: Jon Mueller

1st Place Award for Best Documentary: “Mot-Town” by Truman Middle College Film Crew with Video Instructor: Jen Smith

1st Place Award for Best of Festival: “Job Talk 101” by Prologue Early College High School Film Crew with Video Instructor: Vedran Residbegovic

1st Place Award in the Global Filmmaking Challenge: “Music and Peace” by Miles Johnson and Stephanie Lewis, the 2 youth filmmakers who represented the ASN/CTVN video program partnership at the Global Filmmaking Challenge, presented by Facets Multimedia and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Congratulations to all of the winners. The films are incredible!

Click here to check out more pictures of the festival on our facebook page!