At their core, films do what civics demands: they ask us to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Storytelling has always been the engine of democratic participation. Before people engage with policy, they need to care — and stories are how we learn to care. Based in Colorado Springs, Youth Documentary Academy (YDA) prepares a new generation of underrepresented storytellers and helps them locate and amplify their voices through the art of documentary film. Through instruction, production, and distribution, YDA helps young people transpose their own stories into broadly accessible and impactful media, opening the door to courageous conversations. This session features four short films by Colorado Springs youth and a Q&A with filmmakers Autumn Reel and Allyson Peña de Niz, Tom Shepard of Youth Documentary Academy, and moderated by Cass Walton of Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership.
Allyson, a high-achieving first-generation daughter from Mexico, reflects on her family's experiences and engages in heartfelt conversations with other first-generation daughters. Together, they share the pressures they place on themselves to succeed and express tenderness and reverence for the sacrifices their parents have made. (13min)
Autumn Reel's film navigates Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and an education and health system that stigmatizes menstruation and deprioritizes women's health. (13min)
Cristian Perez provides a window into being unhoused and the systemic conditions that allow for homelessness to be on the rise in Colorado (12min)
Taylor Saulsbury examines how young people mourn the future with a changing climate and how they're finding their voice to advocate for change (7min)
