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2nd Annual Chicago Youth Community Film Festival Showcases Films Made by Teens With a Message for Teens

Posted on: Thursday, 14 May 2009, 05:00 CDT

'A Reel Look At Their Neighborhoods'

Films Show Issues That Chicago Students Are Facing Now

CHICAGO, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2nd Annual Chicago Youth Community Film Festival, "A Reel Look at their Neighborhoods", will be held at the Claudia Cassidy Theatre, located on the 2nd floor of the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph. With a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony at 6:30, and a film screening at 7:30. All events are free and open to the public.

This compelling event will showcase 22 short films produced by Chicago area students who had dropped out of high school and re-enrolled back into small, community-based high schools. The films were developed in classes taught by Community TV Network instructors, and sponsored by the Alternative Schools Network.

Currently, 10 alternative schools are participating in the Film Festival. Six of the schools have incorporated the project into the classroom curriculum. Schools also utilize the film curriculum in their after school programs and in their regular classes where students use the cameras as a tool for personal reflection and artistic expression.

Teens chose their topics for the films, deciding above all what messages teens really need. These films took several months to produce, and include topics students considered crucial, including domestic violence, voter registration, safe sex, and gang violence.

"The Film Festival enables students to develop the skills and techniques necessary for using this medium effectively. Moreover, it debunks the stereotype of African Americans and Latinos as performers, in front of the camera, by requiring students to be the producers, directors, and editors behind the camera," said Jack Wuest, Executive Director of the Alternative Schools Network.

The Film Festival gives students the capacity to disseminate their stories to a wide and varied audience.

Participating judges include John Petrakis, professor of Film, Video and New Media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and film critic for the Chicago Tribune; Jerry Blumenthal, a director, producer, editor and co-founder of Kartemquin Films; Steven Raphael, president of Required Viewing, a film representation and marketing agency; and RJ Bentler, executive producer of video-based website Pitchfork TV.

SOURCE Alternative Schools Network

Source: PR Newswire

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