Tribeca Film Festival's "Our City, My Story" Screening "I Am Lobsang"

Tribeca Film Festival Youth Media Screening: Our City, My Story

Our City, My Story is an annual celebration of excellence in New York City youth-made media that gives student-made work an audience during the Tribeca Film Festival. RSVP to join us as we celebrate these films and the students, schools and organizations who made them.

Our City, My Story takes place Thursday, April 26 at 5PM
Tribeca Performing Arts Center at BMCC
199 Chambers St, NYC

RSVP: education [at] tribecafilminstitute [dot] org
(indicate how many will be attending in your email)

Filmmakers, join us at 4pm for a pre-screening red carpet event in honor of your exemplary work.
 

This year's films will be:
 

E PLURIBUS UNUM
Downtown Community TV Center (DCTV)
By Jenny Lam, Khadija Charles, Nicole Diaz, Austin Cox, Kevin Smith

How many people, cultures, and lives come into contact with a dollar bill daily? Join DCTV filmmakers as they track the journey of a single dollar bill through New York City, and highlight their interconnectedness.

 
SAGOMATIC
Maysles Institute
By Alejandro Rosario

Through interviews with community members and teens, Alejandro Rosario explores the social and cultural origins of saggy pants.

 
COMMUNITY WORD POEM
The Young Women’s Leadership School of Queens (TYWLS)
By Sunana Mazhar, Karla Suero, Breanna Evelyn, Kimbela Pena, Manuela Garcia, Myckel Jenkins, Chanell Benjamin, Najah Holland, Sameera Ahmed, Kiara Bryant, Paola Castellon, Nia Oliver, Nia Seaton, Chanel Dimanche, Aliya Agbomson, Chanel Dimanche, Gayan Ashley Colman, Salina Holm, Sadaya Hurtte, Vanessa Jackson, Diksha Kaur, Shameeka Moody, Amy Ramoutar, Kayla Sabino, Soussaba Sissoko, Daija Smith, Bria Fields, Aliyah Harrison, Salina Holm, Kim Alexis Williams, Rema Yousefi

Using a spoken word as a medium, students from The Young Women’s Leadership School in Queens, elaborate on the various aspects of life that have made them strong, brave, and powerful young women.

 
HOPE’S POEM
The Young Women’s Leadership School of Queens (TYWLS)
By Sunana Mazhar, Karla Suero, Breanna Evelyn, Kimbela Pena, Manuela Garcia, Myckel Jenkins, Chanel Benjamin, Najah Holland, Nia Oliver, Izzonna Daniels, Chanel Dimanche, Gayan Ashley, Bria Fields, Aliyah Harrison, Salina Holm

In this descriptive spoken word piece, a young woman from TYWLS asserts her self-worth in a society that often questions the value of individuality.
 

I AM LOBSANG
Global Action Project
By Eduardo Enciso, Lobsang Gyaltsen, Cheick N’Diaye, Tenzin Pema, Jessica Rodriguez, Jesus Villalba, Sonam Wangchen, Joy Paul

Lobsang is a young Tibetan immigrant living in New York City, struggling to navigate the barriers of language and hardships of discrimination. He comes to understand that language is not his problem, so much as living in a xenophobic society. Will Lobsang be able to break through his turmoil or will he fall deeper into isolation?

 
ZOMBIE DOG
Edgemont High School
By Matthew Seife

Everybody wants somebody to love them. That’s the story of Zombie Dog, shunned by his family because he looks too dead and bends on finding a new loving home that will accept him just the way he is.

 
MORTGAGE MAYHEM
Educational Video Center
By Michael Donato Garcia, Annmarie Haubert, Courtney Mackie, Mario Morales, Alexandra Person-Bell, Julio Ruiz, Christian Soria

Students from Educational Video Center (EVC) document their classmate as she uncovers the truth behind her family's struggle to keep their home. Combining personal stories and interviews with housing advocates & financial journalists, this film gives a human face to the foreclosure and predatory lending crisis in NYC.

 
HUSH LITTLE BABY DON’T YOU CRY
The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem (TYWLS-EH)
By Patricia Vazquez, Paloma Cruz, Mariana Vasconcelos, Mariely Mena, Rosanna Reyes, Natalie Orellana

In a powerful and moving rendition of her poem, “Hush Little Baby Don’t You Cry,” Patricia Vazquez explores how society has put women in difficult situations when it comes to managing their sexuality.

 
UNDOCUMENTED & UNAFRAID
Urban Arts Partnership
By Antoinette Walker, Leneya Payton, Benjamin Phillips, Camekia Reid, Courntey Gayle, Hakeem Watson, Justin Smith, Kendall Clarke, Khadijah Best, Krystal Ayala, Latisha Skeritt, Marcus Monfiston, Selima Rougier, Shaday Rougier, Sherese Ifill, Tameka Bryce, Lysanndra Jones, Calum Williamson, Kiani Sutherland, Eduardo Luna, Luis Velazquez, Igor Grynivetskiy, Daniel Familia, Kendra Tull, Miguel Elizalde, Petra Wimer

Undocumented & Unafraid gives a voice to the thousands of immigrant youth who are actively pursuing their dreams of obtaining citizenship rights and therefore education in the US. Told through the eyes of NYS Youth Leadership organizer Melissa, the documentary explores the obstacles facing undocumented youth and offers a framework for organizing a movement and creating change through the power of storytelling.

 
SEUL
Downtown Community TV Center (DCTV)
By Kira Britt, Caleb Farell, Aliya Jones

Do you ever stop to look? I mean really stop to look—at the clouds, the people, the pavement, the lights, the space between past and present? Join Seul as he explores all that makes up New York City’s diverse culture and enjoy the city through one of its young inhabitant’s eyes.

 
DANIEL
Maysles Institute
By Roxanne Mauras, Leunice Faust

Join Daniel as he narrates his life as a gay teen in New York: dealing with bullies, battling misconceptions, and parsing out who he is and what he wants from life. Through Daniel’s trials and tribulations, the audience gains new perspective on what it means to be a gay teen.

 
BIG CITY, SMALL TOWN
Friends Seminary High School
By Stefanos Tai

New York City Real Estate is undergoing massive changes on the political and cultural levels.  Stefanos Tai explores the changes in his community and the recent impact New York’s rent stabilization laws have had on communities around the city. Tai interviews his neighbors to understand how they feel about the law’s expiration and larger mobilizations by New Yorkers to fight the law’s renewal.

 
FAST BREAK
Stuyvesant High School
By Eliza Mitnick

This short narrative explores the struggle to overcome physical restraints in order to pursue a passion.  It is the story of a young boy who loves basketball, but has an accident and becomes wheelchair-bound.  Although his friends don't want to play with him, he still dreams about being back on the court, even if it means playing in his wheelchair.  Ultimately, the boy is able to work through his obstacles and get back on the court, changing another boy's perception of physical limitations.