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🎬 Calling all high school filmmakers in New York City! 🎥

Submit your films for The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s' first Annual Youth Film Festival and showcase your stories, talent, and voice on the big screen!

About The Brotherhood Sister Sol

The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) has provided transformative, systems-change social justice outcomes for over 29 years. We educate youth to become empowered change agents, we organize to raise awareness and dismantle unjust policies, and we train educators to replicate and scale our impact. We have educated over 5,000 youth, trained over 3,000 educators, and collaborated with hundreds of advocates and organizers. BroSis is one of the country's most unique and impactful Youth Development organizations.

We educate:
Through our comprehensive educational programs, we’re helping young people develop a critical understanding of their history, identity and role in society.

We organize:
Together with our members, alumni, and partners, we’re building on a legacy of youth-led activism to realize a more just and equitable future.

We train:
Through our innovative training models, we’re empowering educators and organizers to spark young agents of change across the nation. Founded and headquartered in Harlem, BroSis offers far-reaching opportunities for young people across the country to transform their lives and communities.

FESTIVAL THEME
The inaugural theme for the first Annual Youth Film Festival is “Dream the Change: Celebrating Youth Power + Radical Love.” We encourage films that showcase young people organizing and striving for change in their communities. We invite creators to answer the question: what does a world guided by radical love, abundance, and justice look like – as young people in New York City imagine?

We welcome submissions from high school students who participate in BroSis programming, BroSis alum, and students we haven’t yet met. The only eligibility requirement to submit a film is to be a high school student in New York City.

Awards & Prizes

This year, we welcome submissions across two categories:

CATEGORIES

1. Social Media Film:

Length: 1 minute

These can be short, micro stories, animations, skits, and beyond. Social media films are welcome (and expected) to be shot using day-to-day equipment, such as phones and tablets. Films shot in a "TikTok" or Reel style are welcome.

2. Short Film

Length: 5-10 minutes

Participants are welcome to submit short films of any genre.

SELECTION PROCESS

All films submitted to our Annual Youth Film Festival will be watched by The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s Media Arts members – which include photography & documentary students and facilitators. Based on their rankings, ten (10) finalist films will be chosen in the Social Media Film category, and five (5) finalist films will be chosen from the Short Film category.

All finalist films from across categories will be shown in our Annual Youth Film Festival Screening on February 18th, 2025, starting at 5:00 PM. The festival will take place at BroSis headquarters at 512 W 143rd Street in Harlem, New York City. All finalists are expected to attend.

From this finalist list, winners will be selected by 3 guest judges with years of media expertise — from writing, creating, directing, filming, and producing films. Awardees will be announced at the end of the festival screening.

Awards
* Category: Social Media Film (1-minute)

1st place: $200 Visa/AmEx gift card
2nd place: $150 Visa/AmEx gift card
3rd place: $100 Visa/AmEx gift card

* Category: Short Films (5-10 minutes)

1st place: Canon R50 Creator Kit ($899)
2nd place: GoPro Hero 12 ($450)
3rd place: Adobe Creative Cloud 1-year subscription ($240)

Rules & Terms

RULES & TERMS
All forms and videos must be submitted by January 1st, 2025.

All entrants will be notified via email by February 7th, 2025 as to whether or not their film has been selected as a finalist in the competition. Winners will be revealed during the screening, which they must attend in-person, on February 18th, 2025.

1. All film submissions must be predominantly teen-produced. The expectation is that high school students lead the production, screenwriting, interviewing, shooting, and editing of the film submitted.

NOTE: Adults can only marginally assist with production and/or mentor youth through film production. They are also encouraged to act!

2. At least two key crew member must be currently based in NYC 🗽

3. We accept narratives, documentaries, and animated films as long as they fit this year’s theme: “Dream the Change: Celebrating Youth Power + Radical Love”. We welcome creative interpretations of this year’s theme. 🎥📝🎨

4. We welcome films in languages other than English, but ask that those films have subtitles for accessibility.

5. Even though it is not a requirement, we encourage ALL films, regardless of language, to have subtitles for accessibility purposes. However, we will not disqualify films in English if they do not have subtitles, nor will it impact their consideration.

6. Title pages and credits should be included in your film.

7. Pair or group submissions are allowed, but you must designate a person that will communicate with BroSis on behalf of the film crew.

8. There is no fee to submit.

9. There is no limit to how many films each submitter may submit to the festival.

10. Films that do not meet the submission rules and guidelines may be disqualified.

11. All projects must be submitted in a format FilmFreeway can support, such as .mov, .wma or .mp4 formats.

12. The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s Annual Youth Film Festival is not strictly looking for films that have not been premiered. “A premiered film ” is defined as any film that has been screened to the public, or that has previously been screened at another festival. We welcome films that have been previously screened to the public, films that have been submitted to other festivals, and that have ongoing online distribution or availability (i.e on Youtube). The Brotherhood Sister Sol is not looking to own your film, edit it, distribute it, or prevent you from submitting it to future festivals. We can work with you to make sure this opportunity does not interfere with other screening opportunities.

Legal Disclaimer: All films should feature original content. By submitting to this festival, you are agreeing to the following: The applicant(s) submitting the film, and not The Brotherhood Sister Sol, holds the sole responsibility of copyright clearance of any copyrighted material in the film. It is not the responsibility of The Brotherhood Sister Sol to verify matters of copyright clearance. By entering your work, you agree to this and the responsibilities involved.

Legal Disclaimer: Films including unauthorized copyrighted material are ineligible. Projects submitted must be original, and use of unlicensed music, video or imagery may result in disqualification.

❓ Got questions? Email us at [Join@brotherhood-sistersol.org] and we’ll get back to you!
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  • DCTV Youth Media

    What an AMAZING FESTIVAL! It was their first one but they brought the excitement. Looking forward to applying next year!

    February 2025
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