These films are available for viewing from Friday, May 1st at 7pm PT to Friday, May 29th at 7pm PT. Livestreams are also available to watch on the Visual Communications Youtube Channel and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Facebook page!
Youth Fx presents a discussion with NeXt Doc Fellows and fearless filmmakers, Lan Nguyen (FIGHTING FOR FAMILY), Drama Del Rosario (I’M OK (AND NEITHER ARE YOU), and Jalena Keane-Lee (STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS) on building authenticity in their works and discussing what empowers them to be creative in a changing world.
Co-presented with: Youth FX
.
Featuring:
Cai Thomas (Host)
Cai Thomas is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Chicago, originally from the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, FL. She tells stories at the intersection of identity, self-determination, and location, specifically how locale drives the possibilities of one’s life experiences and transitional moments. Cai has been supported by the Sundance Institute, NeXt Doc, Kartemquin Films and Sisters in Cinema.
Lan Nguyen
Lan Nguyen grew up in Long Beach, California as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She studied journalism and education at Northwestern University, and received her MA in Asian American Studies at UCLA. She is a lecturer with California State University of Long Beach, where she teaches ethnic studies to high school students. Lan is active in community organizing with VietUnity-SoCal movements to end incarceration and deportation, and utilizes filmmaking as a medium for social change. She is a 2019 NeXt Doc Fellow.
Drama Del Rosario
Drama Del Rosario is a Filipinx documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is the winner of the inaugural BAFTA-GSA Commissioning Grant in 2019 for his personal documentary I'M OKAY (AND NEITHER ARE YOU) on sexual assault trauma from a gay couple's perspective. As a queer filmmaker, Drama directs documentary films that challenge the conservative Filipinx Catholic background that he grew up in. Through the years, he has received numerous international awards from countries including the USA, UK, India, Australia, and the Philippines. He is a 2019 NeXt Doc Fellow and a member of the BAFTA Los Angeles Alumni Program. Currently, he is the Lead Video Producer for Believe LTD, an award-winning digital content agency located in the Hollywood Hills.
Jalena Keane-Lee
Jalena Keane-Lee is a director, cinematographer, and producer dedicated to decolonizing storytelling through uplifting underrepresented voices behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Jalena is the co-founder of Breaktide Productions, an all women of color video production company that makes films to increase understanding and ignite collective action, spanning social issues from indigenous resistance in Hawaii, to environmental racism in Oakland, to political organizing in Kashmir. Their writing, directing, and cinematography have earned awards and recognition from Sundance, The Aspen Institute, The Washington Post, SXSW, ITVS, Cannes Lions, and TEDx.
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Youth FX is designed to empower young people ages 10-24 by teaching them the technical and creative aspects of digital film making and media production. Based in the City of Albany, NY, our primary mission is to work with diverse groups of youth from communities that have been historically under-served and in need of opportunities to learn filmmaking and acquire skills in emerging media technologies. Youth FX hands-on programming develops leadership skills, creativity, and critical thinking, through the collaborative and artistic process of making films, amplifying the voices of young people in the capital region of New York State and around the world.
NeXt Doc is Youth FX's year-long fellowship that brings together emerging documentary storytellers from diverse backgrounds across the country with award-winning documentary filmmakers to learn, share, and build their skills.
These films are available for viewing from Friday, May 1st at 7pm PT to Friday, May 29th at 7pm PT. Livestreams are also available to watch on the Visual Communications Youtube Channel and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Facebook page!
Youth Fx presents a discussion with NeXt Doc Fellows and fearless filmmakers, Lan Nguyen (FIGHTING FOR FAMILY), Drama Del Rosario (I’M OK (AND NEITHER ARE YOU), and Jalena Keane-Lee (STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS) on building authenticity in their works and discussing what empowers them to be creative in a changing world.
Co-presented with: Youth FX
.
Featuring:
Cai Thomas (Host)
Cai Thomas is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Chicago, originally from the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, FL. She tells stories at the intersection of identity, self-determination, and location, specifically how locale drives the possibilities of one’s life experiences and transitional moments. Cai has been supported by the Sundance Institute, NeXt Doc, Kartemquin Films and Sisters in Cinema.
Lan Nguyen
Lan Nguyen grew up in Long Beach, California as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She studied journalism and education at Northwestern University, and received her MA in Asian American Studies at UCLA. She is a lecturer with California State University of Long Beach, where she teaches ethnic studies to high school students. Lan is active in community organizing with VietUnity-SoCal movements to end incarceration and deportation, and utilizes filmmaking as a medium for social change. She is a 2019 NeXt Doc Fellow.
Drama Del Rosario
Drama Del Rosario is a Filipinx documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is the winner of the inaugural BAFTA-GSA Commissioning Grant in 2019 for his personal documentary I'M OKAY (AND NEITHER ARE YOU) on sexual assault trauma from a gay couple's perspective. As a queer filmmaker, Drama directs documentary films that challenge the conservative Filipinx Catholic background that he grew up in. Through the years, he has received numerous international awards from countries including the USA, UK, India, Australia, and the Philippines. He is a 2019 NeXt Doc Fellow and a member of the BAFTA Los Angeles Alumni Program. Currently, he is the Lead Video Producer for Believe LTD, an award-winning digital content agency located in the Hollywood Hills.
Jalena Keane-Lee
Jalena Keane-Lee is a director, cinematographer, and producer dedicated to decolonizing storytelling through uplifting underrepresented voices behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Jalena is the co-founder of Breaktide Productions, an all women of color video production company that makes films to increase understanding and ignite collective action, spanning social issues from indigenous resistance in Hawaii, to environmental racism in Oakland, to political organizing in Kashmir. Their writing, directing, and cinematography have earned awards and recognition from Sundance, The Aspen Institute, The Washington Post, SXSW, ITVS, Cannes Lions, and TEDx.
--
Youth FX is designed to empower young people ages 10-24 by teaching them the technical and creative aspects of digital film making and media production. Based in the City of Albany, NY, our primary mission is to work with diverse groups of youth from communities that have been historically under-served and in need of opportunities to learn filmmaking and acquire skills in emerging media technologies. Youth FX hands-on programming develops leadership skills, creativity, and critical thinking, through the collaborative and artistic process of making films, amplifying the voices of young people in the capital region of New York State and around the world.
NeXt Doc is Youth FX's year-long fellowship that brings together emerging documentary storytellers from diverse backgrounds across the country with award-winning documentary filmmakers to learn, share, and build their skills.