Following the acceptance of their film into the All-American High School Film Festival, Olivia A. ’22, Frances F. ’22, and Caitlin S. ’22 reflected on their experience of making the film and seeing it screened in New York.

This past March, the three of us participated in the Filmmaking for Change March Term. We knew little about the intersection of activism and film going into this class and, over the course of the month, we learned the art of filmmaking.

Our film, Avoidable Trauma, focused on creating awareness around the effects of gun violence on school communities. The three of us have been passionate about this issue for a while and thought that media broadcasting would be a useful tool to educate others about this issue. We submitted our film to the All American High School Film Festival, which holds screenings in Times Square, where thousands of high school students gather every year to share their films.

Since we didn’t have any previous filmmaking experience, we were surprised to be granted the opportunity to view our film on the big screen, and once we found out that we were accepted, we wanted to do our best to attend. After working through many details, we finally got to go.

We got the opportunity to view so many incredible films and witness many students receive hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships to college. Even though we ourselves didn’t come away with an award, it was a privilege and honor to be able to attend such an inspiring event filled with many of the world’s future filmmakers.

It was also a good reminder to try something new, even if you have no experience because pursuing your passion through activism can change the minds of many. Activism can occur in many forms and is crucial to shaping the world of future generations.