PRESS RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA ­ March 23, 2007 ­ The Bresee Foundation Community Center is pleased to announce its 2nd Annual Youth Film Festival on Social Justice to be held May 17th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm in the community center located at 184 S. Bimini Place in Los Angeles, 90004.

The theme of this year’s festival is entitled: “No Child Left Behind…High School Dropouts!” According to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the high school dropout problem is the “New civil rights issue of our time.” The dropout rate has been at the center of local school reform for years and came to a head when a study by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University was released in March 2005. The study calculated that only 45% of students enrolled in Los Angeles High Schools were graduating.

The film festival is inviting Los Angeles youth ages 14 to 19 to make and submit films to the festival that examine this social crisis through their eyes. Youth who want to learn about film production, Final Cut Pro and gain access to high-end digital equipment are invited to enroll in film production classes at the Bresee center. “In this age of failing education among lower-income youth,” explains Jerold Kress, Arts and Multimedia Coordinator at the Bresee Foundation, “the festival’s primary purpose is not only to give a voice to these students, but also to educate them and their community on the need to graduate.”

Based on their extensive knowledge of educational issues and film quality the distinguished panel of festival judges will select winners who deliver the most powerful and influential films. Judges include: Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles Council President); David Tokofsky (Member of LA Board of Education District 5) Robert Mandell; (Dean, AFI Conservancy); Steve Anker (Dean of Film & TV, Cal Arts); Yolie Aguilar (Executive Director, LA County Children’s Planning Council); Monica Gazzo (Educator, Filmmaker); Jango Sircus (Screenwriter); Lisa Marr (Echo Park Film Center); Mario Vasquez (UTLA Area Rep); and Cristi Caitlin (Director Community Affairs, HBO).

Films must be submitted by April 20, 2007. Winners will be announced and screened at the Festival on May 17 at the Bresee Community Center, with miniDV camcorders awarded top five submissions.

For more information or to sponsor this event please contact:
Athena Boulgarides Director of Development Bresee Foundation by phone at (213) 387-2822 xt.167 or by e-mail at aboulgarides@bresee.org.