Over the past four months, young people throughout Berkshire County, Columbia County, northeast Dutchess County, and northwest Litchfield County engaged with polarizing social issues by making a short film showing how they contend with problems and inequities in the world and in their communities.
The Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge—an initiative run by the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative and the Civic Life Project, and funded by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation—received submissions from young people across the region by the November 14 deadline.
Yonah Sadeh, a student at Bard College at Simon’s Rock from Falls Village, Conn., received first place and $2,000 for his film on affordable housing, “In Our Backyard”; Tommy Tranfaglia, a student at Endicott College from Lenox, Mass., was awarded the $1,000 second place prize for his film on learning and attention disabilities, “Misunderstood”; and Danny Wilkinson, a student at Mount Everett Regional High School from Sheffield, Mass., earned $500 and third place for his film about body image and self-esteem, “Self image.” The challenge was led by the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative and the Civic Life Project, with funding from Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Honorable mentions went to: Rachael Bentz, of Arts in Recovery for Youth from Pittsfield, Mass., for “The Story of Indigo Phoenix”; Anna Coon, a student at the University of Miami from Sharon, Conn., for “Hidden Insecurities”; Samantha Hoffman, a student at Chatham High School from East Chatham, N.Y., for “He/She/They”; and Madison Long, a student at Housatonic Valley Regional High School from Canaan, Conn., for “Under Pressure.”