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Know Your Rights
Source: Make the Road New York
Subject: Immigration
Type: Press Advisory

At the 9th Annual Havana Film Festival, Part of NYC's Immigrant Heritage Week, Interactive Workshop at Make the Road New York, Brooklyn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 25th, 2008

The New Children/New York Film Project is proud to announce that it will showcase new films by its youth and professional filmmakers at two upcoming and prestigious Immigrant Heritage Week events.

New Children/New York uses filmmaking to explore the experience of growing up as a Latino immigrant in NYC. Since September 2006, the project has been training youth ages 10-22 in Bushwick, Brooklyn to make their own films about their lives and points of view. These films have shown on television and the web, in many public screenings and at youth and major film festivals across NYC. The culmination of the project is the creation of a feature documentary film collaboratively made by the student filmmakers and their teachers. The documentary will reveal how this group of young people is using filmmaking to make sense of, cope with and rise above the challenges of being a Second Generation Latino Immigrant.

ABOUT THE TWO EVENTS

    * SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 2008, 1:00-3:00PM, at QUAD CINEMAS (34 W. 13th St., Manhattan): The 9th Annual Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) will include a program devoted to films by New Children/New York filmmakers. Eight of these films have been made by young Latino filmmakers and represent their individual experiences, interests, points of view and concerns. The HFFNY’s New Children/New York program will conclude with the premiere screening of an advanced 20-min. cut of the feature documentary. A Q&A with all the filmmakers will follow the screenings. Tickets to the program are $10.50 or $7.50 for seniors and children.

    * SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2008, 2:00-5:00PM, at MAKE THE ROAD NY (301 Grove St., Brooklyn): New Children/New York will host a free public workshop called "New Children/New York Presents Being Different: Youth Films For Community Organizing." This bilingual, two-part workshop will showcase films examining how these young Latino filmmakers feel "different" in their communities. The issues we will explore include immigrant life, being undocumented, sexuality, appearance, food choices and family structures. The goal of the workshop is to help attendees develop strategies for integrating youth media-making into organizing and advocacy around these issues. A light reception will follow.

New Children/New York is supported by the Havana Film Festival New York, The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Make the Road NY, Brooklyn Arts Council-NY Department of Cultural Affairs, Independence Community Foundation, North Star Fund and individual donors.
Immigrant Heritage Week is a citywide celebration that honors the experiences and contributions of immigrants in NYC. Established by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2004 and coordinated by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Immigrant Heritage Week is a rich collection of free or low-cost programs that build cross-cultural understanding between diverse New Yorkers.

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