CineYouth Festival
Created in 2005, Cinema/Chicago’s CineYouth Film Festival is designed to encourage youth filmmakers in their creative endeavors. CineYouth provides opportunities for young filmmakers to articulate themselves artistically, and have their voice heard. Held annually in Chicago, CineYouth is a three-day festival celebrating and fostering the creativity of filmmakers 22 years old and younger by screening officially selected work and encouraging their creative endeavors by presenting a filmmaking workshop, discussions and panels.
CineYouth 2020
With Illinois’ shelter-in-place order in effect, we have decided to postpone our CineYouth Festival, originally scheduled for May 8-10, 2020. We will announce new dates once we can comfortably rescheduled CineYouth. CineYouth 2020 will include screenings of Officially Selected films, hands on workshops and special events. Approximately 60 films are accepted to CineYouth.
Submissions
Submissions for CineYouth 2020 are now closed.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Deadlines
- Early bird deadline: February 7
- Regular deadline: February 28
- Final deadline: March 13 (Deadline extended!)
Eligibility
- The film’s director(s) must have been 22 years old or younger at time of filming
- All films must be in English or subtitled in English
- The length of all submissions must be 15 minutes or less, including credits
- Past submissions to CineYouth may not be resubmitted
- You must provide your age at the time of film completion in the Synopsis
SUBMIT NOW
For full submission details and to submit your film for consideration, please use the FilmFreeway link below:
CineYouth 2019
Select Chicago Films
CineYouth 2020 has been postponed for now due to Illinois’ shelter-in-place order. We will announce new dates once we can comfortably rescheduled CineYouth. In the meantime, we’re happy to share a selection of Chicago-made films from the 2019 CineYouth Festival that are free to watch online. Enjoy our most recent selection of the next generation of filmmakers!
PILSEN NOT FOR SALE
Director: Natalie Braye, Liliana Bravo
The state of Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood, undergoing a change in identity amidst gentrification, told through the eyes of Pilsen’s local artists and the historic murals that have defined the community.
HEAR HER VOICE: HIDDEN VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE
Director: India Harris, Jaliyah Thompson, Gina Navarrete, Maya Thompson
An emotional exposé on female victims of gun violence in Chicago, Hear Her Voice is told with a powerful sense of urgency by the victims themselves as they reflect on the state of their community.
PANZóN
Director: Emilio Nieto
Formally ambitious and deeply vulnerable, PANZóN follows a Mexican-American teen in Chicago as he struggles with body image and self-acceptance.
SWING DREAMS
Director: Samuel Johnson
This magical pop music video delves into the anxieties and delusions of a hard breakup, following a pathetically dramatic boyfriend on the road to closure.
I AM AFRAID OF THE LIGHTS
Director: Kiernan Francis
A montage of the day in the life of a high school student, where over-stimulating classroom and social environments lead to feelings of dissociation.
GOOSE TOWN
Director: Nikki Milan Houston
Despondently driving around an industrial foreign town, a single mother posing as a customer service representative makes calls from different pay phones, attempting to reach the father of her child.
CineYouth Programs
CineYouth Film Challenge
Students ages 13-18 at the CineYouth Film Challenge complete a short film with their assigned team under the thrill of a deadline.
2019 Sponsors
2019 Additional Support
2019 Award Partners
Charles Droege and Julie Wroblewski • Byron and Judy Pollock • Brenda Robinson • Steven Kwate • Dr. Jennifer Kim
2019 Donors
Brian Dailey • Adrienne Davis • Corbin Horn • Tom Kehoe • Rick Nicita • Cynthia Olson • Judy Pollock
Joe Swanberg • Kathleen Turner • Paula Wagner • Mamie J Walton
212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400
