Press & Events
YDA and the Ent Center Present Shifting the Lens
CLICK HERE FOR FREE TICKETS On February 8, the Ent Center at UCCS and the Youth Documentary Academy present a day and evening of film that addresses the critical issues of our time: destigmatizing mental health, colorism, immigration, intergenerational trauma and gender. Curated by the UCCS Social Work Club, these … Read more »
YDA National Award Winner Olive Van Eimeren featured on KOAA
https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/teen-documentarian-from-manitou-springs-wins-national-film-festival
YDA Profiled in CS Indy, November 2022
https://www.csindy.com/food_and_culture/culture/ambitious-local-filmmakers-have-a-lot-to-gain-from-olive-van-eimeren-s-documentary-win/article_dab1ce70-6490-11ed-93ce-9f5b256502e4.html
OUR TIME featured as Top Story in Denver’s Westword
https://www.westword.com/arts/youth-documentary-academy-films-play-on-pbs-12290813
Apply Today for YDA 2022
WRITERS PHOTOGRAPHERS STORYTELLERS FILMMAKERS ADVOCATES APPLY HERE The Youth Documentary Academy (“YDA”) is an intensive, eight-week summer documentary filmmaking fellowship serving teenagers, with under-represented voices, in Southern Colorado from ages 14-18. From initial concept to final edit and distribution, you will learn the process of documentary filmmaking, including hands-on training … Read more »
Youth Media Matters Film Festivals
The Youth Media Matters Film Festival was conceived in 2021 by Colorado Springs School District 11 and the Youth Documentary Academy. Since then, YDA has implemented Youth Media Matters in eight high schools and have received invitations for six more. Youth Media Matters pairs films and their directors from YDA’s PBS … Read more »
Closing Night Red Carpet Event — Bing Liu’s MINDING THE GAP
To celebrate the first Youth Media Matters Film Festival, the Youth Documentary Academy and School District 11 presented a special red-carpet screening event at Palmer High School main auditorium on Saturday, March 5. Festivities began at 6:30pm as we watched the Sundance award-winning and Oscar-nominated MINDING THE GAP and met the filmmaker, Bing Liu, … Read more »
2021 Indy Give! Launch
Dear Friend and Supporter, Let me thank you in advance for reading this personal statement. For some time, I’ve wanted to express to you what the Youth Documentary Academy (YDA) has meant to me personally this last decade. YDA has become the work of my professional life and work that … Read more »
2021 Master Class & Special Screenings
Join us each Tuesday evening in June at Kimball’s Peak Theater for a special screening and intimate and in-depth conversation with notable documentary filmmakers from around the country. This summer, we will screen films and excerpts from five award-winning directors whose work has made significant impact nationally and internationally. Join us for screenings … Read more »
YDA Student Films Shown at Short Circuit Film Festival
A big shout out to YDA filmmakers, Stevie Earnest, Bailey Fransisco, Samuel Faux, Taylor Novak, Rebecca St. John, and Kalia Hunter whose films were shown at the Short Circuit Film Festival this past March. An extra congratulations to Kalia Hunter who took the Women in Film Award and Bailey Francisco … Read more »
While walking around Boulder, so many people came up to me and my dad to thank me for making AFTER WAR.
Bailey Francisco, 17
