Film Library

Gabriel Valentine, 17, is a rising senior at Palmer High School. Since he was little, Gabriel has been drawn to film and video cameras and the impulse to help people tell their stories. At Palmer, Gabriel has been active in Terror TV, a school television program. In addition, he has produced short media pieces for Inside Out in Colorado Springs. For his YDA project, Gabriel wanted to investigate fatherhood through the eyes of those who’ve had strong fathers, and through his own eyes: since Gabriel was two, he’s been raised exclusively by one parent, his mother. When he turns the camera on her, the film becomes an intimate testament to parenthood in general as a mother and son come to deeper terms with their own special relationship in the absence of a father.

From Academy Award® winning director Roger Ross Williams, LIFE, ANIMATED is the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films.

Twenty months after the horrific mass shooting in Newtown, CT that took the lives of twenty elementary school children and six educators on December 14, 2012, the small New England town is a complex psychological web of tragic aftermath in the wake of yet another act of mass killing at the hands of a disturbed young gunman. Kim A. Snyder’s searing Newtown documents a traumatized community fractured by grief and driven toward a sense of purpose.

Andy Kwiatowski, 18, is a recent graduate of Rampart High School in Colorado Springs. Andy came to YDA to make a documentary about growing up with an autistic disorder and turned the camera on himself, his parents and sister in telling a deeply personal account. His film LONELY HIGHWAY, is an intimate portrayal of family love and support as they come to terms with the unique challenges of and resilience necessary to being on the autistic spectrum. Prior to joining YDA, Andy took several film and media classes in school and produced a comic strip, stop motion video and several small films.

Spain,1977. Colonel Asensio has gathered his family and friends to celebrate his birthday. The party is going perfectly. However, one of the guests holds a secret that has been buried for many years but that refuses to stay hidden.

Rebel artist Duke Riley embarks on an epic journey to China to reenact a legendary race among 12 animals that determined the Chinese zodiac.

Léa Brassy grew up in northern France. By the time she was 17, she moved to southern France for the warm water surf. Accustomed to a life on the road, her nomadic lifestyle takes a pause at the Unstad break in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway.

Morag, 86, shares her unique love of life out on the edge, on Scotland’s Western Isles.

Tino’s interest in art and graffiti led him to develop a film project about the role of graffiti art and how our culture defines, demonizes and, in some cases, celebrates it.

In the hierarchy of her nunnery, 82 year-old Mother Ksenya has now achieved the second-to-last level. She is heading towards complete silence, the Great Schema. But before that she has been given permission to tell her story for the last time.

In New York City subway station, a dazzlingly dressed all-female mariachi band brings the platform to life. It’s a four-minute slice of life that captures the women’s bravery as they challenge the gender norms of their favorite music.

Noe travels to Madrid to spend a romantic weekend with Carlos. However, the city has other plans for her.