Our Time

Over 34 million Americans – ten percent of the population – identify as multiracial. Despite being one of the fastest growing segments, mixed race youth often feel unseen. In THE SPECTACULAR QUIET, filmmaker Sierra Buah explores the challenges of being mixed race in a white school. In SMALL STEPS, Marcus Salazar navigates being black and latino while being raised by his white grandmother.

A quarter of youth in the U.S. have become estranged with one or both parents. Fathers, in particular, are more likely to be cut off. In NOT ALL HEROES, filmmaker Connor Strange attempts to connect with an absentee father whom he’s idolized since childhood. Then, in an encore broadcast of SKINNED KNEES, Olive Van Eimeren attempts to reconcile with an abusive dad after a decade of silence.

Over 4.5 million children in the U.S. are adopted. While stigmas persist, many adopted teens are speaking out about their families. Abandoned on the steps of an Ethiopian church, filmmaker Dulcinea Harrison traces her origin story from Addis Ababa to Denver in I CHOOSE YOU. And, at 18, filmmaker Hannah Duran locates her biological mother with hard questions and unexpected answers in HANNAH’S HOME.

Since the Covid pandemic, few groups have been more impacted by mental health than teenagers. Leaders call it the public health crisis of this generation. In her film AFTERTASTE, filmmaker Ellie White recounts a life-threatening eating disorder and the courage it took to recover. And in INTRUSIVE, filmmaker Alexander Welty unveils the obsessional thoughts that have plagued him since childhood.