Join us for South End Cinema on Thursday, November 21st, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Youth FX Studios, 25 Warren St, Albany, NY. This FREE, public screening features a program of award-winning short documentaries by Mexican-American filmmaker and NeXt Doc Fellow César Martínez Barba, followed by an in-person Q & A.

Presented by Youth FX and NeXt Doc, South End Cinema brings remarkable films and filmmakers to Albany’s South End, fostering connection and conversation through cinema. Doors open early, with light refreshments available. Space is limited—arrive on time or early to secure your spot! To learn more about César’s work please visit: cesarmartinezbarba.com

Youth FX Presents:

Karaoke Night for Youth

Friday May 3rd @ 6:00pm

Join us for one our most highly anticipated events Karaoke night!!! A night filled with music, dance, poetry and so much more.

Karaoke Night for Youth
May 3rd, 2024
6:00 – 9:00pm
Youth FX
25 Warren Street

FREE TO ATTEND

***This is a FREE event and light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

South End Cinema presents:

Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

w/ co-directors MICHÉLE STEPHENSON and JOE BREWSTER

Thursday April 18th @ 6:30pm

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators. Combining parallel cinematic story editing with visually innovative treatments of her poetry, along with intimate vérité, rich archival footage, and Giovanni’s own captivating contemporary performances.

Going to Mars recounts the story of the artist and her works of resistance through the tumultuous historical periods in which she lived—from the Civil Rights Movement, to the Black Arts Movement, to present-day Black Lives Matter.

The film screening will be followed by an in-person Q & A with co-directors Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster!

***This event is FREE and open to the public!
With support from New York State Council on the Arts & Film Albany

Youth FX Presents: Storying as Reclamation

Tuesday, April 9th at 6:30pm

Community Screening | Poetry Reading | Panel Discussion | Light Refreshments

Join Youth FX and Dr. Caroline N. Sharkey, visiting assistant professor at the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare, for the community screening and discussion of a youth participatory action research project, “Storying as Reclamation.” This work culminates a 2022 dissertation study involving youth co-researchers to examine youth voice, collective efficacy, and the power of arts-based approaches to building community. The data from the interviews, focus groups, and behind-the-scenes were shaped into a powerful documentary and data poems that seek to re/orient community-engaged research into works of social and collective action.

Storying as Reclamation
April 9, 2024
6:30 – 8:30pm
Youth FX
25 Warren Street
(Art: Miki Foster)

FREE TO ATTEND

***This is a FREE event and light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Youth FX Presents: Film Screening & Community Conversation

Tuesday March 26th at 7pm

Please join us on Tuesday March 26th at 7pm at Youth FX Studios in creating space for an inter-generational community of people to gather, view two powerful short films produced by Youth FX (Seeds Of Hope & Tyler) and have an honest, open, and generative, conversation about violence that continues to affect our communities in the City of Albany.

Panelists will include Allison Williams, Stacey Rhodes, Kercel Montes, Jazlyn Gorousingh, Dr. Lisa Good and will be moderated by Dr. Caroline Sharkey.

FREE TO ATTEND

***This is a FREE event and light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

FB Event Page: https://fb.me/e/46hkTEDtw

Friday Night Flicks: Attack The Block

• Friday, December 1st, 2023

• Youth FX (map)

Come join us for a night of fun! Snacks will be provided!

About the Film:

Attack the Block follows a group of tough inner city kids who make an unlikely alliance to try to defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an intergalactic war-zone. This sci-fi action comedy features John Boyega in his first lead role.

WATCH THE TRAILER

Event Details:

• Date: Friday, December 1st 2023

• Venue: Youth FX Studio, 25 Warren St., Albany, NY 12202

• Film Starts: 5:00 PM

Youth FX will kick off a new screening series called South End Cinema with a special exclusive Capital Region screening of the award-winning documentary film, Q, on Saturday, September 23rd at 7pm at Youth FX Studios, 25 Warren St., Albany, NY 12202. 

Event Details:

• Date: Saturday, September 23rd

• Venue: Youth FX Studio, 25 Warren St., Albany, NY 12202

• Doors Open: 6:30 PM

• Film Starts: 7:00 PM

Q is a compelling exploration of the delicate balance between love and devotion, offering an intimate and haunting portrayal of a quest for love and acceptance at any cost. The film delves into the insidious influence of a secretive matriarchal religious order in Lebanon on three generations of women in the Chehab family, and takes viewers on a masterful journey through the unspoken ties and consequences of loyalty that have bound her family to this mysterious organization.   

Filmmaker Jude Chehab, who in 2017 was a Fellow in Youth FX's NeXt Doc Fellowship Program, has earned numerous accolades for the film, including the award for Best New Documentary Director at this year's Tribeca Film Festival where the film had its world premiere, and Best International First Feature at Sheffield Doc Fest.  Q has also screened at Camden International Film Festival, Kosovo DokuFest, and will screen this fall at New Orleans Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival among other top festivals on the circuit. 

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Jude Chehab, editor Fahd Ahmed which will be moderated by Youth FX co-executive director and Q consulting producer Bhawin Suchak.  

About Jude Chehab: Jude Chehab is a Lebanese-American filmmaker with a unique cinematic perspective that explores the esoteric, the spiritual, and the unspoken. She has honed her richly layered visual and intimate shooting style under the mentorship of Abbas Kiarostami's final student group. Jude's work has earned her recognition from organizations such as the BBC, Hot Docs, and Sesame Workshop, and she has received fellowships from CAAM, BGDM, NeXt Doc, Points North Institute, Firelight Media, Close-Up, and Chicken & Egg. Her debut feature documentary, "Q," has garnered support from IDA, ITVS, TFI, and the Sundance Institute, culminating in multiple prestigious awards and critical acclaim. In 2021, Filmmaker Magazine named her one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

Albany's award winning Youth FX program will host the World Premiere of our 2019 short films on Thursday April 18th @ 7pm at Landmark Spectrum 8 Theatres. The screening will feature short narrative films and documentaries and will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers and program directors. f you can’t make the premiere, there will be an encore screening on Tuesday April 23rd @ 7pm at Landmark Spectrum 8 Theatres.

Cost:
$10/Adults $8/Students

Buy Tickets Online:
WORLD PREMIERE Thursday April 18th @ 7pm: http://tinyurl.com/yfx2019

ENCORE SCREENING Tuesday April 23rd @ 7pm: http://tinyurl.com/yfx2019encore

***Please note that our screening is rated PG-13 as some of our films have intense scenes and explore complex and mature issues.

YOUTH FX Is Turning 10 - Come Party With Us!!!

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW: www.youthfx10years.eventbrite.com

Join us as we celebrate our accomplishments over the past 10 years, building an organization dedicated to empowering young people through filmmaking. Founded and led by people of color and young people, Youth FX strives to elevate the skills and voices of filmmakers ages 10-24 from marginalized communities and to support their growth by building connections to the broader film industry.

As we chart a course for the next decade, we need YOUR support. Please join us on Friday December 14th at Opalka Gallery** for a festive evening as we celebrate the young people in our community who have found or amplified their voices through Youth FX programs. This celebration will feature food and drinks from local restaurants, special exclusive screenings of new work by Youth FX filmmakers, speakers and music by DJ Trumastr and DJ Intell Hayesfield.

All proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to supporting our FREE programming that reaches over 500 young people each year in the City of Albany.

Sponsorship opportunities are available, please email: david@youthfx.org for more information.

**There is plenty of parking behind the gallery and beside the Sage Armory. There is also on street parking available.

August’s FREE Basilica Non-Fiction Screening Series event will will feature short narrative films and documentaries made by the young filmmakers of Albany’s Youth FX.The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and program directors.

Explore the documentary genre through screenings and dialogue with visiting directors with a season of FREE public screenings, programmed in collaboration with NeXt Doc – a program of Youth FX and the Logan Non-Fiction Program.

We are thrilled to partner with Youth FX. Cultivating the voices of young people is more crucial than ever, and Youth FX’s commitment to nurturing and inspiring the next generation of filmmakers is deeply aligned in Basilica’s commitment to independent voices in film. Through programs like NeXt Doc, they help ensure that real-life voices are empowered to tell their own stories through the language of cinema.

MORE INFO: http://basilicahudson.org/basilica-non-fiction-screening-series-august/

Youth FX 2018 World Premiere of New Films

Albany's award winning Youth FX program will host the World Premiere of our 2018 short films on Thursday April 19th @ 7pm at the Landmark's Spectrum 8 Theatres.  There will also be an encore screening on Tuesday April 24th @ 7pm***

Both screenings will feature new short narrative films and documentaries produced as part of Youth FX programs and will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers and program directors.

Advance Tickets Available Online:
April 19th @ 7pm:  https://tinyurl.com/yfx2018
April 24th @ 7pm:  https://tinyurl.com/yfx2018encore

Join our FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2001540146542258/

Proceeds from the 2 screenings will go towards supporting our summer program which is FREE for all City of Albany residents.
***Please note that our screening is rated PG-13 as some of our films have intense scenes and explore teen issues***

JOIN US AT OUR NEW SPACE FOR A SCREENING OF THE BEST OF OUR AWARD-WINNING FILMS PRODUCED IN THE PAST 10 YEARS BY YOUTH FX FILMMAKERS FROM THE CITY OF ALBANY. MEET THE FILMMAKERS & LEARN MORE ABOUT UPCOMING PROGRAMS.

Join and share the event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1721791344508981/

YOUTH FX GRAND OPENING

Thursday January 25th @ 5pm-8pm

25 Warren Street
Albany, NY 12202 (South End near Lincoln Park)

Come join us as we celebrate our incredible new Youth FX space located at 25 Warren St.(across the street from the Capital South Campus Center) in the heart of Albany's South End neighborhood!  We're excited to kick off our 10th year as an award-winning film and digital media program for young people in the City of Albany!

This is a FREE Event w/ Food & Drinks and beats provided by DJ Trumastr!

***This is a free event, but please RSVP at the Eventbrite link below so we can plan for enough food and drinks***

https://youthfxopening.eventbrite.com

Youth FX presents an encore screening of brand new short films produced by young filmmakers from our award-winning program!

Last week we sold out our premeire, recieving a great response to our new films an diverse program of dramas, comedies, thrillers and documentaries. The screening will start at 7pm and will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers, actors and crew members from the program.

Tickets Available Online: https://tinyurl.com/m6ss4nw

Join Our Facebook Event HERE

MARCH 30TH @ 7pm
SPECTRUM 8 THEATERS: 290 Delaware Ave., Albany NY
TICKETS: $10/adults$8/students

Albany's award-winning Youth FX teen filmmaking program will host the world premiere of our 2016 short films on Thursday March 24th, 7pm at the Spectrum 8 Movie Theatres. The screening will feature short documentary and narrative films created by teens from the city of Albany over the past year followed by a Q & A with the youth filmmakers and program directors.

Youth FX film Reach, directed by Ejaniia Clayton, will be screened at the 2017 DIYDS Film Festival in Boston, MA. 

“Do It Your Damn Self!!” (DIYDS!!) National Youth Film Festival is the longest running youth-produced festival in the country, drawing over 800 youth and adults to public screenings every year. Founded in 1996 by six Cambridge teens who felt misrepresented in the media and wanted to do something about it, the festival is a champion of social-justice and issue- focused youth filmmakers who want to see change and make it happen.

For more info: http://www.diyds.org/

Our short documentary Marquis directed by Darian Henry & Maya Suchak will be screening at the 2017 POWFest in Portland, OR. 

POWFest provides a space where women can thrive as media makers.We accomplish this by putting strong, women-directed films on screen, growing the next generation of women filmmakers, and making it easier for women to make films.

Festival events feature the work of today’s top women directors, honoring the true pioneers while providing support and recognition for the next generation of leading women filmmakers. We also provide space and support to strengthen the community of women in film.

More Info: http://powfest.com/

As You Are Special Benefit Screening Event

Friday March 3rd @ 7pm ---  Spectrum 8 Theaters

***Tickets for this special event can only be purchased online at this link: http://asyouare.bpt.me

We're excited to announce this special Youth FX hosted screening of Sundance award-winning As You Are on March 3rd @ 7pm at Spectrum 8 Movie Theatres with Q & A after with Albany born and raised trio behind the film: director/screenwriter Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, screenwriters Madison Harrison and producer/colorist Joseph Mastantuono along with Mary Stuart Masterson.

Filmed entirely in the Capital Region, As You Are features incredible performances from rising young stars: Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), Amandla Stenberg (Hunger Games) and Owen Campbell (The Americans) along with Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon, Some Kind of Wonderful & Fried Green Tomatoes) and Scott Cohen (Kissing Jessica Stein).

This screening is co-sponsored by Film Albany & Upstate Independents and all proceeds will benefit the Youth FX program and support our FREE filmmaking programs for young people in the City of Albany.  Youth FX was a big part of the As You Are production, with students working as production assistants, behind the scenes video, acting, extras and helping with wardrobe and set building.

Questions please email: bhawin@youthfx.org

WATCH THE OFFICIAL AS YOU ARE TRAILER:

Read some As You Are Reviews Below:

"A gripping epic that isn't afraid to take chances."   - rogerebert.com

"Three of the strongest teenage performances in recent history." - Variety Magazine

"As You Are Is an Indie Dream that Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Vanity Fair

"As You Are captures the dreamy intimacy of teenage relationships where boundaries between friendship and love prove porous." - Village Voice

New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development, Film Albany & New York State Museum invite you to Celebrate Filmmaking in New York State with a Special Cinema Sunday event: YOUTH FX PRESENTS!

SUNDAY MAY 1st@ 2pm in the NYS MUSEUM Clark Auditorium

An afternoon of award-winning shorts from Youth FX, the Albany-based film program, and selected footage from Sundance award winner: As You Are, which was filmed right here in the capital region.

This event is FREE and open to the public

Students and a faculty from Youth FX will be screening a program of award-winning shorts on the Simon's Rock campus and will be on hand for a discussion after the screening.

The program will feature short narrative and documentary films that have been produced by Youth FX filmmakers over the past two years.  Many of these films have won awards and screened at film festivals across the country including: Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Fest, San Fransisco International Film Festival, Chicago Film Fest, Woodstock Film Festival and Harlem International Film Festival, just to name a few.

Youth FX is an intensive hands-on program designed to introduce young people aged 14-19 in the city of Albany, NY to the technical and creative aspects of digital filmmaking by offering a thorough overview of the production process from script to screen

ENCORE SCREENING of new films from Albany's award winning Youth FX teen filmmaking program will host the world happen on Wednesday April 6th, 6:30pm at the Spectrum 8 Movie Theatres. The screening will feature short documentary and narrative films, and the release of a brand new Youth FX Album all created by teens from the city of Albany over the past year. The screening will be followed by a Q & A with the youth filmmakers and program directors.

$10/Adults $5/Students

To Purchase Advance Tickets: LINK

Youth FX 2016 Trailer:

Albany's award-winning Youth FX teen filmmaking program will host the world premiere of our 2016 short films on Thursday March 24th, 6:30pm at the Spectrum 8 Movie Theatres. The screening will feature short documentary and narrative films created by teens from the city of Albany over the past year followed by a Q & A with the youth filmmakers and program directors. 

$10/adults $5/students

To Purchase Advance Tickets:  LINK

This year’s slate of Youth FX films take a deep and complex look at issues of race, juvenile justice, bullying, modern day communication, love, and the realities of refugee youth living in Albany.  The bulk of the films were produced as part of the 2015 Youth FX summer program where 38 young people ages 14-22 explored the technical and creative aspects of filmmaking and digital media.  Youth FX will also debut its first full length album at the event, which features 10 tracks of original music that was also produced during the summer program. 

Films premiering will include six new narrative shorts including Guilt Trip, a story, filmed in one take, of two cousins who face a dilemma after committing a crime to help their grandfather, Shot, a provocative look at racial profiling of black youth, Manhunt, a dark glimpse at the consequences of bullying, A Moment Ago, a clever time-travel comedy, Brothers, a dramatic unraveling of family secrets and Nightmare of My Dreams, our first ever Youth FX animated short.  New documentaries explore juvenile justice through the lens of the local Marquis Dixon case (Marquis), a raw and honest look at bullying (Finding Strength), a critical look at how we communicate today (Evolution of Communication) and a story of local refugee youth from Libya (Sara).

One Youth FX documentary film that will be shown at the premiere, Make It Float, will be getting some huge exposure next month at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival (TFF).  A collaboration between Youth FX filmmaker Aden Suchak and Albany High School fashion designer Taofeek Abijako, the documentary was one of 5 films, out of 250 submissions nationwide, selected to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of The America I Am, a new TFF youth program in partnership with The Statue of Liberty National Monument.