Over the past nine years, the Youth Media Program has been an integral part of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s community programming. Curated by Children’s Media Project, a Poughkeepsie-based arts and education organization focusing on media and technology, the Program brings the creative perspectives of young video artists from around the globe to the East End of Long Island.

The Hamptons International Film Festival provides a high-visibility platform for these youth-produced videos, with representatives from cable television networks and other distribution outlets such as HBO and Nickelodeon present and looking for new work. In addition, audiences of thousands are exposed to work produced by young people for the first time. These types of opportunities are exceptional for young, often first-time filmmakers. We also strongly feel that programs such as this play an integral role in increasing children and teenagers’ visual literacy, thereby helping them become more effective communicators, critical thinkers and engaged participants in society.

Students from East Hampton High School, The Ross School and East Hampton Middle School attend screenings of films made by young people and feature Family Film screenings. The programs that Children’s Media Project offer young people enables the schools to participate in our Festival, which has been a major cultural event in the community.

In addition, earlier this year The ¡Sorpresa! Network and the Hamptons International Film Festival announced that they will continue their partnership with the ¡Sorpresa! Youth Film Competition at 2008 Festival. For this year’s competition, ¡Sorpresa! is looking for outstanding short films created by young people ages 17 and under that illustrate “The World You Imagine” through a Hispanic lens. Five finalists will be selected and screened at the Festival as part of the Youth Media Program.