We had a blast at our 2019 Film Fest! Between the inspiring films, community celebration, our Special Guest Emcee, and our incredible youth environmental leaders, the Film Fest was an inspiring evening!
Find more info about our event of the year here! Check out our full film lineup here and our gallery of photos from our 2019 Film Fest!
Introducing our Special Guest Emcee, Anisha Desai!
Anisha has dedicated herself to movement support, educational equity, and youth leadership development for two decades. At AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance), she works to strengthen movements for social justice and a solidarity economy through an intersectional approach to liberation. She previously directed the New Leaders Initiative and Brower Youth Awards at Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, where she shaped and supported the next generation of youth environmental movement leaders through creative and inclusive organizational models. In addition, she has designed programs, developed curriculum, and hosted popular education workshops. Anisha has a passion for creating cultures that value democratic participation, mentorship, healing, equity, and justice.
Photo by Bex Kwan
Hear directly from the New Voices Are Rising Fellows:
We featured our New Voices Are Rising program during 2019 Film Fest! Through a film and Q&A with the students, the audience learned more about our students’ experience in our environmental justice leadership development program for Oakland youth.
During the New Voices Fellows Q&A, Michelle was asked:
As a young person, what does an environmentally just future look like to you, and what do you need from all of us to achieve it?
“As a young person, just imagining a future in the first place is hard…. An environmental movement for a just future needs to be DIVERSE. Diversity allows for various perspectives on issues. This will help shape a more inclusive and ideal future.… And what we need from y’all is to help put youth in positions of power…. We need you to care about our future as well. We need you to think beyond your lifetime, so you can help plan for my future and those after me.”
-Michelle, New Voices 2019-20 Organizing Fellow
All proceeds from the Film Fest provide direct support for the Rose Foundation’s work
to Foster Stewardship, Build Community, and Demand Justice.
Have you checked out our full film lineup?
It’s pretty exciting—take a look here!
