Youth environmental film festival awards student winners

“The goal of the film fest — established in 2018 — was to provide students with a platform and outlet to express their views about the environment, what they care about, what they’re concerned about,” she said. 

The best in fest film, alongside one other entry of 18 submitted, focused on the detrimental impact of sea level rise on local communities, Lee said. Another topic that drew student interest this year was the use and environmental implications of artificial intelligence. 

The winning video in the elementary school category, ‘The Impact of Vegetarianism on the Environment,’ was created by McKinley Elementary School fourth grader Amay Menta and touched on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. In the high school category, Burlingame high schoolers Alex Karanov and Eleanor Points for delving into the topic of food waste with “Food Doesn’t Belong in Landfills.” 

The event garnered around 140 attendees, including San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo as a special guest, and showed students they have a voice and important messages to share, Lee said. 

“It gives them a feeling of empowerment that their message can be heard,” she said. 

Lee, alongside co-chair Eileen Kim, created the program with the goal of youth empowerment on climate-related issues. Students from fourth to 12th grade who live or attend school in San Mateo County are invited to enter into the competition. 

The group, along with the Burlingame High School Environmental Club and The Nueva School’s Social Impact Filmmaking Club, also hosts a filmmaking workshop for fourth to eighth graders before the film festival. 

The dedication and conviction of participating students has been impressive, Lee said. 

“I’m always very impressed by the dedication of students who work really hard to put on this event,” she said. “It’s a process.” 

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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