UOFA Screening on Aug. 24th, 2013

This screening was another opportunity for our mentees, mentors and supportive community to enjoy the films our youth had made this year at the Urban Oasis Film Academy. Those who attended had an opportunity to watch the films and get to know the stories behind the filmmakers and their different motivations to make these films. The audience also heard how the film-making process positively impacted their lives! Enjoy!

UOFA 2013 Last Session

This year, our Urban Oasis Film Academy participants were able to create and produce 6 films that will be entered in the Bresee's Film Festival! This is a culmination of weekly sessions since the beginning of the year and it was through the diverse, collective efforts that these films became a reality. We would like to thank our mentees, volunteers, staff and partners for making this year's Urban Oasis Film Academy a success!

UOFA Session 3: Storyboarding and Character Development

This week during our Urban Oasis Film Academy, our mentees continued to develop their characters, roles and storyboarding. Pictured above is the team "Youth With Attitude" who will be working on a musical mockumentary where they demonstrate the idea that music does not always have to be serious.

Urban Oasis Film Academy 2013 Meet and Greet

This was our first session of UOFA 2013 (Urban Oasis Film Academy) where mentees got together and participated in our meet and greet at YMC. There were twenty-six energized young people, some returning, some stepping in for the first time, all bursting with creativity!

Urban Oasis Film Academy Screening - Expressive & Evocative Youth Voices

 “Will you see me as a vital, creative human being deserving of a place in this society, or a teenager from the hood to be ostracized or feared?”
On Saturday we premiered eight short films of young people from our Urban Oasis Film Academy.  The room was packed and the youth did a fantastic job of creating expressive evocative short pieces.  They received a standing ovation from all in attendance.  

Their works were largely autobiographical and unfinished, leaving the viewer with a bittersweet sense of unease and hope at the same time.  It was as if they were saying: 
“I am a work in progress.  
The script of my life is being written every day. The conditions within which I find myself need not define me, but I’m still struggling to determine which way to turn.”  

When we recognize them and validate their creative expression we are giving them a message that if they turn toward light there will be support.  At YMC we also recognize that when they fall into the darkness of their wounds, we must be there as well.  That’s how you help youth.  By “seeing” their gifts and caring for their wounds.  In the movies when they want to depict a battle-hardened warrior they give him a visible wound as testament that something has been endured and overcome and this person will never be the same again.  On Saturday our young people displayed gifts by giving us a brief peak (sometimes just a hint) of their wounds.  I see those films as the scars that give testimony to their present and future greatness.

The Urban Oasis Film Academy

respectfully submitted,
Tony LoRe
Founder/CEO, Youth Mentoring Connection/Urban Oasis


PS Thanks to HBO, the California Consumer Protection Foundation and our program partner Street Poets for helping to make this all possible!

INNER CITY YOUTH SCORE BIG WITH “RAW” NEW FILM

On Saturday May 23rd close to 100 audience members were awed and inspired by the Premiere of the Urban Oasis Film Academy's latest production "Moment of Decision". Made by a collective of young people under the guiding hand of Mark Schwartz (Alchemy Media) and Charles Campbell this was a story about the kind of decisions young people in Los Angeles face on a daily basis.

Drugs, violence and gangs all were a part of the gritty tableau. The young people strove to show a graphic dramatization of what life in and around the streets of South Central Los Angeles is like. Being unable to walk down your street for fear of getting "jumped", facing constant temptation and peer pressure to take part in anti social activities. Being from the community the young people were able to tell the side of the story not often portrayed in the mainstream media. As we found out more about the characters in the midst of tragedy we saw resilience and strength. This all resonated with the audience who offered a standing ovation as the young film makers took the stage for a spirited question and answer session. An auspicious beginning for these aspiring film-makers.

Moment Of Decision

You are invited to the premiere screening of...

M.O.D. - Moment of Decision

A band of urban Los Angeles teenagers have caught the filmmaking fever. Under the guidance of the HBO supported Urban Oasis Film Academy, 10 teens have devoted their weekends over the last 5 months into making "M.O.D."-- a 20 minute film dramatizing the dreams and challenges of growing up in South Central LA. "M.O.D." will be sliced up and delivery as a webisode over the internet, but first we are hosting a premiere to celebrate what these underrepresented youth have accomplished.

Where & When:

May 23rd from4:00pm - 6:00pm at

The Norris Cinema Theater on the USC Campus

Screening will be followed by Q & A and popcorn reception.

Street Parking along Jefferson near Hoover or Campus Parking ($8) enter Gate 5.

"M.O.D." has the honor of being selected for the 2009 LA Film Festival's Future Filmmaker's Section.

For more information contact:

Mark Schwartz

p 310-614-4016

www.urbanfilmacademy.org