Mission of the Festival

The Do It Your Damn Self!! (DIYDS) National Youth Video and Film Festival was created by youth in the Community Art Center's Teen Media Program in reaction to their strong feelings that not enough youth video is available for viewing, and that they should celebrate the creation and production of material they do themselves. The festival's mission is to provide local and national youth with the opportunity to give voice to issues in their lives, to display their video production skills and to introduce other teens to the empowering potential of video and film production.

This festival is not just about the videos, but about who made the videos and why. A lot of youth who send in videos to the DIYDS Film Festival are from the inner city, from rural areas, from neighborhoods with out a lot of resources. Many of the youth represent minority views. Many have never had a video in a festival before. Many have never thought they would travel the country to meet other youth producers and show their work. We encourage these youth to send their work. The festival was created for all of these youth.