Mark Leschinsky 

In 2017, at the age of 11, I had a teacher who left an incredible impact on me by teaching me about the inventing process and being creative. His impact inspired me to make a documentary film highlighting how he guided his students in the correct direction in life, just as a lighthouse guides ships in the darkness. But when I researched how to create a film, I was overwhelmed with articles saying that I would need an expensive camera, specialized lighting, pro editing software, and a film school education that would cost thousands—quickly discouraging me.

However, after hearing the stories from my teacher’s previous students about the impact he left on them even decades later, I was motivated to self-learn how to create a film. Over the next few months, using my parents’ cell phone camera, I would finish my first film, “The Lighthouse,” in 2017. To my surprise, the film would go on to be selected at 12 film festivals and receive 5 awards. This was an extraordinarily eye-opening experience for me as I realized that neither special education nor expensive equipment was necessary to create an award-winning film. This experience led me to create two additional successful films and then start the Student World Impact Film Festival in 2022 to uplift the voices of other student filmmakers so that their stories could be shared with global audiences from around the world.  

A story can’t exist without a storyteller. And, to pave the way for a more inclusive, culturally-accepting, and equitable society, we need to hear more of the perspectives and viewpoints of storytellers from historically marginalized communities, especially youth. Youth have the power and the vision to share their story with the world, but there are, unfortunately, multiple barriers to entry into the potentially career-launching film festival circuit.

#1) Large submission fees at film festivals often quickly discourage youth filmmakers from sharing their impactful work with audiences at festivals. I personally experienced this discouragement when I made my first film, as submission fees at each festival were $10, $20, or even as much as $50. These fees directly hurt young filmmakers and low-income filmmakers, and it is truly devastating that young storytellers with a mission and vision to tell their story aren’t able to just because of their age or income level.

#2) The unique and culturally-diverse stories crafted by youth filmmakers from diverse communities are the most precious, yet these filmmakers have been historically marginalized. According to an exclusive report by ScreenDaily, Black directors made just 1% of competition films at major festivals in 2021.

These issues must be addressed in order to promote more diversity and equity within the filmmaking community.

A film festival is the epitome of the celebration of film, and SWIFF harnesses the impact of a film festival in order to promote a more culturally-accepting and equitable society. And, to provide the greatest access to youth filmmakers of all income levels, all submission fees are waived.

SWIFF celebrates diverse films with incredibly impactful messages from young storytellers by streaming their films live to global audiences during the festival. These films have deeply moving messages, and each film provides a new, diverse perspective for attendees of the festival. This educates attendees and provides them with new insight and understanding of the beauties—but also struggles—that encompass the diverse cultures and races that define our society. The inaugural season of SWIFF is scheduled for November 13-17, 2022 on Zoom with an expected incredible audience attendance of more than 1,000 total people.

In addition to streaming youth storytellers’ works at the festival, SWIFF has become an Amazon Prime Video Direct distribution partner in order to publish youth’s works on Prime Video. On Prime Video, films from youth storytellers will have the possibility to reach millions of viewers from all across the globe—providing young storytellers with an even greater platform to have their voices heard by the world.

Building SWIFF from the ground up has been an incredibly motivational and educational experience. Shortly after developing the website of The Lighthouse Initiative—the nonprofit I founded that organizes SWIFF—I applied for and received an incredible advertising grant of over $2,000. In order to maximize the opportunity, I spent the next weeks learning the ins and outs of running a successful advertising campaign—from selecting keywords to framing the ad’s title and description.

Additionally, when creating the application for potential Amazon Prime Video distribution for selected films of SWIFF, I learned how to effectively create forms, collect data, and then store that data in an organized format in virtual databases with more than 7,000 records containing filmmakers’ information.

Furthermore, in addition to developing the upcoming inaugural season of the festival that will be virtually held, I am planning to have a future season be in-person. I am currently getting in touch with the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, NJ, and other potential venues with plans for a large, in-person event with screenings, workshops, inspirational speakers, and networking opportunities for young filmmakers in 2023.

In the coming months, I also hope to continue to develop the Prime Video distribution opportunity for filmmakers at SWIFF, and I hope to send all of our films to Amazon!

SWIFF has fostered a community of thousands of young storytellers from over 100 countries. As soon as I sent out the email notifying the thousands of filmmakers whose works would be recognized by the festival, I received hundreds of extraordinarily exciting messages back. "I am over the moon, you've made my day!" wrote a filmmaker from the UK. "I'm completely blown away and grateful for all the nominations you've given my film," wrote another filmmaker from the US. It is receiving all of these heartwarming messages that motivate me to persevere through all of the roadblocks and continue to build SWIFF.

Additionally, recently, I sent out a message to filmmakers whose films were selected at SWIFF inviting them to become volunteer Student Judges in future seasons, and the response was incredible. Within two days, 200 students from the US, Brazil, Jamaica, South Korea, and more than 50 other countries filled out an application to join me in SWIFF's mission.

And, just the other day, I received an incredible message from a filmmaker—he notified me that recognition from SWIFF has landed him a job in South Africa! It is incredibly heart-warming to me that SWIFF has touched people in all corners of the world, especially since it is now helping filmmakers receive real-world opportunities. It is truly moments like these that make me incredibly proud of the work I do at SWIFF.