Shine Global Announces Nominees & Honorees for 2024 Annual Resilience Awards

$35,000 In Prizes Presented To Films That Shine A Light On Children’s Resilience; Will Also Honor Jim Steyer of Common Sense Media, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Author/Illustrator and Former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava

LOS ANGELES, CA (August 12, 2024) – Today, Shine Global – the renowned nonprofit media company dedicated to producing and supporting impactful documentaries about children’s issues – announced the nominees and honorees for its 2024 Resilience Awards.

Shine Global’s annual Resilience Awards, now in their third year, honor exceptional films and extraordinary individuals. Each of the nominated films center the resilience of children and further the organization’s mission of improving children’s lives through the power of storytelling, and each honoree has made a significant impact on the lives of children and families.

This year, Shine Global will honor Common Sense Media founder and CEO Jim Steyer for his commitment to advocating for children’s rights; author/illustrator and former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava for her advocacy for youth mental health and well-being around the world; and SpongeBob SquarePants, for promoting emotional resilience, positive social interactions, and a love for creativity among children.

This year’s film nominees present an extraordinary range of powerful stories from around the world, each highlighting the resilience of young individuals. From young girls in the U.S. preparing for a special dance with their incarcerated fathers in “Daughters” (Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), to Jesselyn Silva’s fight against cancer while pursuing her boxing dreams in “JessZilla” (Emily Sheskin). “Kensuke’s Kingdom” (Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry) takes us on an adventure with a shipwrecked boy forming an unlikely alliance with a Japanese man on a remote island. “La Suprema” (Felipe Holguín Caro) follows a girl in a forgotten Colombian town striving to watch her uncle’s world title boxing match, and “Searching for Amani” (Nicole Gormley and Debra Aroko) chronicles a Kenyan boy’s quest to uncover the truth behind his father’s murder while becoming an activist amid a severe drought.

“These exceptional films embody Shine Global’s mission to illuminate the resilience and strength of children around the world,” said Shine Global co-CEO and Creative Director Alexandra Blaney.  “Each story showcases young individuals facing extraordinary challenges with courage and determination and not only reveal the indomitable spirit of youth but also inspire audiences to see the power of hope and perseverance. These films are a testament to the transformative impact of storytelling, encouraging us all to strive for a brighter future.”

The Grand Prize winner will be named and awarded $10,000 cash in addition to receiving $15,000 of impact campaign services provided by Picture Motion at the Resilience Awards ceremony on October 15, 2024. Additional category prizes were previously awarded throughout the year at film festivals and will be featured as part of the ceremony as well.  Filmmakers, industry professionals, and children’s rights advocates will gather at the historic Paramount Pictures lot to celebrate the remarkable achievements of these films.

The grand prize winning film will be selected by a jury panel including Scott Feinberg (Executive Editor, Awards at The Hollywood Reporter), Anita Raswant (Lead Programmer, Nantucket Film Festival), Amanda Spain (VP Longform Acquisitions at MSNBC Films), and Eden Sapir (Campaign and Grassroots Partnership Manager of Picture Motion). Screening attendees will also have a chance to vote on their favorite films, and the audience vote will count as an additional juror in the selection of the winner.

You can purchase tickets for both the screenings and award ceremony here: 

https://resilienceawards2024.eventive.org/

The 2024 Resilience Awards Nominees are as follows:

	Daughters (United States) | 104 min (2024) Directed by Angela Patton, Natalie Rae Producers Natalie Rae, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft  Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail.
	JessZilla (United States) | 84 min (2023) Directed by Emily Sheskin Produced by Ben Kainz Jesselyn Silva is a 3x national boxing champion. As Jesselyn is on the cusp of making the Junior Olympic team, she is forced to face her toughest battle yet – a cancer diagnosis.
	Kensuke’s Kingdom (United Kingdom) | 84 min (2023) Directed by Neil Boyle, Kirk Hendry Producers Camilla Deakin, Ruth Fielding, Adrian Politowski, Martin Metz, Stephan Roelants, Jean Labadie, Anne-Laure Labadie, Sarah Radclyffe, Barnaby Spurrier A young boy, shipwrecked on a remote island, discovers he is not alone when he encounters a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there since the end of World War II. As dangerous invaders appear on the horizon, it becomes clear they must join forces to save their fragile paradise.
	La Suprema (Colombia) | 84 min (2023) Directed by Felipe Holguín Caro Produced by María Teresa Gaviria In a town erased from the maps where there’s not even electricity, a girl dreams of boxing. When she learns her uncle will box for the world title and it will be broadcast live on tv, she and the community will do everything to watch the fight, while battling oblivion.
	Searching for Amani (United States, Kenya) | 80 min (2024) Directed by Nicole Gormley, Debra Aroko Producers Nicole Gormley, Peter Goetz, Mungai Kiroga, Caryn Capotosto A 13-year-old aspiring journalist investigates his father’s mysterious murder within the boundaries of one of Kenya’s largest wildlife conservancies. As a ravaging drought encroaches, his quest to find the killer shifts, and an activist is born as the collateral damage of a warming world is revealed

Five additional films were previously announced as winners in different categories and awarded cash prizes in partnership with several film festivals:

	Winner of the Unstoppable Kids Prize for family-friendly films at the 2024 New York International Children’s Film Festival Dounia – The Great White North (Canada) | 51 min (2024) Directed by Marya Zarif, André Kadi Produced by Judith Beauregard “Dounia: The Great White North” follows the journey of 7 year-old Dounia and her grandparents as they get to know Canada, the country that welcomed them when they fled their war-torn homeland.
	Winner of Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award at 2024 Nantucket Film Festival Los Frikis (United States, Dominican Republic) | 105 min (2023) Directed and Written by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson Producers Jordan Fudge, Jeremy Allen, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Rebecca Karch Tomlinson, Aditya Sood, Michael Schwartz & Tyler Nilson A group of punk rock teenagers from Havana deliberately inject themselves with HIV to escape the oppression of “special period” Cuba.
	Winner Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award at 2024 ReelAbilities Film Festival Okthanksbye (The Netherlands) | 92 min (2023) Directed by Nicole van Kilsdonk Producers Rogier Kramer, Laura Bouwmeester An adventurous coming-of-age drama about two young deaf girls who go on an unforgettable road trip together where they not only get to know each other better, but also themselves.
	Winner Children’s Resilience in Short Film Prize at 2024 Indy Shorts International Film Festival Unibrow (Canada) | 14 min (2023) Directed by Nedda Sarshar Producers Rabiya Mansoor, Shreya Patel An Irani-Canadian girl (Lina Sennia) is forced to rethink her relationship with her unibrow and her Irani heritage, when she is forced to make friends with the new girl from Iran.
	Winner of the Shine Global Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers at Montclair Film 3am Thoughts (USA) | (2024) Directed, written, and produced by Gabriella Keil A teenager has an anxiety attack in the middle of the night about absolutely everything.

You can purchase tickets for New York City film screenings and the Los Angeles awards ceremony HERE.

The 2024 Resilience Awards are sponsored in part by media partner The Hollywood Reporter who will uplift these powerful, culture-shifting films to receive the recognition they deserve; hospitality partner Sunset Marquis Hotel; Quest Pacifica; Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang; Jon and Diane Moonves; CBS; Paramount Pictures; pocket.watch; DreamWorks Animation; Mattel.

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About Shine Global
Shine Global is a non-profit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.
Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds which is currently in film festivals.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS
This annual event recognizes and celebrates the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. The awards are open to films of any genre that showcase children overcoming challenges, such as poverty, violence, illness, and discrimination, and demonstrate their resilience, courage, and determination.