May 31, 2025, Montclair, NJ – Shine Global is proud to announce that student filmmakers Jackson Provan and Henry Slater have been awarded the 2025 Shine Global Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers for their film In Case You Forgot, as part of Montclair Film’s Emerging Filmmaker Competition. The competition celebrates the work of filmmakers in 6th through 12th grades, recognizing a wide range of styles and voices that showcase the diverse talents of young people using cinema to tell their stories. 

In “In Case You Forgot,” a high school senior receives a letter from his fifth-grade self, offering a poignant and heartfelt look at growing up—the challenges of changing friendships, college and academic pressures, shifting dreams, and struggles with mental health as the world’s complexities are more felt.

“We’re thrilled to honor In Case You Forgot with this year’s Resilience Award,” said Alexandra Blaney, Co-CEO and Creative Director of Shine Global. “Jackson and Henry’s film is a moving piece of self-reflection exploring what it means to navigate growing up and the loss of your childhood innocence. We’re proud to continue our partnership with Montclair Film in uplifting young filmmakers who are telling powerful stories of resilience.”

Montclair Film’s EFC Grand Prize was awarded to Levi Walker Marsh, recognizing exceptional achievement in filmmaking. Both the Grand Prize winner and the Resilience Award teams will each receive a cash prize of $500.

“We are honored to once again partner with Shine Global in championing young artists as they explore the power of filmmaking,” said Sue Hollenberg, Montclair Film’s Education Director. “These young filmmakers are telling stories that are personal, urgent, and inspiring, and we’re excited to help amplify their voices.”

Shine Global’s annual Resilience Awards honor exceptional films that center around the resilience of children and further the organization’s mission of improving children’s lives by harnessing the power of storytelling. Past winners include last year’s student filmmaker Gabriella Keil and her film 3am Thoughts, the feature documentaries Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace) Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) and the live action short Unibrow (2024, directed by Nedda Sarshar) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, and the animated children’s films Savages (2024 directed by Claude Barras) and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.  

WATCH IN CASE YOU FORGOT:

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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, and an Academy Award®-nomination for Anuja. 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.

ABOUT MONTCLAIR FILM

Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization connects filmmakers from around the region and world with audiences by presenting films and year-round programs that engage, educate, and entertain through the power of visual storytelling. The twelfth Annual Montclair Film Festival will take place from October 20-29, 2023. We are grateful for generous support from Audible, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Hackensack Meridian Health, American Express Foundation, JP Morgan Private Bank, and Spiro Harrison. Additional support is provided by RBC Wealth Management, The Nature Conservancy, and New Jersey Economic Development Authority. We are also grateful for our partners at Coldwell Banker, Partners for Health Foundation, The Seeing Eye, Citi Private Bank, Chubb, Compass, Trevanna, and ML Management Partners. All programs are made possible with funds from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, as well as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Montclair Film Festival is supported in part with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Montclair Film provides unique and meaningful ways to engage with diverse, creative, and sophisticated audiences and seeks sponsors for its signature film festival and year-round film, education, and community programs that attract more than 70,000 annual attendees and generate more than 750 million media impressions yearly. For more information about Montclair Film, visit www.MontclairFilm.org.