2022
Children’s Resilience in Film Awards
The first-of-its-kind award honors the preeminent filmmakers who masterfully highlight and celebrate the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children across the world. Amidst an ongoing pandemic that has disrupted everyday life and social-emotional development for billions of children globally and a humanitarian crisis that has forced hundreds of thousands of children and families to flee Ukraine, the Children’s Resilience in Film Award seeks to shed much-needed light on the uplifting, inspiring stories of children who offer global audiences hope and the talented filmmakers who tell them.
The inaugural 2022 Children’s Resilience in Film Award was sponsored in part by The Hollywood Reporter, a media partner, which will uplift these powerful, culture-shifting films to receive the recognition they deserve. Four nominees, all feature length films released in the last year, were selected. An esteemed jury composed of leading film industry experts, children’s rights activists, selected the winner. The four nominees screened their films in New York City from September 15th to 18th. The winner LIFT was announced at a VIP awards show breakfast in Los Angeles, California and was awarded a $25,000 cash prize, with the runner-up films each receiving $2,500.
2022 Nominated Films
Gabi: Between Ages 8 and 13
GABI: BETWEEN AGES 8 AND 13 follows the remarkable Gabi over the course of five formative years as she wrestles with society’s stereotypes about boys and girls.
Directed by Engeli Broberg | 77 min | Sweden/Denmark/Norway | 2021
LIFT
**WINNER 2022**
Ten years in the making, LIFT shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of a group of young home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City and the mentor who inspires them.
Directed by David J Petersen | 87 min | USA | 2022
Maika-The Girl From Another Galaxy
Vietnam’s first kids sci-fi film about a boy who overcomes the loss of his mother when he helps an alien girl get back home.
Directed by Ham Tram | 108 min | Vietnam | 2022
Scenes from the Glittering World
Following three Indigenous students, Scenes from the Glittering World is a meditation on adolescence, trauma, and the power of connecting with an isolated Navajo homeland.
Directed by Jared Jakins | 70 min | USA | 2021
2022 Honorees
2022 Jury Members
The jurors who selected the 2022 winning film were:
- Kay Wilson Stallings, Executive Vice President of Creative and Production, Sesame Workshop
- Maria Perez Brown, Head of Kids & Family, TIME Studios
- Amy Kennedy, Children’s rights activist, educator, and 2020 Democratic Congressional Nominee
- Scott Feinberg, Senior Awards Analyst, The Hollywood Reporter
- Jana Sue Memel, Academy-Award winning producer (Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987), Lieberman in Love (1995))
PRODUCER LEVEL SPONSORS
AFICIONADO LEVEL SPONSORS
ELLEN & WENDEL MADDREY
GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS
- Shine Global and ReelAbilities Film Festival Announce Children’s Resilience in Disability Stories Award for Okthanksbye
- Protections For Farmworker Children Matter More Than Ever
- Dounia – The Great White North Wins Shine Global’s Unstoppable Kids Prize at NYICFF
- Shine Global and New York International Children’s Film Festival Announce Partnership for Unstoppable Kids Prize for the 2024 Festival and Shine Global Resilience Awards
- Comedy Against the Odds to Screen at AmDocs Film Festival