Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival

The Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival (Just Be You Festival for short) planned to return in the summer of 2020; with double the awesome! It was our intention to extend the festival to a two day event, in Rahway, New Jersey, the birthplace of Just Be You Performing Arts in 2013. Additionally, we had plans in place to take the festival on a two city tour! First stop, Philadelphia! Second stop, Detroit! However, due to COVID-19, it was not possible. Despite adjusting the tour dates numerous times, and locations, in accordance with abiding by any state and government mandates. It was impossible to produce the festival as a live event due to the coronavirus pandemic. As such, we had to make a difficult decision to postpone the festival until 2021. However, the pandemic still created a challenge to host indoor events. As the corona virus situation changed due to the Delta variant, we made the difficult decision to postpone the festival in 2021 as well. Our devotion to the youth and our commitment to this film festival is unwavering! As such, we are thrilled to announce the return of this dynamic festival in spring 2022! In a new location, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania! The date and time will be officially announced after the Christmas Holiday. We will bring filmmakers and industry professionals together to celebrate works that are relevant to today's youth. We are making a bold statement, that children deserve to be heard, and uninterrupted! The Just Be You Festival has proven to be what we call, "champions for children". We made history in 2018 and 2019 in New Jersey and we plan to continue making a strong influence on the film festival industry. Our festival is groundbreaking and there was nothing like it in New Jersey. This has lead us to be featured several times in the news, both print and broadcast media. We are honored and feel grateful for the wonderful exposure the festival continues to receive. There is no submission fee for youth filmmakers (age 5 to 17 year's-old) to submit a body of work to our festival! Since the debut of our festival in 2018, we consistently receive hundreds of submissions from all over the world! We accept submissions from filmmakers as young as 5 year's old, because even a kindergartner deserves a voice, and has something profound to say. Our submission process is nation wide and world wide, but with a special encouragement for filmmakers in New Jersey. Female filmmakers, African-American, and Filmmakers of color, are especially encouraged to submit. Audience members don't just sit and watch, they engage and participate. Our festival gives the audience members opportunities to get involved during the event with a variety of fun activities. The festival will take place completely on location to make things easy for parents! And, so our audience won't have to miss any of the action. Plus, we are streaming parts of the event live on our Facebook page for those who are unable to attend in person. We also have amazing teens participating as co-hosts and performers! By attending our festival; you'll benefit from a diverse event geared towards the youth. The 3rd Annual Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival will now be combined with the 4th Annual event; and will be a family-friendly event, that creates a mutually supportive community and a voice for all artists. The festival is created and directed by award-winning triple-threat actress; Mahogany Reynolds (also known as Mahogany Reynolds-Clarke); who hails from Detroit, Michigan, where she began her versatile career as a performing artist. She is the founder/executive director of Just Be You Performing Arts and has successfully developed and produced over 35 productions in the state of New Jersey, all within just 3 years! She is also a seasoned coach and provides one-on-one customized; online and in-person, training for aspiring artist. Find more about her by visiting her website: www.mahoganyreynolds.com Learn more about this dynamic youth driven festival by visiting: www.justbeyoufestival.com We are excited to make this announcement. It is our aim to continue building this unique festival despite any obstacles we face. Hence the reason why we decided to postpone the event instead of converting the festival to an online event. The Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival is better served as a live in person experience. Simply making the festival an online event does not live up to the quality, fun, engagement, and community connection that this festival is known for. To that end, on New Year's Day 2021, Mahogany Reynolds will be announcing the location, date an time of the event in 2022. Both season 3 and season 4 will be combined. More films and more fun! To view the announcement follow the festival on Facebook: www.facebook.com/justbeyoufestival or visit the festival website: www.justbeyoufestival.com. Unlike some film festivals that cancelled their events due to Covid-19 in 2020 and will not carry over the films submitted in 2020; Mahogany Reynolds feels that it would be grossly unfair to the talented filmmakers who submitted to the Just Be You Festival, to not include their submissions (the ones selected as an official selection) into the 4th season of the festival. This special development to our film festival will continue our mission to create a positive platform that helps the youth, all over the world, harness their creativity, especially during the health crisis of Covid-19. We want the youth to know that their experiences during this challenging time is important to us. THE YOUTH MATTER! Thank you for your support and interest in the Just Be You Performing Arts Youth Film Festival. We look forward to viewing your marvelous creations! Please be safe and stay creative!