2024 Hidden GEM Social Justice Series

Each year the Hidden GEM Creative Studios hosts a red-carpet event to celebrate the amazing work of young talented BIPOC filmmakers in the Bay Area who we train in our Career Pathways Program. This year the program is centered on mental health, immigration and the LGBTQ community. We are proud to present the premieres of Telly Award-Winning short “Angelito de Donde” and Prince White Memorial Scholarship winning short film “Lost & Found”, along with a special sneak preview of our latest short “We Can’t Breathe” fresh from the Mexican-American Film & TV Awards.

With a special mixer for independent filmmakers hosted at the New Parkway Theater, and a Q&A with our talented filmmakers, this year’s program is sure to be a blast. Please join us as we celebrate these great filmmakers and keep fighting for marginalized BIPOC & undocumented voices in the film industry.

FILM LINEUP - Total runtime: 84 min

“Lost & Found” (7 min)

Winner of the 2023 Prince White Memorial Scholarship Fund, this film was written and directed by Mars Miles and tells the story of a young woman facing depression and anxiety as she tries to come out to her conservative mother and fight the stigma of being Gay in a Black community.

“Somos Esenciales”, (25 min)

This documentary tells the stories of Latino Essential Workers at the Mission Food Hub in San Francisco. The film shows the resilience and self determination of the Latino community to respond to the COVID pandemic by relying on cultural practices such as food pathways, healing circles, lowriding, volunteering and arts practices to address the decline in mental health. Ultimately, "Somos Esenciales" puts a face on who Essential Workers are in the Latino community by sharing what they have endured and also what they hope for in the future.

“The Mark” (3 min)

This is a creative animation, directed and edited by Mars Miles, is based on a true story and is designed to support Mental Health Awareness for young women of color. It was produced as part of the Spring 2024 Hidden GEM Career Pathways cohort.

“Angelito de Donde”, (2 min)

Designed as an innovative campaign to promote safe sex, Somos LOUD and the AIDS Healthcare foundation partnered with the Hidden GEM Creative Studios to produce a steamy short to remind people to be safe in the heat of passion. This film was produced in collaboration with alumni of the Hidden GEM Creative Studios' Career Pathways Program.

“The Black & Brown Poet Series” - Vol 1, Ep. 5: Rigoberto Gonzalez (26 min)

This final episode of Volume 1 breaks out of California and travels to Newark, New Jersey where we visit world-renowned poet Rigoberto Gonzalez, Director of Creative Writing at Rutgers University. Gonzalez shares his emotional story of growing up in the fields of Coachella valley as a child of farmworkers, and his path to success as one of the most prominent Latino poets in the LGBT poetry scene.

“We Can’t Breathe”, (21 min)

Starring: Noah Zavala, Ric Salinas, Rosalinda Oropeza-Randall & Angel Manzo

On August 6th 2012, an oil refinery explosion in North Richmond, California sent more than 15,000 people to hospitals for respiratory illness. Ten years later, Jorge’s mother contracts lung cancer, and he must now grapple with leaving school and supporting his father, as his family fights a multinational petroleum corporation that dominates the politics and life of people living in a community that is 90% Mexican-American.

RUN OF SHOW

3-4pm - Mixer in Lobby & Red Carpet Event

4pm - Doors Open

4:05 – 4:10pm - Opening Remarks

4:10pm - Show Begins

4:11 – 5:35pm – Program (84 min)

5:35 – 5:50pm – Q&A

5:50-6pm – Exit Theater

6pm-7pm - Network in Lobby

All content is rated PG-13

Food and beverages sold at the venue, so please support!

Must have ticket for entry.

All proceeds support the incoming 2024-2025 Hidden GEM Career Pathways Cohort.