Youth find confidence through Young Author Project; BronzeLens Film Festival promotes storytellers of color

From WAB in Atlanta, this is Closer Look for Tuesday, August 11th. I'm Rose Scott. It's a mission to help unlock creative expression, the Young Author Project, an introductory writing program for middle school students, and they're looking for adult mentors. Also this hour, for aspiring filmmakers just starting out, getting selected for a festival is a major accomplishment. It happened in 2010 for then an unknown director, Ava DuVernay's first feature film, I Will Follow. Whatever she had, whatever it was, papers, pictures, tapes, it's my legacy and my kid's legacy, not yours. I'm the daughter, you're the need. And it was selected for the Bronze Lens Film Festival, which has become a signature place to promote independent filmmakers of color from around the world to its home base of Atlanta. Just ahead, but first, this news.

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You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. I'm not a writer who teaches. I'm a teacher who writes. And I know whatever I have is a gift. I accept that. And I'm grateful to those who went before me so that I can do what I'm supposed to do for those who are yet to come. Someday we'll be able to measure the power of words. I think there are things. I think they get on the walls. They get in your wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in your upholstery, in your clothes, and finally into you. That familiar voice you should know is a world-renowned poet, author, and civil rights leader, who's now an ancestor, Dr. Biangelo. Close to look continues from W.A.B.E. in Atlanta, I'm Rose Scott. You know, finding your voice can be difficult when you're an old person like me. So imagine finding your voice as a kid. That can be challenging. But there's a Savannah-based nonprofit that's teaching young storytellers to also find their courage. We're going to talk more now about the organization Deep Center, which helps young authors experience the joy in writing and sharing their stories. Joining me now is Kalima Harris, Director of Youth Literacy for the Deep Center, and Simone Wright, Writing Fellow for the Deep Center. Welcome to you both. Thanks for taking the time. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm happy to be here. Yes, thank you as well. Let me just start with both of you. And Kalima, I'll start with you. Do you remember the first time you just wrote something just from the heart, something from you? Do you remember that? I... I actually do remember that. Long, long time ago is what it feels like. But I do remember that. And it wasn't in like a, you know, traditional setting like a classroom. I began writing in places like my home and with my diary is what I called it back then. And I remember it had a lock on it. Everything that I wrote was just so personal to me. I didn't want to share anything in it with my mom. I wrote about crushes. I wrote about all the things that met a lot to me back then. And I must have been, you know, maybe 10, 11, 12, just a teenager. Just a teenager. Simone, what about you? First time you put something down. And did you hide it from mom? The first time I put something down, I do believe it was about the same time as Kalima. There's something about that age, like eighth grade, ninth grade, where things just start wanting to get out. And I had privacy, so I didn't have to hide it. I'm with Kalima. I had to hide some stuff. Not that I had to hide stuff. It's like, I did not want mom to be reading about that, you know, I had a crush on.

Jimmy Walker from Good Times or whoever it was at the time. I don't remember who it was. But my mother also encouraged me to write. Yes. And I want to start there because, and one of you can take this as we begin this next question, and the importance of encouraging young folks to, a mentor told me, don't worry about periods and commas just right. So how important is it that we encourage kids at a young age to go ahead and try it? I'll start with you, Simone. I think that's very important because writing, I think, is the first place where I understood that I had a voice and not just the instrument I used to talk, but I had a point of view that mattered. And so I think the importance of encouraging young humans to write is understanding what their voice is to themselves. What do you think, Kalima? Mentoring? No, no, I definitely echo the same thing as Simone. It is definitely the place where you find yourself. And also it's the place where you're most accepted, right? Because and you first learn how to love yourself, right? It's just such a vulnerable place because it's a place of your deepest thoughts that no one knows. And it's just a wonderful experience to have as a young person. I'm going to put her on blast. I won't say her name, but a very good friend of mine just sent me a text. Finding our voice isn't hard at our age. Having exercising the wisdom to know and when how to use it is key. That is very true as well. Let's back up a little bit and let's tell folks here in Atlanta about the Deep Center. How long have you been around? We have been around for 18 years now. 18 years, wow. And you just, the origin story, there's got to be an origin story there somewhere. Yes. So the Deep Center was, again, we've been around for 18 years in this community. Yap is actually one of the foundational programs of the Deep Center coming to Savannah. There was definitely like a need in there. community for the young people in this community. And so the founders basically started out just saying, okay, we're going to develop an after-school program to support the youth in this community. And it started with one little workshop. That's it. And to think that we've expanded to over 15 schools in this community is sometimes hard to even imagine when you're starting with one workshop and just a handful. of youth that are embracing a program and not sure what it's about. And so I don't want to go on and on and on, but essentially, yes, that's how we got our start. One little workshop that is expanded now to 15 different schools in a partnership with the public school system here. Wow. And we should let folks know, Yap is Young Arthur Project, correct?

Absolutely. So Yap stands for the Young Arthur Project, and it's known here by Yap, again, with young people. You always got to find, like, an abbreviated way to say something. You're right. I'm going to Yap. Yeah. Simone, when you, what can you explain to our listeners about? And Kalima, you can jump in on this as well. When you see a transformation from when a young person starts with the program. And then maybe toward the end, are they come back to you all and say, hey, this is what you all have helped unlock? What is that joy like? It is so special because you know that something that can easily be explained as an after school program is actually something really transformative. And I think one of the most special things is that sometimes we get credit as the writing fellows for, making a safe space, which is great. But really, it's about helping the students understand how to create a safe space for themselves. But being able to see someone from the beginning, especially having an idea of what this student is like and then seeing them blossom at the end and there's something completely different. And that's something that doesn't end each semester. It keeps going. Kalima, what about you? Absolutely. I love, I think I have even a good example of this through one of the youth that we work with in one of our workshops. I came to the workshop and he wasn't looking like very engaged. He was kind of walking around. And so I'm like, oh, what's going on? Let's talk to him. And so he sat down with me and talked to me and I said, okay. So, you know, I talked to him about the writing prop and he said, well, I don't want to. write. And so, of course, I'm scratching my head because you're at an after-school writing program and you don't want to write. And he said, well, my mom told me I had to become a published author. And this is what this program is for. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm not winning the battle against mom. So I'm not pushing against that. But I began to talk to him and find out what his interests were. So instead of forcing writing, in the moment or the writing prompt in the workshop, I began to get to know him and find that about his interests. And he told me that he loved a video game that reminded me a little bit about Tetris, so I'll date myself, but sort of like a candy crush. And so I asked him what he loved about that. And he said, I love figuring things out. I love puzzles. And that's what I love about this game. And I said, oh, my gosh. I said, so if you've wrote a story about a puzzle, what would it be? And he said, I'd write a story about a little boy that was trapped in a maze, and he had to figure his way out. And really, the maze would be a metaphor for life. And so every time he hit a corner, it would be a block in life. This is a sixth grader, okay? Who didn't want to write? Who didn't want to write? Because mom said that he had to write, right? And so I said, okay. And what else do you like to do? He said, draw. I said, can you draw me this maze and this young man that stuck in this puzzle? And then when you draw it, can you put the words to it? And he said, okay. And he sat down and he began writing. And I want you to know he's a published author today.

Wow, that is a great, great story. Oh, wow. So, yeah, no pushing back on mom, but I'm sure she's happy, right? Oh, Simone, for listeners not familiar with when the youth come in, but you also, you all have mentors, which is another reason we wanted to talk to you because you also rely on mentors. What do you look for in a mentor to help with the youth here? I can also clarify that, Simone, and let you take it away from there. So writing fellows are also synonymous with mentors. They are the mentors in that space. And Simone, I'll let you take it from there as a writing fellow slash mentor to the youth. Yes, I think. I know when I first got into the program was a little bit intimidating. I didn't have a lot of experience in schools, especially not with middle schoolers, very intimidated. But the thing that really helped me understood is, first of all, you go in there and it sounds cheesy, but it's so true. You just be yourself. One of the most important things to be with that age group is cringe. Some people are trying to avoid it, but that I think is the thing that allows them to see that you're safe because you feel safe in yourself. You're not trying to impress them. And all of a sudden, if they know you're not trying to impress them, they don't feel the need to impress you back. And so just making a space by being an example of someone who is comfortable with themselves, but also willing to learn because there's so much. that I've learned from them. I went in thinking with the mentor mentality, you think there's like a power dynamic. But in reality, when you're sitting in there, it's just a whole bunch of artists. We're just different ages. Wow. And what, you said 18 years. So I imagine with this program, is there a cap, you probably would like to take more, but I'm imagining that maybe you have to cap it at some, at some number here? Yeah, so that's a good question because every workshop, we do have a cap. So because we're in 14 schools in the district, but we have 15 workshops that we facilitate, each workshop has the capacity of about 14 students per school. And so that ends up being in two semesters. And so we have the opportunity to, again, take roughly 28 to 30 per school. Yeah. And when that happens, if there's definitely a need for more, we can have multiple workshops per school in order to accommodate the youth that are in the program. So we do our best to accommodate the needs of the community in that area. We've talked about what you all have witnessed in terms of the youth. I'm curious, what's the feedback from parents or educators, you know, for the students they know that they're around and what they've said about the growth or even just the change in some of the youth because they're involved in this program. Absolutely. Absolutely. The program...

Absolutely is about our youth, but you are also right, right? The parents are involved. We can't do this without our community. We can't do this without the teachers that are partnering with this program to allow us to use their space. We often have educators that are allowing us to use their classroom after school, and so they're in the workshop as well, and they're learning as they attend the workshop as well. There's things that they... will take from our workshop and say, I am going to use that for my classroom. Like, I want to make my classroom space more inviting. I want to increase student discourse as well. I want the passion back in my classroom. And so they will take tips from our creative writing workshops for their classroom. We will also have parents that in our previous showcase that we just had, one of the students disclosed a mental health struggle that she had in her piece that was published, where she got the courage to talk to her mother. about her struggles with mental health came from our workshop. She wrote about something and the writing fellow was able to assist her and mom was able to provide support. Actually, I know we have a clip here, and Ariel, our wonderful engineer is going to play it in a moment because this is from one of the young authors who stepped up to the mic during Deep Center's summer showcase. It shocks her to see me as I am, all grown up, alive, and moving away to college soon. Her hollow gaze scans me. She huffs and rolls her eyes as a time inconveniencing her bath time. Her head hits the wall as her twinkle toes pulse, purple, blue, and white. She talks to me as if she's instructing me to deal with the consequences of what she's begun to do, cutting upwards, deepening my gash. Wow. Some very, very creative, creative youth there. And I'm curious, too, with this because all of this can also help with not just, you know, literacy rates, but helped for some youth improvement in other academic areas within their schoolwork. I imagine there's a connection there. There is a connection there because, as you can imagine with... Creative writing, there is also a piece where the youth is increasing, like, just their critical reading skills, right? And so, or reading comprehension, which then translates over to other areas like social studies even. And so, or even math, because even that has a component of literacy in it, that sometimes you do not connect. And so that's one of the... the things that we practice in our workshops is that the traditional school setting may be designed in one lens, but at deep, we create a deep space. And that transcends to the entire person, the family, and the community. You all are based in Savannah, but I'm curious, have other cities tried to get you all to help emulate a deep center? Like, you know, and Atlanta has some great...

writing programs too, by the way. But this seems like such a unique, unique program. And folks said, hey, can you come over here to Athens and help us out? Yeah, they have. And that is the future goal of Deep. So especially the Young Arthur Project. In the future, we do hope to expand to counties like Effingham County, Bryan County. And we do have opportunities that extends itself out to the Atlanta area because our books that are being published for these youth are created by illustrators that are from. all over. And so I don't want to limit it to just this area, but illustrators from all over can apply to become a deep Young Arthur Project illustrator, and they may be considered. As we're going to wrap up, what do you all want listeners to know about not only just encouraging youth, but if someone wants to volunteer, whether it's with your program down there in Savannah, or a similar program? and its importance in helping our youth. And Simone, I'll start with you. I think the most important thing, the first thing to take a little bit of weight off is it's a lot easier than you think. Being present is really the biggest thing. You're not there to perform. You're there to create a space and be whatever they need you to be, which is usually just there with them. And I think the other thing is going back to like this feeling of just being around other artists. is that it is mutually beneficial. I am also a different person after being in this program. It's not just, oh, I feel good when I go home. It's also, wow, I never thought about that. That is a unique perspective. I've met so many... prolific authors rather if we read their work great but they are with the best and they are just in their early teens wow they are just in their early teens but that is something that changes you as a person Simone I'll give you the last word I'm sorry Kalima I'll give you the last word my apology that was Simone Sure. I just, that was really heartfelt also, Simone, because you couldn't have said it better. The Young Arthur Project is about the youth in this community, about hearing what they have to say, what is on their mind, what is their viewpoint, what are they going through and experiencing, and how do they feel about it? And we create a space for them to openly express and find themselves.

process of doing that. Our mentors are better mentors. Our mentors become better and more well-rounded people. And then also the community that supports them become more aware of our youth and what they have to say. Now, Simone and Kalim, are y'all willing to publish those journals from when you were 12 and 13? I am taking my love for whoever that was to the bitter end. Yeah, and I think I would still have too much explaining to do. Nope. Kalima had to crush some Ronnie DeVoe from New Edition. I don't know. Actually, his name is Chauncey. Chauncy. And I saw Chauncy a few years ago and I couldn't believe it. That is hilarious. Well, first of all, thank you both for the work that you all are doing in Deep Center and helping so many youth down there in Savannah unlock their creative expression. And by the way, folks, we know there are some Atlanta-based young writers programs too. We'll have a list on our website at wab.a.org slash closer look. Kalima Harris, director of youth literacy for the Deep Center and Simone Wright, Writing Fellow for the Deep Center in Savannah. Thank you so much for coming in. Tell us about your wonderful program. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Chauncey.

Support for WAB comes from Northside Hospital Cancer Institute with the most cancer center locations and board certified oncologist in Georgia, treating every type of cancer. Northside Hospital Cancer Institute is built to beat cancer. Support for WAB comes from Alloy Fundraising. Year-end fundraising may seem months away, but the organizations that see the strongest results are planning now. Alloy helps non-profit leaders prepare for successful giving campaigns with strategic fundraising, grant expertise, fundraising events, and board and donor engagement. Serving as an extension of your team, Alloy helps organizations build momentum before the busiest fundraising season begins. Learn more at Alloyfundraising.com. And closer look continues from WAB in Atlanta. As always, I'm Rose Scott. I love to say this. Let's go back some years. 2010, to be exact, and it's year one of the Bronze Limbs Film Festival. What is there to discuss when someone is dying? There are things to discuss.

Whatever she had, whatever it was, papers, pictures, tapes, it's my legacy and my kid's legacy, not yours. I'm the daughter. You're the niece. Remember that. That is from the independent film I will follow. And at the time, from an emerging filmmaker, her name, Ava DuVernay. Meanwhile, the Bronze and Film Festival has become a signature place for independent filmmakers like DuVernay back in the day for independent filmmakers of color from around the world to right here in their home base of Atlanta. And since its founding, Bronze Lens has developed into an official Academy Awards qualifying festival in the short film category. Now it's another year and joining me to talk all about this year and reminisce a little bit about... those early toddler years. Bronze Lynn's Film Festival executive producer Kathleen Bird Chan. Welcome. Thank you so much, Rose. A pleasure to be here. And thank you for that memory. Yeah. Ava. One best feature that year and also Best of Festival. Yeah. And two of her stars, Sally Richardson. Who just got a huge, it was Emmy nominee? Yes, or something like that. And then Omari Hardwick went on to be the guy we know in the power. DeKalb's Finals. The Cab's finest. Yeah. He would say. From Decatur where it's great. Oh, he's from DeKalb. Yeah. When you think back to year one of Bronze Lens and now 16 years later, wow. Amazing journey. We've met so many people, thousands of people. aspiring filmmakers, storytellers, people that want to and are intentional about telling our stories. That's really the thread that is continuous through all of the years, including this one, is the intentionality of... sharing our stories, our perspectives. Can you recall the number of attendees back then versus now? I can't, I can't recall the first. I can tell you how many films we had. Yeah, 14, right? We had 23. 23, okay. Excuse me, ma'am. We had 20. Oh, I'm sorry. I have a typo here. That is my fault. Yes, we had 23 films that we showed, and we were excited about it. That's a lot for a first year. I'm telling you, Bronze Linz was in November at that time, and I think the call for submissions had just gone out in maybe July or August. So to have that number of films that we actually got to show was very exciting for us. I don't know if you know this, and I might have mentioned it before. So in two years later, after 2010 with Ava,

In 2012, in that studio right over there, Studio 2, she did a little interview with me about her film then, Middle of Nowhere, which was also a winner at Sundance for Best Director, right there in that little studio. I didn't know that. And so our beloved friend, Margaret Cargbeau, had called me and said, can you interview this filmmaker named Ava DuVernay? You know, we're trying to get some. And I was like, who that? Oh, yes. Who's able to do Renee? I said, okay. Oh, yeah. Came over here and interviewed in two of the stars and did that little interview. And Ava still remembers that. Oh, that's wonderful. Film festivals are so important for independent filmmakers. That's right, because it gives them a platform and a voice to talk about a particular story that they may have. And I think the other good thing about film festivals in general is that you connect with people that you will see again. You'll either be interviewing them again. They may be on a red carpet. You'll find somebody that's going to be in your production crew. You'll find somebody that inspires you. You'll find someone that's going to have some impact on the work that you do if you stay in this industry as a filmmaker. Kathleen, is it hard for a film festival to even get the designation as a qualifying? for like something prestigious, like the Academy Awards, is that? And even if it's a short film category, is that a hard, hard process to get to? Well, we came along at a time when the Academy was looking for ways to be intentionally diverse. Ava was certainly at the forefront of that over the years. But at the time, Cheryl Boone Isaacs was the president of the Academy. And we had been inviting her for about four years to come to Atlanta and allow us to honor her. And we got a relationship with Cheryl through Ruben Gallego Cannon, legendary producer and casting director. And Ruben Gallego was... very much a supporter of us in our early years. So that's how we knew about Cheryl and were able to get in touch with her. She came to Atlanta. And there was discussion about how to make the Academy voters more diverse. And through the process, you've got to have films that come through that represent a diverse perspective. So somehow all of the... alliances aligned, and we were asked to apply to be an Oscar qualifying film festival. And you had to have two recommendations from Academy members, and our recommenders were Ava DuVernay and Ruben Gallego Cannon. Wow. And so God is good. That happened, and we've been grateful ever since. And here's another little tidbit. What that means is the winner in the short films category gets to apply to the Oscars for entry as a film to be considered for the Academy Awards. Usually, the process involves a showing in Los Angeles or New York at a real theater, and that helps you to be able to be in that qualifying group.

But the other way is to come through an Oscar qualifying film festival. And so to date, we have had two films that went through the process and made it to the short list. So they didn't get the final five, but they made it to the 10, including last year's film Adieu that starred Jennifer Lewis. I just knew it was going to go all the way. I just knew it was going to go all the way. But it made it to the top ten. I want to shift for a moment because a lot of our listeners, they know Kathleen, Bertrand, corporate hospitality background, executive, singing career, and you're doing this. How did you get into this? I got into this through my work at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, Discover Atlanta. CEO William Pate and I had a discussion, and William used to attend Sundance. My area as senior vice president was diversity marketing. And he felt that Atlanta needed something in the diversity space that related to film. He just didn't feel that there was an outward showing of what the creative side of filmmaking could be. But he knew about Tyler Perry. So that was his one reference. He was always like, well, after all, Tyler Perry's here. And so I was like, William. like years away. I'm sorry. That's okay. But that's what he knew. That's what he knew. And that was solid. Yeah. That was solid. And fair. And fair. That's what he knew. And so my quest was to involve the entire Atlanta community. There were a couple of other organizations here that would have film festivals, but they didn't reach out. They didn't ask for entries. You know, it's important. It's not that you just curate black films. It's that you ask for submissions from this community, the national community, and eventually, as we did, the international community. But that's important for a film festival, not just curate and plop the film down, but to actually mine the talent that is where you are. And so we started doing that from the very beginning to the point that now... This year in 2026, we have a whole weekend dedicated to Atlanta and Georgia filmmakers. We're doing two weekends this year, and we decided to let's just celebrate Atlanta, celebrate Georgia. We got something to say. And our filmmakers are amazing. It's such an amazing community of creatives here. And I want to do this, and I can do it because my name is on the show for now. But we have a mutual friend in Ray Cobb and Peach Soul Productions and his partners and the Horn Brothers. A wonderful documentary on the life of Patrick Kelly. Yes. Love Patrick. Yeah, love Patrick. That's a great story. Yes. Homegrown, being able to. And listen, you all get a lot of submissions. So I got to ask. You got to mention any names. People say, Kathleen, now, I got this case of wine if y'all just make sure my short film get. Oh, no. Well, first of all, I don't drink wine like that. So that would not. And I'm kidding. That's not how it happens? But you all, you get a lot of submissions. Absolutely. A lot. Because there are how many different categories?

I want to say 12, 11, 12 categories. He's got web, you got long, format. Web series. We have feature short film, short documentary, documentary, best actor, best actress for sure. And I feel like I'm leaving something off. Probably got all that. Yes. Do you have cinematography? We don't do the only individual awards we do are best actor and best actress right now. Wow. who's to say by the time we hit 20 what that qualifier might be. And you all are so much more than just screenings. You've got panels and workshops. Yes. And I'm curious how these are developed because I imagine it's probably based on feedback too. Based on feedback or where we see there's a need. When we started in 2010 that you referenced, it was important to... grow our own community. Let me clarify that. When I was in hospitality, I would talk to lots of groups, colleges, high schoolers, for people to see someone like me at a senior level in hospitality, for people to see that there was an Erica Kendall Qualls, who was general manager of Atlanta's largest hotel. It was important to see people that were in the industry doing those things. And so it was that same mindset for... film. Our community was new to it. Again, we all knew that there was a Tyler Perry Studios, but how do you get in? How do you do that? How do you get your name on that crawl that's at the end? So it was important for us to grow our community by... providing workshops and providing opportunities for them to meet producers, directors, writers, light people. That's not the real name. But, you know, people in lighting, people in sound, people that are just like you that want to do what you want to do. So our first year, we came out of the gate blasting. We had 15 workshops. That was insanity. You're like, in case it's the last one. Just in case, just wanted to make our mark, you know. But you all also honor, as we say, and I said this to the wonderful Margaret Avery yesterday, you know, we use this term, give them their flowers. You all also honor so many folks. I remember a few years, a couple years ago, Sam Jackson went to that talk. It's important for you all to do that as well. Absolutely. We have to let our wider community know that we see them. If anybody's ever sent you a list of, or have you seen it online of all the black actors or all the black actresses, and you're like, oh, I know them. Oh, wow, I know them. Never gotten an award. Never been honored. You could just go down the list. Hundreds have never had somebody say, I see you. I see what you did. And so that's what the women's superstars honors has allowed us to do. And more recently, the Sunday brunch with the brothers, it's allowed us to touch people to say in this community, we see your work. We've honored over 75 women.

in the film industry for their work both in front of and behind the lens. And many of the people behind the lens you may have never heard of, but for us to be able to touch them and say, but we see you. Folks may not have heard of you, but now they have. That's been a real important part of what we do. And Kathleen, I think folks should know it sounds really cool to be the executive producer of Bronze Lens Film Festival, but you have to oversee a lot, including funding. How's that been going for you? You're a nonprofit. Yes. How's that? Start with the non. Yeah. Not the non. Start with the non. It's a struggle. It's a struggle. How did you get through COVID? We were virtual and we were the first of the film festivals in Atlanta to go to a virtual platform. I was very proud of that because I have a team of young people that just, well, young to me, and they were on top of everything that was going on industry-wide. And so we made that decision in May of 2020 that were going to be virtual in August. required a different process, a different platform. But we really had an amazing film festival because we were virtual and because everyone was at home, I think we had like 12, 13,000 people that tuned in watching our films that came from creators of color from around the world. It was a beautiful experience when you make the lemonade out of the lemon. And it was a beautiful experience. And we did it again the following year in 2021 because we were still a little cautious about being out. And then even in 22, when we came out, we came to a smaller theater. We had to space people out. And, you know, it was just that kind of challenge. But we were getting through 22. We hit 23 rows. And this was going to be our year to come back. And it was the strike. Yeah. That affected us because key talent that we wanted to be a part of the festival. weren't able to join us. Because it cannot talk about projects or even promote projects. It couldn't be on a red carpet, couldn't take a picture. And so we had to shift again. So there's a theme here. We're good at, what's the word I kept hearing, pivoting. Yes. So now I want to see this year as the pivot toward great funding that's coming for the future because the work that we do is important. It's important to our community. It's important to our legacy. At a time when our stories are, there's an attempt to erase our stories and who we are and what our contributions have been. And I think the work that independent filmmakers do, does now is more than ever needed. You mentioned by the time you hit a pretty cool.

Mark, which of 20 years, what do you hope this film festival will be then? What would you like to add that perhaps you all haven't been able to do thus far? I would love to see. The recognition across the board that Atlanta is important and got something to say. Okay. Because I feel that we get lost in the shuffle. There are names of other festivals, I won't call them, but they get the... shine the aura, they get the press, and we are working hard here. But I've noticed when I'm working with sponsor requests, et cetera, that it's very easy to defer to other places. But Atlanta comes in third on people's list, and we want to elevate that. And you have to tell the Bronze Lens Film Festival story its mission. How often are you having to just remind people, we are different? We are different, but we are meeting our goal. Our goal was to elevate the crafters, the filmmakers, that create stories about people that look like us. And we are doing that. The bronze lens film festival is going to actually take place over two weekends. So we'll have a link on our website to all of that. Kathleen, as always, it's a pleasure. I have watched this film festival just develop and be curated into something that's so important. Thank you. Thank you. And I guess in 2030 the Rose Scott story might be filmed. Oh, my God. That would be awesome. I don't know what it is, but it might be. Wait, man, I can't promise it's going to make it in. But if it's a good film. bronze lens.com, by the way, yes. That's it for this edition of Closer Look. Our producers are Lashon, Hudson, and Daniel Reisel. Our supervising producers, Tiffany Griffith. Our engineer for the day is Ariel Sims. A reminder. Let us know your thoughts on today's program or any other. Send me an email. Community at wab.org. That's community at wabee.org. And, of course, we have a podcast. So subscribe or if you like, and you can catch a rebroadcast tonight at 8. Stay tuned for WABE 90.1M. 90.1 FM, NHD1, Atlanta. I'm Rose Scott.

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