Gandhi Brigade Youth Media will present the world premiere of the organization’s latest student-produced documentary, which looks youth activism and is titled “We Are Now.”

The free showing will be held Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus Cultural Arts Center at 7995 Georgia Ave.

During a five-week period over the past summer, eight high school students conceived, planned and produced the film. The production took students from a hearing at Gaithersburg City Hall on immigration rights to the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), a youth leader in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.

“The students selected this topic because they are angry at gun violence in their schools, upset over immigrant children being separated from their families, and worried about the environmental degradation across the planet,” said Evan Glass, Gandhi Brigade’s executive director.

“Members of this generation feel that their voices are not heard on critical issues that will impact their future,” Glass continued. “This film is a way for students to motivate other students and let the adults know what is on their minds.”

Following the screening will be a Q&A session with the youth producers, and a panel conversation with student activists from CASA de Maryland, Democracy Summer, Takoma Park Youth Council and Zero Hour, among others.

Gandhi Brigade Youth Media is a nonprofit that operates free after-school programs providing youth with the tools to become community leaders through media production. Our programs teach middle and high school students about civic engagement and works with them to create documentaries, public service announcements and graphic design campaigns—skills necessary to educate and engage the community toward positive change.

Previous documentaries have covered topics such as police accountability, juvenile justice and immigration reform, and have been shown at film festivals around the country. Several have won awards in the high school categories at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival and the Black Hollywood Education & Resources Center, among others.

Graphic courtesy Gandhi Brigade Youth Media