In the auditorium of Roxbury’s Eliot Congregational Church, young people and community members gathered amid swirls of cotton candy and the aroma of buttered popcorn to showcase the voices of local youth through a teen-run film festival.

The Aug. 22 event marked the culmination of Children’s Services of Roxbury’s summer Youth, Purpose & Partnership program, which runs after school from November through May with an expanded schedule as a summer program. It showcased teen-made films focused on youth mental health in a film festival with the theme, “Inside the Mind: Are We Really Ok?”

The theme and tagline for the event were selected by its teens, who also helped organize the event, run the registration and concessions tables and host the festival, in addition to developing and producing th

See Full Page