BYkids is a non-profit organization pairing master filmmakers, including Albert Maysles and Ric Burns, with youth (ages 8-21) from around the world to create short documentaries that educate Americans about globally relevant issues.
By giving kids the tools and mentoring to make documentary films about their lives and packaging those films for a wide American audience, BYkids gives voice to youth from diverse cultures, and encourages international understanding and engagement by giving viewers concrete ways to respond.
Each year, the Story Selection Committee — UNICEF and a group of nationally-recognized journalists, filmmakers, teens and non-profit leaders — creates a list of potential stories from which five are chosen. These five stories carry the universal values of courage, perseverance and dignity. Each story is given to a BYkids' Film Mentor who spends one month helping the young person make the film. UNICEF provides transportation, lodging, communications, security, local networking and other diplomatic resources in each project country.