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Imaginate Ink 2025 Films

Congratulations to the 2025 Media Arts Educator Award recipient, Clarissa Ngo! Below are her students' films that were accepted into the 21st MY HERO International Film Festival 

Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize Winners

Forgetting to be Grandpa

By: Imaginate Ink
When 17-year-old Alexander passes the bust of his grandpa, he remembers whom he is supposed to be.

The End of My Pink Cake Life

By: Imaginate Ink
The tale of how Alyssa Wu moved from video-game addicted teen to realizing that treating yourself makes your dreams sit on a shelf.

1st Place Category Winner

(Middle School Documentary)

Nai Nai

By: Emilee Sung
My ancestors come from an illiterate fishing village Where pirates lay in wait for merchant ships to plunder

Finalist Films

Ode to my Fellow Writers

By: Imaginate Ink
For my fellow writers–-for having the courage to face the blank page every day. We change hearts to change minds.

My Life Plan

By: Aaron Chen
As a 6’1” 13-year-old, I’m drawn to sports Especially basketball as I try to be a gazelle on the courts

Before Rosa, Claudette Sat

By: Imaginate Ink

Ensnared

By: Isabella Lin
“What would you like to be someday?” “A pigeon.”

Patrick the Penguin

By: Imaginate Ink
There once was a penguin who didn’t think it was nice That his once spacious glacier was now a cube of ice

Untamed Rhymes: Poems to Celebrate Sea Creatures

By: Imaginate Ink

A Modern Hero: A Love Story

By: Imaginate Ink
“It was from my grandmother, my Popo, that I learned how to love and that seemingly ordinary things are what are most extraordinary.”

Paradise in a Pencil

By: Emily Song
"Paradise in a Pencil" is a film I made about how drawing helped me heal from hurt.

Music: My Friend, My Hero

By: Imaginate Ink
My hero isn’t a person or a thing. It’s something you can’t touch, but you can feel. Is it okay to say my hero is music?

A Home for Harlem

By: Jubilee Sung, Ed Sung
A Home for Harlem is about 8-year-old Harlem Sung, who lives in a cardboard box with his Mom in Central Park. His dream is to build his Mom a real home. Will Harlem be able to use his creativity to do what seems impossible? Find out in A Home for Harlem.

Official Selection Films

Cowabunga!

By: Rachel Chen
When a young calf named Cowabunga discovers that he is polluting the planet with his methane burps, he falls into despair. Intrepid cow that he is, Cowabunga embarks upon a quest to discover how he can save the planet.

My Heroic Quest

By: Victoria Hsu
“Once upon a time, I was eating Cheetos on the couch Watching Girl Meets World–to keep me from feeling like a grouch” So begins my journey from regular kid to a girl who is curious about wisdom.

Honorable Mention Films

The Glass Butterfly

By: Natalie Chien

The Case of the Mysterious Boiling River

By: Lucas Chien

Organizer created on 1/6/2026 11:16:24 AM by Kitty Richardson

Last edited 1/27/2026 10:12:01 PM by Rachel Priebe

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