Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize Celebrated at the 2025 MY HERO Film Festival

CONTACT: Jeanne Meyers                                                                                                                                           

Co-founder/Director
The MY HERO Project
[email protected]

January 16, 2026 — Laguna Beach, CA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize was proudly presented at the 2025 MY HERO Film Festival, honouring filmmakers who create visual poems that share messages of hope, peace, and shared humanity. The award commemorates the life and legacy of Mattie Stepanek, whose heartfelt poetry touched thousands worldwide with its enduring messages of love, optimism, and compassion.

Presented by Jeni Stepanek and the Mattie Stepanek Peace Foundation, Mattie’s mother and a lifelong advocate for poetic expression and peacebuilding, the prize celebrates Mattie’s legacy and the transformative power of poetic storytelling through film.

Jeni StepanekMY HERO 

Jeni attended to present the prize and, in her introduction, expressed her gratitude to Jeanne and MY HERO for their support.

Jeanne was the first person to recognize my six-year-old son, Mattie, as one of the very first Poet Heroes. Being honoured as a poet at such a young age was extraordinary in itself, but Jeanne went further. She ensured Mattie had a computer so he could create his work more easily. Even more importantly, she gave him access to the internet - this was the early to mid-1990s, a time when most households did not have that kind of access, especially families like ours. Mattie and I were struggling financially, moving from basement to basement in other people’s homes.

Over the years, I have often reflected on the difference MY HERO made in my son’s life. Jeanne connected Mattie to the world, and in turn, connected the world to him - to his voice, his imagination, and his way of seeing things. For a child who would live just shy of fourteen years, those connections mattered deeply. I am profoundly grateful not only for the opportunities she gave my son and the way she amplified his purpose on this earth, but also for Jeanne’s vision and her belief in the power and value of poetic expression.

Jeni went on to explain the ethos and values behind the concept of Mattie’s Heart Songs.

My son was a writer. He prolifically penned essays, letters, speeches, psalms, short stories, and chapter books. But he very much loved the powerful tool of poetic expression. You see, poetry is not just about rhymes and rhythms. Poetry is a purposeful structure. It is a tool for offering information in an inspirational way for expressing, emoting, and encouraging empathy and understanding. Poetry can raise awareness of social truths. It can help preserve our culture. It can keep intact the remnants of history. Poetry can even right wrongs. It can nurture personal growth and facilitate global growth when it's recognized and realized through things like what the MY HERO Foundation is doing.

Mattie published six bestselling volumes of poetry, but his seventh and final book, titled Just Peace, A Message of Hope, a book that he wrote in collaboration with his hero, his friend and former president Jimmy Carter, was mostly essays and letters, where Mattie had a chance to explore his choices for peace, his pathways for peace. And, in this book, he writes directly about the important matter of living a poetic life, which he says is not necessarily synonymous with actually writing poetry. Rather, Mattie writes: a poetic life is having qualities like being graceful, perceptive, being aware and noticing, being inspired and creative. Living life in a poetic way means being able to see familiar things, but in new ways. It's about choosing to be observant, to be innovative, which are necessary attributes for peaceful attitudes and habits, which is what we really need in this world.

2025 Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize Winners

This year, four outstanding films were recognized:

Not Alone - Maryam Ghouth & Arash Behzad. Featuring the mesmerizing artistry of Sacha Jafri, Not Alone is a poetry film that explores the transformative and communal power of creative expression.

Elementary School Winner: Give it a try, directed by Delight Ratesh Mc'Dan is a peace poem written and performed in Kenya to foster peaceful Cohesion existence.

Said Jeni: “I really liked this particular submission because it is a creative exploration of national pride and a celebration of community.”

Middle School Winner: The End of My Pink Cake Life, directed by Alyssa Wu. This is the tale of how 13-year-old Alyssa Wu moved from video-game addicted teen to realizing that treating yourself as a means to an end of pleasure makes your dreams sit on a shelf. 

Said Jeni: “This is a very clever and uplifting piece that's addressing a very serious matter for, uh, many young people in today's world.”

Jeni and Alyssa WuMY HERO

Alyssa shared: “Winning felt surreal—like flying on the biggest drop of a rollercoaster, but without throwing up afterward. It made me realize: I can do something. Even though I’m imperfect and weird, what I create matters.”

High School Winner: Forgetting to Be Grandpa by Alexander Lyon from California, USA. When 17-year-old Alexander passes the bust of his grandpa, he remembers who he is supposed to be. This is the very relatable tale of what every human must face: can we pry ourselves from everything that distracts us to honor those who gave us wings?

Alexander received the award, stating: “Reading your ‘Last Heartsong’ helped me understand what it means to live with a heartsong—something I’ve struggled with for years. Making this film allowed me to mourn my grandfather for the first time and showed me that what I do matters.” He concluded: “Thank you for changing my life and showing me I am capable of more greatness than I ever imagined.”

MY HEROAlexander Lyon

The Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize continues to uplift young voices and honour stories that inspire empathy, courage, and peace - ensuring that Mattie’s heartsong lives on through a new generation of filmmakers. Find out more: myhero.com/mattie-stepanek-poetry-prize  and the Mattie Stepanek Peace Foundation.

About the MY HERO International Film Festival

The My Hero Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to showcasing films that celebrate the power of the human spirit. The festival provides a platform for filmmakers to share inspirational stories of everyday heroes. Thanks to generous sponsors, prizes are awarded to elementary, middle school, high school, college and professionals in a variety of categories, including documentary, narrative, music video, animation, experimental, and more.

The festival aims to inspire audiences to recognize the heroism in their own lives and encourage positive actions in their communities. Learn more.

MY HEROPoetry Contest 

CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR JUNE 1ST 2026 

The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Poetry Contest is open for submissions!

The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Poetry Contest is seeking heartsongs about heroes working for peace, human rights and the environment. This poetry contest is unique in that it is open to poets, artists, filmmakers, and spoken word artists. See below for contest requirements for the different categories. Find out more here: myhero.com/poetry-contest