The 21st MY HERO Film Festival Part Two

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

January 15, 2025, Laguna Beach, CA

The MY HERO Project hosted Part Two of its 21st Annual International Film Festival Awards Ceremony on January 12, 2026. The event celebrates filmmakers highlighting individuals and organizations working to better our world. The awards presented by Film Festival Assistant Director, Rachel Priebe, during the 75-minute live Zoom Ceremony included: 

Relationship First Award

Sponsored by the Foundation for the Contemporary Family and presented by Judith Anderson, the Relationships First Award celebrates short films that explore and illuminate the powerful and poignant connections within any type of contemporary family relationship. 

First place went to Bubbles by Los Angeles Barea and 2nd place to A Place to Call Home by Stephanie Tran. 

Bubbles follows Ali Musa, a foster parent in Mityana, Uganda, who has opened his home to ten vulnerable children left to survive on the streets. With no formal support and little income, Ali offers them shelter, dignity, and a sense of belonging—guided by his own experience of being orphaned at a young age. Through intimate storytelling, Bubbles explores resilience, compassion, and the power of family, revealing how small acts of care can create lasting social change. Read more here.

Said Judith: “Such powerful storytelling in film can expand viewers’ consciousness and has the potential to drive meaningful social change.”

Jaudith and Los Angeles Barea MY HERO Festival

Los Angeles was in attendance and, in accepting the award, recounted how the film came about. She told the audience how she came across a post from Ali expressing suicidal thoughts after being unable to feed the children he had taken in. With no immediate support and widespread mistrust surrounding donations to Uganda, Ali’s plea went largely unanswered. Moved by the situation, Barea contacted Ali via Instagram and began offering personal financial support. Through direct communication, she witnessed the children’s harsh living conditions, including illness caused by malaria and lack of clean water. This connection led to the provision of fresh water, the making of the film, and through our nonprofit Green Superheroes, we plan to build an orphanage to provide long-term support for vulnerable children in Uganda.

A Place to Call Home by Stepahnie Tran is a film that amplifies LGBTQ+ Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander voices. For Stephanie, the film represents a deeply personal effort to address the lack of representation in media and to elevate AAPI and LGBTQ+ communities.

Stephanie could not attend but sent a message thanking her producer, Nick Oceano-Armendariz, longtime PFLAG National collaborator, the volunteers who translated the film to reach immigrant communities, and the MY HERO Film Festival for providing a platform to share the story. Stephanie also expressed gratitude to the participants who shared their stories with trust and vulnerability.

The Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize

The Mattie Stepanek Poetic Film Prize honors filmmakers who craft visual poems to share messages of hope and peace. This award is in memory of Mattie Stepanek, whose heartfelt poetry touched thousands of lives with its messages of love and optimism. Presented by Jeni Stepanek and the Mattie Stepanek Peace Foundation, the prize celebrates Mattie’s legacy and the transformative power of poetic storytelling through film. Jeni 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. At a time when we were struggling financially and living from basement to basement, she ensured Mattie had access to a computer and the internet - something few families had in the early to mid-1990s. Jeanne connected Mattie to the world, and in turn, connected the world to him.”

For a child who would live just shy of fourteen years, those connections proved life-changing. Jeni spoke about how MY HERO amplified Mattie’s voice, imagination, and purpose, and about Jeanne’s belief in the profound value of poetic expression. Jeni also explained the ethos behind Mattie’s Heart Songs, describing poetry as far more than rhyme and rhythm: “Poetry is a purposeful structure. It inspires empathy, raises awareness of social truths, preserves culture, and can even right wrongs. Living a poetic life means being perceptive, creative, and choosing to see familiar things in new ways—qualities essential for peace.”

This year, there were four winners:

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 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.”

Jeni Stepanek and Alyssa Wu

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.”

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 whom 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?

Said Jeni: I found this to be an incredibly sincere and authentic message about honoring others, especially others who have become vulnerable or are facing some challenges and rising above those challenges to still celebrate them. 

Alexander Lyon

Said Alexander: I read your 'Last Heartsong' piece in the Washingtonian both before I created my film Forgetting to Be Grandpa and also after finding out I won, which helped me understand what it means to live with a heartsong, which is something I’ve been struggling with for the past few years. It is never easy to do something heroic, but you and the MY HERO team gave me a path.

People's Choice Award

This award is decided by an audience vote, and it celebrates the film that inspired, moved, or resonated with the viewers the most. This year’s winner is Ko (Aqua) by Lila Downs & Daniela Millaleo and directed by Maria Jose Calderon.

Said Maria: “Thank you so much for this recognition. This is truly a surprise. This is a very special project for me. I'm a film director and producer, and I usually don't do music videos, but this is a, a song that we chose for our latest film, Water For Life.”

The documentary Water For Life directed Will Parrinello and produced by Maria Jose Calderon and Rick Tejada-Flores was a finalist in the 2024 MY HERO Film Festival. The film explores the collision of water rights, Indigenous beliefs, and resource extraction through the lives of three Latin American community leaders. The right to clean water is a global issue - in Latin America, it has become a matter of life and death. Read more here: myhero.com/will-parrinellos-water-for-life

Community Hero Award

Fire Relief Boutique, directed by Sage Kovich from New Road School in Santa Monica.

Sage KovichSaid Sage: 

This is a film about community, about how my school came together to help the families affected by the fires last year. So, this award goes to my school, New Road School in Santa Monica, California, which is the most amazing group of people and students and teachers and parents that I could have ever dreamed of being a part of...This award also goes out to the families affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires last year, especially with the one-year anniversary last week. You are always in our thoughts and in our hearts, and we are there for you.

The Portrait of an Organization in the High School Category.

Ubuntu International directed by Wilbroad Kiiza from Uganda.

Wilbroad accepted the award and explained that his film is rooted in the philosophy of Ubuntu - “I am because we are” - which emphasizes shared humanity, compassion, and collective strength. Inspired by the often-unseen courage and kindness of ordinary people, the film honors everyday heroes within families and communities. Said Wilbroad: “I stand before you with a heart full of gratitude and humility. To be recognized by the My Hero International Film Festival is not only an honor, but also a deeply meaningful moment in my life and in my journey.” Wilbroad concluded by encouraging the audience to recognize heroism in themselves and others, and to embrace unity, empathy, and hope.

Documentary 1^st Place

Yatichana (Teach), directed by Mauricio Panozo Montero from Bolivia. In this film, we follow a dedicated teacher of indigenous origin in the Huaricana Valley, La Paz, Bolivia, who teaches computer skills to children and youth in a rural school. She and her students face challenges ranging from access to technology and connectivity to geographic and social challenges.

College Documentary 1^st Place

God's Sons directed by Don Tortellini is about the Red Bird Raiders who mentor and coach young boys in football and also coach and mentor young girls in cheer. Thorugh their coaching, many children have gone on to grow and receive division 1&2 scholarships. The mission of the Red Bird Raiders is to save lives through athletics. 

Mauricio stated that he was humbled to win the award, but his purpose had never been to win awards. He explained: “This film was created under a cultural preservation umbrella that I created called The Village, which exists to combat misinformation and misrepresentation of my home community of Oakland, Texas…My purpose was to extend the range of the stories that I tell from the south so that they can travel to create perspective, understanding through the form of motion picture.”

College Narrative 1^st Place

La Bruja directed by Manuel Villarreal and produced by Simone Kirlew. On the night of his eighth birthday, Pablito mourns the loss of his Amá. But when his Abuela tells him a fairytale about the mystical Bruja Del Mar, he finds unexpected parallels between his own life and her story.

Said Manuel: “Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to tell stories and create worlds that audiences could escape to. But coming out of this experience, I've learned that it's more than just escape that I want to give people hope because here's the thing, there will always be forces out there trying to limit you.”

The 2025 MY HERO Media Awards

This year’s special MY HERO Media Awards proudly honored Logan Smalley, founding director of TED’s youth and education initiative, TED-Ed - an award-winning platform inspiring millions of teachers and students worldwide - and Clarissa Ngo, a Harvard alumna and visionary educator whose creative leadership empowers students to become confident and purpose-driven changemakers.

In accepting the MY HERO Media Award, Logan stated that he was honored and described TED-Ed’s mission to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students worldwide. Through TED-Ed animations and programmes such as Student Talks and Educator Talks, the organisation helps educators and learners develop and share ideas with a global audience. He emphasises that all of TED-Ed’s work is driven by and created for curious people, whom he thanks for inspiring the team’s efforts.

Logan Smalley

Watch the presentation here: myhero.com/media-award-2025

Clarissa reflected on the profound impact MY HERO has had on her teaching and her students. She shared that discovering MY HERO showed her “the power of what MY HERO does and everything it teaches my students.” Clarissa highlighted how creating MY HERO films helps students tell “an unsung hero’s story… in the most-watched medium,” giving voice to those who might otherwise feel “powerless, voiceless, and invisible.”

She also emphasized the importance of celebrating positivity, noting that “learning how to move people’s hearts for the greater good is vital to our mental health.” Clarissa described MY HERO as a platform that encourages personal growth, teaching students to see themselves as “gritty heroes” and to create work that is “beautiful and useful that lifts up others.”

Reflecting on her students’ success, she observed that being told “you matter and what you make matters changes you,” adding that meaningful work is “not about genius… it is about caring about something so much you are willing to sacrifice for it.” She concluded by thanking the MY HERO team for helping inspire her students “to become better humans and lighthouses in the world,” describing this as “what a true education is supposed to be.”

Clarissa Ngo

Watch the presentation here: myhero.com/media-arts-educator-award-2025

Rachel concluded the ceremony, thanking everyone for being a part of this year’s festival: "Your stories, passion, and commitment to creating meaningful art continue to inspire us, and we look forward to celebrating even more powerful work with you in the year ahead."

To see all the winning films, go to: myhero.com/films/winners2025

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.