The Women Transforming Media Awards 2024

The 20^th MY HERO Film Festival Awards Ceremony was held on the November 16th, 2024 in Santa Monica at the Ann & Jerry Moss Theater at New Roads School. The ceremony was hosted by Gabrielle Gorman, an advocate for international human rights, who has been affiliated with MY HERO since 2017 when she herself was a student at New Roads School.

Highlights included the presentation of The Women Transforming Media Awards sponsored by Eva Haller.

Eva Haller is a philanthropist, an activist, a MY HERO board member and a mentor to generations. She’s a Holocaust survivor who lost her older brother in the war and vowed to spend her life helping people to honor his memory. Many individuals and organizations have benefited from that vow — Women for Women International, Asian Initiatives, Free the Children and the Jane Goodall Institute are only a few. 

Each year, Haller sponsors the Women Transforming Media Award (WTM) . She established the award to inspire and support filmmakers whose work features women changemakers or women’s issues and has expanded the contest to include an award for students, from elementary school to college, as well as for professional filmmakers. This year, she chose three winners: The documentary ‘Daga - A Woman’s Fight to Empower Girls in her Village’ directed by Fama Ndiaye of Alarba Film with Executive Producers: Sky Dylan-Robbins & Gabriel Diamond.

The film focuses on Daga Baldé from southern Senegal. Daga is a local leader in her community who is a passionate advocate for girls' and women’s education. Her story exemplifies Tostan’s mission to foster community-driven learning and leadership. This transformation was captured by the Skoll Foundation’s Solutions Storytelling Project.

Gabriel Diamond graciously accepted the award, thanking Eva for recognizing the Solutions Storytelling Project. He shared that, in the past year alone, the initiative collaborated with 19 filmmakers from across Africa, connecting them with impactful local organizations such as Tostan. Highlighting one of these collaborations, Diamond remarked, “Daga is a powerful example of local people addressing and solving deeply complex, thorny problems within their communities.”

Gabriel DiamondMYRON MCCLURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Eva expressed her regrets at not being able to attend in person but extended her heartfelt gratitude stating that she feels deeply honored to have had the privilege of experiencing the remarkable films that celebrate the strength and resilience of women over the past eight years as part of this award. She is profoundly inspired by the exceptional quality of the work, the powerful focus on social activism, and the extraordinary heroism of women from around the globe whom she has come to know through these stories. Eva expresses her sincere thanks to the MY HERO Project for providing this incredible opportunity to engage with these films and connect with such a vibrant and inspiring global learning community.

This year, thanks to Eva Haller, winning filmmakers will receive a solar light called Luke's Light, created by the nonprofit organization Unite to Light.

Her Voice directed by Carletta S. Hurt and Sunnye C. Durham of IKAM Productions won the Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award – Narrative. In this short film, journalism student Gwendolyn struggles to choose a historical figure as the focus of a high school homework assignment. When her grandmother steps in to help, Gwendolyn takes an unexpected journey through history to meet Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

Said the producer of the film, “Charlayne, being the first black woman to attend UGA, went through so much and we wanted to honor her perseverance. We wanted to honor her dedication to her craft and her work, which is why, you know, we do what we do every day as filmmakers, as just humans in general, trying to make a change in this world…we're so honored (to receive the award). The team, they're not here, but they send their love. And thank you so much.”

Read an interview with the directors here: /her-voice-wins-wtm-award-at-my-hero-film-festival

Joy Buolamwini , a short documentary by Ascot Avenue Elementary School student Abbigail Mira won the Eva Haller WTM Student Award (and a WOJ Youth Reporter Award Elementary). The film was created as part of the MY HERO Media Arts Education program at Ascot Elementary in Los Angeles.

Myron McClure Photography(From left to right) Abbigail Mira, Frank Guttler, and Dr. Ortiz

Read more about Abbigail and her film here: /abbigail-mira-wins-woj-and-wtm-awards