San Mateo County Times
Area youths present films at Sundance : Teens participate in Adobe school project
By Banks Albach
January 25, 2008

EAST PALO ALTO — For Francisco Espinoza and Maria Centeno, it was their personal stories of tragedy and triumph that landed their short movies in the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday.

Espinoza, an 18-year-old Redwood City resident, documented the life of his friend, 17-year-old Steven Santos, who turned his life around after dropping out of high school and ending up in jail. Santos is now a certified electrician with a baby son.

Espinoza said there's an important reason behind the title of his short film, "Pace Maker."

"Everybody moves at their own pace," Espinoza said from Salt Lake City.

Centeno, a 17-year-old East Palo Alto resident, tells her own story in "Just Say It," which highlights how she grew up, got kicked out of school, ran with gangs and eventually watched her close friend get shot and killed on his front porch after being mistaken for his brother.

Their appearance in the world-renowned film festival is part of "Adobe Youth Voices," an effort by the software giant to teach and inspire youths in underserved communities to express themselves through digital media.

The program runs in 75 schools and nonprofits in four countries. Centeno and Espinoza got involved through the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula.

Since taking part in the program, Centeno said she's begun planning for an education in visual arts.

"My main goal is to go to the New York Film Academy," said Centeno, who also attended the festival.

Adobe launched the program in 2006. The company picks several sites, donates $5,000 to each, trains the staff and provides computers, cameras and software. Adobe is also a Sundance corporate sponsor and helped establish a youth section in the festival this year, said Miguel Salinas, a spokesman in the company's Corporate Affairs and Community Relations department.

Ten of the program's participants were selected by Adobe this year to appear at the festival.

The company's motives go beyond basic philanthropy, Salinas said. It wants to teach the students software skills and also give them a creative outlet to express themselves, he said.

"These films are so powerful," Salinas said. "This is truly youth voice and what they think about."

To view the videos, click on the link below - Look to the right of where it says “Create with Purpose” and you will find links (shaped like fortune cookie paper) that say “Just Say It” and “The Pace Maker”. Click there and it should launch a player with the piece.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/youthvoices/index.html