Mike Martin, age 19, faced challenges growing up. At 17, he tagged along with friends who committed a felony. Unable to post bail, he was sent to Rikers Island, one of the country’s most violent prisons. Mentored by filmmakers Chiemi Karasawa and Hollis Meminger, Mike shines a light on the juvenile justice system, while providing a message of hope and encouragement to others.

Teen refugee Mohammad Shasho and his family fled war-torn Syria for Berlin, Germany. Now, they are struggling to make a new life, learning to navigate a different culture and communicate in a foreign language. Mentored by filmmaker Anja Baron, Mohammad shares how he and his fellow refugees are surviving displacement, and their hopes for a brighter future.

Had Senegalese teen Ndèye Fatou Fall been born several years earlier, she and her friends would have been subjected to child marriage and other rituals harmful to girls. Mentored by filmmaker Elizabeth Hummer, Ndèye Fatou shares how her village abandoned these practices, and the ways in which these cultural shifts have empowered and transformed her community.