Not all young people have the same opportunities — but the Telluride Film Festival is doing its part to change that.
The festival's City Lights Project invites 15 high school students, from underserved school districts, for a weekend of cultural immersion. They watch about a dozen of the best films in the world, interact with filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, musicians and producers in an intimate setting, keep journals, hike in the mountains around Telluride and meet with college students participating in the festival's Filmmakers of Tomorrow program.
It's an opportunity of a lifetime, says the student programs assistant Erika Gordon. She says the students last year were in tears when they had to leave for home.
"It changes them. They get a taste of other realities ... it's an experience that otherwise they'd never get the opportunity to have. They get completely outside of their own lives," says Gordon.
They keep a harried schedule during the weekend, and Gordon says they often have to bring the students food to scarf while they wait in the queue.
"They have a super rigorous schedule, from sunrise to way past sunset," says Gordon.
Learn more about the Telluride Film Festival events online.
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