This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
The Notebook’s 30-minute documentary film, Glen’s Village, is screening throughout the month of September at The Online Film Festival: #TOFF.
The festival reaches thousands of viewers in more than 100 different countries and helps independent filmmakers raise the visibility of their films via the Internet, according to its website.
This festival makes its audience into the judges. It’s free and easy to watch and vote for Glen’s Village. All you have to do is click on one of the five stars (one for awful, five for excellent). So far, the film is one of the highest ranked by #TOFF’s audience.
Viewers can vote once a day on multiple devices. Every vote counts.
Glen’s Village is a documentary by journalists Dorian Geiger and Paul Jablow that examines the effects of trauma on adolescents in the Philadelphia public school system. The film’s focus is on Glen Casey, 20, of West Philadelphia, who hails from a world filled with drugs and drive-by shootings and is now a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
#TOFF is one of eight other film festivals Glen’s Village has so far been accepted into, three of which are online festivals. The others are the Miami Independent Film Festival, which is also currently running, as well as the Orlando Urban Film Festival, set for November.
Glen’s Village recently won best short documentary at AMFM Fest: Flagstaff in Arizona.
Recently, the Notebook ended an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to develop Glen’s Village as a learning tool in city schools to educate children, parents, and teachers on psychological trauma in a public school setting.
Though the campaign has closed, you can still donate to help us reach our $6,000 goal and make this a reality.