Films about ‘inspiration and hope’

Aspiring young filmmakers will soon honor their Laguna Beach heroes.

The My Hero Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enlighten and inspire people of all ages with an ever-growing Internet archive of hero stories from around the globe, will host its second annual Laguna Hero Festival at 7 p.m. Thursday at [seven-degrees] in Laguna Beach.

The event will feature four professional films and 12 two- to seven-minute films created by students at Laguna Beach High and Thurston Middle schools, and will celebrate heroes in and around Laguna, said Wendy Milette, director of media arts and the film festival for My Hero.

“The videos will highlight people and organizations in our own neighborhood that are working to make the world a better place,” she said. “It will be an evening of inspiration and hope.”

One of the films that will be featured honors Laguna Beach High graduate Sarah Elliot, a photojournalist who now resides in Nairobi, Kenya. In the film, she shares her captivating photographs and reveals her own mentors and heroes.

Milette said films are chosen based on the hero, creativity, quality and emotional reaction.

“We also love the ‘stories into action,’ films that inspire people to act on a cause and do their part,” she said. “Pam McKay, the video teacher at LBHS, has done a great job in making sure this year’s [contestants] turned in quality films.”

All entrees at Thursday’s event will be considered for My Hero’s international competition at USC in November.

Jeanne Meyers, co-founder of My Hero, said she is proud of the entries the event has received.

“We are thrilled to have such positive feedback from the community for this project,” she said. “These stories serve to remind us that we all have the potential to overcome great obstacles and achieve our dreams by following in the footsteps of our heroes.”

Milette recently returned from the Cannes Film Festival, where My Hero’s short film, “The Heroes of Orange County” was showcased at the American Pavilion and won in the student and emerging artists category for short films.

Among the Laguna films honored at Cannes were pro-surfer and Eco-Warrior James Pribram’s “Guardians of Surf,” a film about saving the perfect wave from extinction; Shaun MacGillivray’s “Joey,” which tells the story of an 11-year-old boy named Joey Masella who lives with a rare degenerative genetic skin disease; and “Make a Wish,” a documentary created by Jamie Hancock, Olivia Van Slyke and Katie Rabun about their friend and classmate, Tori Degen, a two-time cancer survivor.

Meyers established the My Hero Project in 1995 with co-founders and fellow mothers, Rita Stern and Karen Pritzker, who were also concerned about the lack of positive role models in the media for children.

“We dreamed of creating an online venue where people could share and discover inspiring stories of real-life heroes,” Meyers said. “The educational journal calls attention to positive [role models] who are making a difference in the world.

“It shows the best of humanity.”

Their site has served as an inspiration around the globe and now shares stories from 166 countries.

The film festival will be sponsored by a grant from the city of Laguna Beach, community donations and Seven Degrees.

“Hero art” from local elementary school students will also be featured, and Nick Hernandez of Common Sense will give a reggae performance.

For more information about My Hero, or to make a donation, visit myhero.com.

To RSVP to this event, visit www.myhero.com/RSVP. A minimum $20 donation at the door is encouraged.