Colorado teen creates short film in Denver Film Festival

Colorado teen creates short film in Denver Film Festival 02:26

Every year, Denver Film shines a spotlight on Colorado films during the Denver Film Festival. This year is no exception. Several short documentaries are screening that are made by Colorado filmmakers and are about Colorado topics.

Among those film is a short that's having a big impact. It was made by a 15-year-old student from the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

CBS

"My film is all about blindness," Mitch Armendano said at the Teen Self-Care Fair in Fort Collins in October, 2024.

The Teen Self-Care Fair focuses on mental health and wellbeing among middle and high school students. It's put on by the Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimar County. The goal is to build connection for kids. Armendano's film goes a long way to building connection with people experiencing blindness. They have been screening the film at several festivals across the nation.

"My film's gotten into the All-American High School Film Festival and then it went to, just recently, it won Best in Film at the Chicago Youth Film Festival," Armendano explained. "I want the audience to learn. I mean, every single time I present this film, I want someone to learn something."

The film is called "Blind Sighted." It's a 12-minute look into the world of being blind. Armandano demonstrates how they accomplish everyday tasks that people with sight may take for granted. They also talk to their sighted grandmother and some friends who have been impacted by sight loss.

"We have our disability. The disability makes things harder for us to do, but we're normal people. We have normal hobbies, and we just want to go through the world and be treated as equals," Armandano told CBS News Colorado.

Armandano made the film with the help of the Youth Documentary Academy in Colorado Springs. YDA holds 10-week sessions to teach teens every aspect of documentary filmmaking. The Academy focuses on high school students from underserved and under-represented communities.

"As a blind person…unfortunately…I do not understand how pictures work," Armandano explained. "But I really did want to share my story. Just learning the intricacies of film, you know, all this different equipment, all the nuances that go into making a good film."

"Blind Sighted" is an eye opening documentary short that goes a long way to share what 5 million Americans experience every day.

LINK: For Tickets & Information for Denver Film Festival

"Blind Sighted" shows at the Sie FilmCenter on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 4:15 p.m. The Denver Film Festival runs through November 10, 2024.