Greeley West MYP sophomore Nashrah Mohdreza was recognized in Washington, D.C for its annual Film Festival. This year’s theme was “The World I Want to Live In” and Mohdreza made a film about equality and diversity. 

This whole event encourages grade school kids to create films and speak their ideas. If you are a finalist, such as Mohdreza, you get to screen your film at the White House and meet many famous actors and singers. Some of the actors Mohdreza met were from the new hit television show, Stranger Things.

Mohdreza was paired up with a film maker from the American Film Institute to be her mentor through this process and learn about more about how to make films. Mohdreza also got to attend South by South Lawn which was a festival outside the White House that featured The Lumineers and 2000 invited guests. 

At the SXSL event, Mohdreza got to meet President Barack Obama and had her picture taken with him.  She was also one of the first people in the world to see Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest documentary, Beyond the Flood.

“My inspiration to do this was I wanted to have my story be heard. We live in a society where there are so many racial problems and racial stereotypes which cause so many terrible things to happen,” Mohdreza said.

Mohdreza wanted to help provide encouragement and some enlightenment on her situation for other kids to recognize.

Along this journey at Washington D.C, Mohdreza wasinterviewed by Scholastic Magazine, Rookie Magazine, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, the producers from Stranger Things, and since she is from Malaysia she was interviewed by Malaysian reporters. This is just the beginning for Mohdreza, since she plans on making more films to tell her story through her eyes.