About
Critical What?! Youth Documentaries
Nine youth produced five short documentaries. Their process and highlights of their documentaries are shown in the full length documentary.
Their short documentaries were about homelessness, education, the metaverse, a women's role in society and the banning of books.
Critical Thinking
Washington State youth volunteers, ages 10 to 15, learned and practiced critical thinking.
Media Literacy
Youth engaged with peer mentors and experts to learn media literacy skills.
Questions?
What is Critical What?!
Critical What? follows the journey of a group of young people ages 10-15 as they became changemakers with the tools of media literacy and critical thinking.
What injustices did the youth research?
The youth explored, researched, and with a camera in their hands, documented their experiences with injustice that they had witnessed or experienced: homelessness, education, the metaverse, a women's role in society and the banning of books.
How did they learn critical and creative thinking?
The youth increased critical and creative thinking skills through workshops on storytelling, research and interviewing and the essentials of documentary filmmaking.
Isn't this a national issue?
Critical What?! is a locally based documentary featuring youths from Tacoma, Shoreline, Renton, Covington and around Seattle. it examines the national controversy that grew from the banning of books, restrictions on language and areas in history that speak to practices of inequity labeled by some as Critical Race Theory.
Where can we see the youth documentaries?
The youth documentaries had their premiere theatrical release on May 13th at 6PM at the Vashon Theater. A family and friends red carpet event occurred on Saturday, December 9th, 2023 at Northwest Film Forum. Three of the documentaries screened at the Black Film Festival in Port Townsend in March 2025. "A Women's Role" screened at the Seattle Social Justice Film Festival in April 2025. All the documentaries screened nationally. If you would like to be contacted about a future screening, please email us at criticalwhat dot com.
Premiere
The youth process of empowerment through documentary filmmaking was edited into a funny, bold and uplifting 50 minute documentary.