On Thursday, September 1, BAYCAT, the Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology, released its latest film, Miles Away, which grew out of a story written by 826 Valencia student, Julio Espinoza. Julio’s story about moving away from San Francisco and his relationship with his mother, originally titled “Connecting the Generation Gap,” was written during last year’s Young Authors’ Book Project at June Jordan School for Equity. His piece was selected by BAYCAT out of the fifty student stories published in Beyond Stolen Flames, Forbidden Fruit, and Telephone Booths, and was adapted for the screen by 826 Valencia alum and celebrated playwright, Chinaka Hodge.
At the release party, Julio and his mother, father, and brothers were able to join 826 and BAYCAT in viewing the film for the first time. BAYCAT recognized the interns in their community cinema program who made the production possible, and they honored Julio for sharing such a beautiful story based on his family.
Thank you, BAYCAT, for being such great partners—we can’t wait until you release the film for public viewing!