Winner of 10 awards, including the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence In Documentary Filmmaking, and “Official Selection” for 20 film festivals, When I Get Grown premiered at the Harlem International Film Festival in 2022 where it won Best Short Documentary Film.

Bernard Lafayette is seven years old when he witnesses his grandmother’s humiliation at the hand of southern segregation. He vows that “When I get grown, I’m going to do something about it.” He follows his roommate John Lewis into nonviolence workshops and changes the course of a nation.

When I Get Grown is directed and produced by Chris Preitauer, Film Producer for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland, California and co-produced by Dr. Clayborne Carson, founder of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

When I Get Grown has been used to teach tolerance, inclusion, and the history of the 1961 Freedom Rides in classrooms, including Stanford University.

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Awards and Honors

AWARDS (10):

Best Short Documentary, Stockholm City Film Festival, 2023

Best Short Documentary, Harlem International Film Festival, 2022 (WORLD PREMIERE)

Best Short Documentary, Coronado Island Film Festival, 2022

Audience Award, Best Documentary Short, Coronado Island Film Festival, 2022

Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, Roxbury International Film Festival, 2022

Most Inspiring (USA), NewsFest Film Festival, 2022

Best Documentary, 15-30 Minutes (Historical), NewsFest Film Festival, 2022

Best Trailer (Historical), NewsFest Film Festival, 2022

Best News Story (Historical), NewsFest Film Festival, 2022

Best Animation, NewsFest Film Festival, 2022

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When I Get Grown OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (20):

Venice Shorts

Stockholm City Film Festival

Marina del Rey Film Festival

Cleveland International Film Festival

American Documentary and Animation Film Festival

United Nations Association Film Festival

Coronado Island Film Festival

Studio City International Film & TV Festival

Social Justice Film Festival

Sidewalk Film Festival

Montreal International Black Film Festival

Los Angeles Black Film Festival

New York City Independent Film Festival

Pan African Film Festival

American Documentary and Animation Film Festival

Harlem International Film Festival (World Premiere)

Roxbury International Film Festival

The NewsFest

The World House Documentary Film Festival

Arlington International Film Festival

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When I Get Grown has been described as “a beautiful film” by the Roxbury International Film Festival and Laurel Adler from the NewsFest Film Festival writes, “I truly believe (When I Get Grown) should be shown to every middle school and/or high school in the nation. Please make more films!”