Elizabeth Mims, co-director of the documentary Only the Young will be answering your questions in a live chat on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 7:30-8:30PM ET (4:30-5:30PM PT), the day after broadcast.
Only the Young follows three unconventional Christian teenagers coming of age in a small Southern California town. Skateboarders Garrison and Kevin, and Garrison’s on-and-off girlfriend, Skye, wrestle with the eternal questions of youth: friendship, true love and the promise of the future. Yet their lives are also touched by the distress signals of contemporary America — foreclosed homes, abandoned businesses and adults in financial trouble. As graduation approaches, these issues become shocking realities. With sun-drenched visuals, lyrical storytelling and a soul-music soundtrack, Only the Young embodies the innocence and candor of its youthful subjects — and of adolescence itself.
As Mims recently explained to POV,
I wanted to make a film where there was clear comfort and readability in the documentary subjects themselves—a sincere feeling that a solid relationship existed between the subjects and us as directors. Between MTV True Life episodes and other more aggressive reality TV shows, it often feels as though young people are manipulated for ratings. By choosing to shoot our film on a discreet tripod, we tried to help the audience focus on the characters themselves without being distracted by the presence of the filmmakers. All in all, I wanted to make a film that could help anyone remember his or her high school experiences and be completely immersed in the moment without the form intruding on the content.
Here’s an overview of the live chat:
When: Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 7:30-8:30PM ET (4:30-5:30PM PT). If you can’t make it, you can send in your questions ahead of time by writing a comment below.
Who: Elizabeth Mims will be the guest.
How: To join, visit the chat on the Only the Young companion website or POV’s Facebook page. To view an archived transcript of the conversation, visit the Only the Young companion website.
On July 15, 2013 at 10 PM, POV will present the national broadcast premiere of Only the Young on PBS (Check local listings). The film will be available for streaming on the POV website starting July 16, 2013 through August 14, 2013.
For updates on the 2013 season of POV, subscribe to POV’s documentary blog, like POV on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @povdocs.
