Nelson Ogbuagu is a typical Chicago middle-school student who has had some atypical experiences. A student at the Walt Disney Magnet School in Chicago, Nelson’s passion for filmmaking has been nurtured for years by the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival’s Young Chicago Critics (YCC) camp, the premier film criticism and production summer camp for kids in Chicago. But this year, after serving on YCC for three years, Nelson will do something he has never dreamed of doing: travelin...

Five Grads from Young Chicago Critics Fly to Giffoni Festival for Fun, Sun, & FilmFive Chicago teenagers will get the chance of a lifetime from July 15th through July 25th, 2005 when they become jury members for the acclaimed Giffoni Film Festival in Italy. Now in its 39th year, Giffoni has long distinguished itself as a place where kids – and their opinions about movies – really count.Young Chicago Critics graduates Charlie Schmidlin, Michael Cunningham, Raven Evans, Dane Shubert, and Abbey...