Leslie Harris

Underage sexual activity is one of the most taboo subjects on screen. The film traces the history and representation of adolescent love and sexual behavior from Splendor on the Grass to Thirteen. It examines both the sensational teen films of the 1980s and more modern youth cinema as mediums through which teen movies play a central role in adolescent sex education.

Chantel Mitchell, a hip, articulate, black high-school girl in Brooklyn, is determined not to become "just another girl on the IRT" (the IRT is one of NYC's subway lines). She dreams of medical school, a family, and an escape from the generational poverty and street-corner life her friends seem to have accepted as their lot. But personal and sexual challenges confront Chantel on her way to fulfilling these dreams.

A short film about Bessie Coleman, the first African-American to obtain an international pilot license, two years before Amelia Earhart

New York Conversations is a documentary made of varied conversations revolving around cinema in New York. These conversations give us the opportunity to sketch some of the bad boys and girls -directors, actors or producers of New York cinema, whether they be famous, anonymous or blossoming talents. Young and impetuous for most, they are watched over by a few veterans. All share this iron will to remain independent, out of choice but above all, out of necessity. The necessity to create at any cost. Shot with a Super8 camera, this documentary groups together 15 short conversations about film making, life, independence, art and...New York.