While his friends were filling out college applications and daydreaming about a cushy life in the dorms, 17-year-old Jesse Harris was using his college savings to write, direct, and produce a feature film, Living Life, that was later screened at festivals and distributed on DVD by Vivendi. As if that weren't already cooler than soccer practice or marching-band drills, Harris went on to start the National Film Festival for Talented Youth. In the four years since, NFFTY has grown from a one-night screening to a four-day showcase of 190 films by filmmakers under age 22 from 17 countries, some high-caliber enough to be shown at the L.A. Film Festival and Sundance. This year (April 29–May 2), an audience of 7,000 emerged from the theater charged with hope for the rest of their youth, or regretting the youth they wasted. ?Mary Pauline Diaz nffty.org