A short film written by Nicole Bahar ’18 was selected as a finalist for the People’s Choice Award in the MY HERO International Film Festival.

The film, Āmrikā, follows an Iranian-American teen girl as she travels to Iran, her country of origin, to gather citizens’ opinions about America and to contrast Middle Eastern stereotypes.

Bahar’s mentor and Visual Arts teacher Cheri Gaulke said she is pleased with the work of her former student for using her voice to share a message that means a lot to her.

“I’m really proud of her and I’m especially proud that she put her own experience and her own perspective into her work,” Gaulke said. “I think as a person of Iranian descent, that it’s really important that we hear her voice. We live in a world where we are diverse people, but often the voices of those that are not white and male do not get heard, so anytime a student is able to disband that conversation, I am all for it.”

It was selected as a film to be screened in WestFlix and other film festivals. The public ballot for voting is open to all from November 5 to December 5 at myhero.com/peopleschoice.