By CAITLIN MORRIS
Published: Issue 1, Summer 2009

FILM: The Youngest Candidate Directed by Jason Pollack

“Do something positive. All of the change that we have been hearing is going to happen within the next four or eight years, it’s not going to be done without you guys. So make sure to go out there and get involved. The best way to go about it is just doing something that you feel is good for yourself.” This, a message from Raul De Jesus, a 20-year-old mayoral candidate from Hartford, CT, and a subject in Jason Pollock’s latest film. The Youngest Candidate documents a new wave of idealistic youth activism spurred by the 2008 elections: teens running for office. The film follows four teen candidates—De Jesus; Ytit Chauhan (age 19), a City Council candidate from Atlantic City NJ; George Monger (age 19), a City Council candidate from Memphis TN; and Tiffany Tupper (age 18), a candidate for the Hampton School Board from Pennsylvania. Each encounters difficulties along their campaign runs—corruption, racism, and the crueler facts of life. Despite frustrations with the political process, each candidate maintains an inspirational sense of idealism. The Youngest Candidate is a documentary film directed by Jason Pollock.