“Generation Y” by Alaina Latona is an experimental short film that combines found digital camera footage from 2003 to 2009, forming a narrative/montage. This film pays homage to the rise of social media and digital photography, as seen through the eyes of millennial teenagers. The film is accompanied by both an original score and a monologue by Alaina Latona, with narration by Allison Wick. As a companion piece, “Generation Y” also includes a collaborative 298-page photography book with the same title. Through this collection, “Generation Y” offers an unfiltered and genuine exploration of the small but meaningful moments that shaped the millennial generation’s coming of age, as the first generation to grow up online. The film captures both cringe-worthy and authentic instances, reflecting the untamed and real essence of our youth, and where it left us now. We were embarrassing, raw, wild, and real.

Director’s Vision for ‘Generation Y’

I want to share these moments I dug out of my high school/college hard drives with the world so they don’t get buried in the swamp of digital data or simply lost in translation. This is in memory of and dedicated to my friends Tony Steiner and Greg Hince.