Filmmakers obviously have figured out that shadowing talented young people, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of decisive, real-world competition, makes for a captivating documentary.
Once again following the template established by 2002’s Spellbound, and subsequently copied by 2018’s Science Fair and others, Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster’s Own the Room — exclusive to Disney+ — follows five ambitious innovators on their journey to the annual Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, held this particular year (2019, pre-COVID) in Macau, China.
The co-founders of iCry2Talk — from left, Andreas Loutzidis, Anastasia Ntracha and
Jason Hadzikostas — map out their presentation for the upboming Global Student
Entrepreneur Awards.
Aside from the prestige involved, and the exposure gained from such a public presentation, the first-place trophy includes $100,000.
The five students profiled in this film — all personable, intelligent, hard-working and great on camera — are as varied as their ideas.
New York University’s Daniela Blanco, the most science-minded, has developed solar-powered electrochemical reactions that create synthetic materials — such as nylon — in a more environmentally friendly manner. The degree to which this would re-write the textile industry cannot be overstated; needless to say, that industry has no desire to change, and this hostility clearly has interfered with Daniela’s efforts to get meaningful attention from the outer world.
A good showing in Macau could change that.
Henry Onyango, a computer coder in Nairobi, has developed an app — Roometo — that helps students throughout Kenya find housing and alternative accommodations. “It’s Airbnb for students,” he explains. He’s by far the most philosophical of this quintet of entrepreneurs, which is quite a contrast to his gregarious girlfriend, Mercy, who teases him about tuning out the entire world when he’s in “the zone.”
The irrepressibly enthusiastic Santosh Pandey, from Kathmandu, has built a business as an “offering happiness surprise consultant” who arranges memorable events — parties, spontaneous encounters, unexpected (and perfect) gifts — that addresses the “family dislocation” that results from parents or adult children living and working abroad.
Greek-born Jason Hadzikostas, also a coder, has developed an app — iCry2Talk — that translates a baby’s cries, in order to help parents distinguish a wail of hunger from one of discomfort, fear or simple vexation. He’s something of an odd duck, often seen strolling the streets of Thessaloniki with a baby doll under one arm (wearing a cap with the iCry2Talk logo).
