Own the Room, from Emmy Award-winning directors Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster (Science Fair), centers around the presentations at the annual Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA). The 2019 completion, held in Macau, shows the pitch sessions for five competitors. Chosen from around the world, the competitors arrive to represent their countries and their entrepreneurial ideas in hopes of winning the $100,000 prize…and maybe change the world.

I was rooting for Daniela Blanco, a Venezuelan émigré who represents the U.S. Daniela is a chemical-engineering student based in New York City who has a process for manufacturing nylon without fossil fuels by using solar energy. Brilliant student Henry Onyango of Kenya is pitching an app called Roometo, a kind of Airbnb for international students. Alondra Toledo of Puerto Rico also has an app, one that allows deaf people to communicate with doctors who don’t know sign language. Another of my favorite contestants is the joyful Santosh Pandey of Nepal whose company, Offering Happiness, caters to the many Nepalese who work abroad and want to send surprise parties—music, confetti, cakes—to loved ones they can’t be with back home…in essence, a cure for loneliness.

Watching these young people with their bright ideas and enthusiasm, you can’t help but feel hope for the Future. I wanted all these clever contestants to win! If you want to watch an uplifting and exciting group of young people trying their best to succeed, I highly recommend Own the Room! GRADE: A