Akira Camacho-Romero’s ‘Limitless’ Film Earns International Recognition

From a one-minute recap to a documentary that earned a major award on an international stage, the York College of Pennsylvania Mass Communication major shows how purpose-driven storytelling can travel far beyond the classroom.

In August, Akira Camacho-Romero ’27, a York College of Pennsylvania Mass Communication major, hit “submit” on the film festival marketplace FilmFreeway, not knowing whether her entry in the short-form documentary category would land anywhere beyond the inbox of a festival screener. 

In November, Akira learned that she had won the Silver Award: Short Documentary from the London Movie Awards for “Limitless: A Girls on the Run Story,” a film she created for the Girls on the Run organization, which helps youths build confidence through physical activities. 

“It’s my first film festival to get an award that I did on my own,” Akira says. 

Akira’s connection to Girls on the Run began in 2023, when she created a one-minute recap of a race event. In 2025, the organization asked her to delve deeper, and the project quickly grew into a full short-form documentary. She volunteered to take it on while attending York College part-time and working as a full-time employee in York City.

Run, gun, edit

“At their race in April, it was a four-hour event, and they said they wanted interviews and B-roll, a literal short-form documentary,” she says. B-roll refers to footage that provides supplementary material for a film.

Capturing the story on race day required flexibility and speed. Akira created a filming setup that let her move quickly through the event while collecting usable audio interviews.

“It was run and gun, and I had a camera strapped to my chest and a lav mic strapped to that so that any time someone was willing to do an interview, I handed them the lav,” a microphone that can clip to a garment, she says.

For Akira, the most creatively demanding part wasn’t the four-hour shoot. It was shaping the film afterward. She edited 18 interviews into her B-roll footage to create a vision that not only reflected what she wanted, but what Girls on the Run desired. The process took months. 

“I was just trying to capture the essence of the program, these little girls putting the pedal to the metal, and here they all come together from different backgrounds and different places to run,” she says. 

An unexpected result

Submitting “Limitless” to film festivals wasn’t Akira’s original intention. It was more of an afterthought. Initially, her goal was to create a piece that Girls on the Run could use to promote its mission, recruit sponsors, and have greater influence in the community. 

To find festivals, she used FilmFreeway, which she describes as a platform that hosts a wide range of competitions with varying entry fees and reach. The film became a finalist in the East Village New York Film Festival in October, then earned the Silver Award from the London Movie Awards in November.

“Akira let me know about this just a few weeks ago. I’m very proud of her work,” says Jeff Schiffman, Audio & Radio Production Instructor. “She has a BEA (Broadcast Education Association) win to her credit as well.”

This wasn’t Akira’s first short documentary film, but the hands-on, project-based nature of her York College media courses helped her take on a real-world endeavor with professional expectations. 

The unanticipated recognition has shifted how she thinks about her work.

“There was a lot of imposter syndrome just because I didn’t think this film was going to get so far,” she says. “It’s made me grapple with the idea that I can succeed at making films and telling stories. After I graduate, I will just keep telling stories that matter.”

A standout season for the College’s filmmakers

Akira’s award comes during a stretch of major wins for York College student filmmakers. In November, Marcos Repolle ’25, a Mass Communication major, and Joey Snyder ’25, a Film and Media Arts major, won the Best Cinematography Award at the Richmond Film Festival for their film “Venus,” adding to what Schiffman describes as an exceptional run of awards and momentum. 

“The project was a real labor of love for both Marcos and Joey,” Schiffman says.

As Akira watches her peers rack up accolades alongside her international kudos, she says it seems that the creative community at York College is breaking through in new ways.

“That dream you have in your heart that God gave you, it’s possible,” she says. “You’re going to get there.”

Akira’s documentary is available to watch on Youtube.

Photo credit: Clara Hill Photography