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FESTIVAL NEWS
April 25: Creatively Speaking Film Series at BAM, Brooklyn, NY; 2 p.m.
Seventh annual Media That Matters festival winners By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime and I'm Not a Boy will be screened at the Creatively Speaking Film Series as part of the Young at Heart program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Friday, April 25th at 2pm.Since its foundation at Harlem Stage twelve years ago, the Creatively Speaking Film Series has highlighted and promoted the spirit of communities of color through a mix of creative and innovative film, video short narratives, documentaries and feature length films. BAM is excited to bring the series to Brooklyn audiences and beyond.
The Young at Heart segment is a "series of six short films, both narrative and documentary, appealing to the inquisitive mind and open heart in each of us," and the day's session will play as follows:
- By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime (5 min) by Karen Lin and Karin Chien starring Kelly Tsai
- Drawing Angel (18 min) by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Craig Williams
- Still Standing (8 min) by Paola Mendoza
- I'm Not a Boy (6 min) by Julie Joyce
- A Period Piece (20 min) by Camille Holder Brown
- Black Woman (9 min) by Joyia Bradley
The session will end with a Q&A session with some of the filmmakers and other special guests.
The Young at Heart segment is only the first in the three-day Creatively Speaking Film Series. Other sessions include Love Stories and All Dance, All the Time. See the BAM website for more details on these sessions and more. General admission for each session is $11, or a discounted price of $7 for BAM Cinema Club Members and $7.50 for children, students, and seniors. Tickets are available online, by phone at 718.777.FILM (theater ID #545), or at BAM Rose box office.
You can view all of the Media That Matters films online, as well as find ways to take action, by clicking on the film information tabs here.
by Austra Zubkovs
Published on April 25, 2008
April 25: Celebrate Youth Filmmaking with Arts Engine and Tribeca Film Institute!; 5 - 8 p.m.
Calling New York City’s finest youth filmmakers!
Want to know what your fellow filmmakers have been up to this year? Want to meet and mingle with leaders in the filmmaking, social issue, and education arenas? Want to show off the cool new projects you’ve been working with?
Come and join the party!
To celebrate the rich breadth of youth making social issue films in New York City, Arts Engine and the Tribeca Film Institute are putting together a bash to honor and encourage youth-produced media dedicated to documenting issues of great importance in our world today.
Making Media That Matters: A Celebration will feature a variety of Media That Matters shorts that highlight the role of youth in producing and promoting socially conscious media, all in a festive setting.
We invite educators, activists, and filmmakers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to join us in appreciating the role of youth-produced media in exploring and changing our world.
More about TFI Youth Screening Series
The TFI Youth Screening Series is a yearlong presentation of films that serves NYC youth and educators with access to free, relevant programming. The aim of the program is to spark debate and galvanize awareness and action in young people around the issues that are affecting them.
Arts Engine and the Tribeca Film Institute have partnered for the second season of the yearlong TFI Youth Screening Series, which runs through May 2008. On a monthly basis, a Media That Matters short film has been paired with a feature film curated by Tribeca Film Institute and presented to young people and educators in and around New York City. The educators receive a screening package with the short film and accompanying Discussion and Take Action Guides to use in their classrooms.
The event will take place on April 25 from 5-8 p.m. at DCTV on 87 Lafayette Street. Space is limited, so please email festival@artsengine.net to RSVP or with any questions you may have. We hope to see you there!
Published on April 25, 2008
April 5, 12, and 19: Food For Thought Film Festival, New York, NY
The filmmakers of Media That Matters: Good Food collection winners Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) and The Meatrix will be screening their films at the second annual Food For Thought Film Festival for three consecutive Saturdays on April 5th, 12th, and 19th.
The goal of the Food For Thought Film Festival is to raise public awareness of current food issues to promote action within communities for the protection and sustainability of basic human rights and the overall health of the environment.
The festival will be screening the trailer for the longer film Asparagus: Stalking the American Life and the sequel The Meatrix I, II and II 1⁄2, and the best part is that it’s free!
The event will take place at a different venue each Saturday, so be sure to take note:
April 5, 2008
Community Space at Good Shepherd
108 Cooper St. at 207 St. in Inwood
April 12, 2008
Countee Cullen Branch Library in Harlem
104 West 136th St., near Lenox Ave.
April 19, 2008
Cooper Union’s Wollman Auditorium
51 Astor Place at Third.
More information can be found at the festival website or by contacting Martha Ma at naniolaprod@yahoo.com or tel. 347-439-4110.
Meanwhile, watch the Media that Matters: Good Food versions of the films Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) and The Meatrix and the rest of the collection online now.
Published on April 19, 2008
RAPPING AT FEAR Named Short of the Week!
7th annual Media That Matters Film Festival winner Rapping at Fear has been named Short of the Week for April 13, 2008 by the website shortoftheweek.com.
Short of the Week’s mission has been to highlight the best of the best of short films on the Internet for those who are overwhelmed by the wealth of information on the web. As their website explains, “The biggest obstacle facing viewers is finding those few gems amongst the enormous heap of garbage they’re buried in. Short of the Week sifts through all that garbage and pulls out only those that are worth a viewer’s precious time.” A group of six guys review shorts each week and post them to their site for free for viewer’s enjoyment.
Rapping at Fear is the story of teenager Andrés Tabares. Whether in the Colombian countryside before the rebels forced his family to leave, or the city slum where his family now lives, Andres has always had a way with words. In Andrés’ barrio where “social cleansing” groups wage war, this thirteen-year-old writes and performs rap to speak out against violence. And people are listening.
Listen yourself now, by visiting Rapping at Fear. Then find out ways you can learn more about Colombia and Latin America and take action towards saving music education.
Published on April 15, 2008
April 11 & 12: Baum Forum, New York, NY; 2 - 9 p.m.
The Media That Matters Film Festival will be presenting at the Conference on Schools, Food, and Community that takes place Friday, April 11 and Saturday April 12.
Presented by the Baum Forum and Teachers College Columbia University, this conference is held to bring attention to the issues of agriculture and sustainability through two days of conference sessions, workshops, cabaret, resource fair, and a seasonal luncheon. This conference is the third in a series that discusses how to promote healthy food choices in children and teens from the family, school, and community level. Other speakers include representatives from World Hunger Year, the Sesame Workshop, and the Children’s Aid Society.
The event takes place in New York City at the Teachers College on Broadway between 120th and 121st Streets. Registration begins at 2 p.m. on Friday and tickets can be bought for $25 for individual sessions or as a whole package (both days) for $115. Just attending the Saturday session, luncheon, and party is $75. Student and youth tickets are reduced. Full details can be found here. Advanced registration is required as the conference did sell out last year.
Published on April 11, 2008
April 8-12: Vibewire and the Media That Matters Festival crew kick off the e-FESTIVAL OF IDEAS!
Virewire.net and the Arts Engine team have joined together for this year’s e-Festival of Ideas. Based in Melbourne, Australia, but located online, this year’s forum discussions will feature some of the most interesting guests that our global media and arts landscape has to offer.
The e-Festival will be five days of online discussion around democracy, media, arts and social change, live and unmediated with special guests from around the world and, most importantly, you. Our own Media That Matters staff, as well as other Arts Engine Programs and Tech staff, will be joining the discussions as well.
This year’s six forum discussion topics are:
* e-Participation: Fad or future?
* 2018: New frontiers in digital arts
* Reworking Feminism: Gender equality in the 21st century
* Reaching Off the Screen: Film, audiences and social change
* The Creative Entrepreneur’s Toolkit: A how-to guide for young artists
* Are You Being Heard? Youth voices in local government
We will be joining in the Reaching off the screen: Film, audiences, and social change discussion, which will focus on how to make a difference through film given the changing relationship between film content and film form in our fast-evolving technological world. The rest of the crew will be contributing to the other forum topics as they are so inspired.
So jump into a forum and start a conversation with filmmakers, activists, and non-profit organizations now!
Published on April 8, 2008
Filmmakers Have a Little Fun During the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Festival
The Media That Matters Film Festival may feature important social-issue films, but it doesn’t mean the filmmakers can’t have a little fun! And some of them rarely leave their cameras behind.
In a YouTube video entitled “New York. Media That Matters. An Epic Journey,” Jazmin Jones, one of the filmmakers of last year’s festival winner The Apollos, shows a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the sillier side of the Media That Matters Film Festival participants.
Jazmin, along with co-filmmaker Nick Parker and Sverre Fredrikssen; filmmaker of festival winner Power Up gallivant through New York City having some good old fun during their trip to participate in the Media That Matters Film Festival. Jazmin & Nick came all the way from San Francisco and Sverre flew in for his first time to NYC from Amsterdam to join us last May.
You can watch Jazmin, Nick, and Sverre goof off around New York City here.
Then watch their films The Apollos and Power Up through our website and find ways to take action!
And make sure you join us for the fun this May 28th for the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival!
Published on April 5, 2008
April 4: Media That Matters Film Festival & GOOD Philly; 9 p.m.
The Media That Matters Film Festival is happy to announce it’s official partnership with GOOD Magazine and invites you to attend the Choose GOOD Philadelphia event on Friday, April 4 at 9 p.m.
GOOD Magazine is trying to re-instill in communities the idea of “giving a damn.” As their website says, “While so much of today’s media is taking up our space, dumbing us down, and impeding our productivity, GOOD exists to add value. Through a print magazine, feature and documentary films, original multimedia content and local events, GOOD is providing a platform for the ideas, people, and businesses that are driving change in the world.”
We have worked with GOOD before, such as the during the July 2007 LA premiere of Big Mouth Films’ Election Day and the screening of Media That Matters Good Food Collection at the NYC installation;GOOD December. We are now excited to announce our next collaboration for the 2nd Annual Choose GOOD Philly event, where Media That Matters Film Festival will be staffing a table filled with information about our festival and screening our Media That Matters: Good Food focus DVD collection on food and sustainability.
Other events include performances by Diplo and more.
This event is open to those over 21, and is free to attend - HOWEVER - you must be a subscriber of GOOD Magazine to attend.
But!
GOOD Magazine is a great organization to support, as 100% of the money you pay towards a one-year subscription goes directly to the nonprofit of your choosing.
For $20, subscribers get:
(1) One-year of GOOD
(2) Entry to party & free drinks
(3) And all $20 goes to one of 12 nonprofit partners!
Click here to subscribe now!
Good Philly is taking place at the Reading Terminal Market at 51 North 12th Street, in Philadelphia, PA. Help keep Philly GOOD by taking the bus or riding your bike to this event (bike valet provided by Neighborhood Bike Works).
Check out last year’s event at: http://steamlands.com/diploedit.mov
Article and front page graphic by Austra Zubkovs
Published on April 4, 2008
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