FESTIVAL NEWS
July 29: Screening of POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, WNET Channel 13; 10 PM.
POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, a winner of the fourth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, will be screening as a part of Reel New York's eight-week showcase of local independent films and videos. Tune into WNET, New York's channel 13 at 10 PM on July 29 to see this airing, or catch the repeat on Tuesday, August 2 at 4:30 AM.Published on July 29, 2008
Focus On: Ian Lynam, animator of E-Waste
Ian Lynam, the animator of eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival winner E-Waste, has made a career as a freelance graphic designer and animator. Ian is also co-founder of Tokyo-based organization Neojaponisme, which keeps a staff blog that includes a post about Media that Matters! If you have good e-taste and you want to see more of Ian's work, you can check out his portfolio, which contains some of his graphic design work, such as apparel for Hello Kitty, the Beatles, and Coldplay as well as the animations he's done, including E-Waste. By Adrienne Zak and Christina CapatidesPublished on July 29, 2008
Colony Collapse Disorder - A Scientific Perspectives
After watching Every Third Bite and checking out our Take Action Pack, are you left wanting to know more about Colony Collapse Disorder? Then check out Ian Knauer's recent article in Gourmet Magazine about beekeeping, he discusses the challenges of beekeeping in today's society. Knauer picked up beekeeping as a hobby as a child, taking instruction from his grandfather, who was also a beekeeper. The premise of this article is that Knauer's hives have emptied; he is combating the issues of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that are now becoming so prevalent. A professor doing research on CCD advised Knauer to burn the hives that had once been used by his grandfather and had since been passed down. As the professor explained, "You can�t just hide pollen-packed frames in the back corner of the barn; any new bees would surely find them and, along with them, any diseases hiding in the comb." Knauer expresses his nostalgia while burning the hives, as well as his anxiety about the deeper issue regarding the many newly emptied hives across the world. Also in Gourment's August 2008 issue is a more factual article about CCD. The article's author, Heather Smith, makes two significant points. Her first is that CCD has essentially dropped out of the public eye. When hive losses were the same this year as last year, no one really paid any attention. Although significant funding has been applied to research on the solution to CCD, Smith speaks of the need for research into other pollinators. She claims that approximately 200,000 other species of insects who could act as pollinators exist, and that it has become necessary for scientists to put effort into finding other methods for pollination so that food supplies can stay constant. By Adrienne ZakPublished on July 29, 2008
July 25: Feature-length screening of Popaganda, Gallery XIV, Boston; 8:30 -10:30 PM.
A feature length version of the short film Popaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, a winner of the fourth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, will be screened as a member of a film festival revolving around the a politic exhibit at Gallery XIV. This screening will occur on July 25 at 8:30 PM at 37 Thayer Street in Boston, MA. Through this documentary, the director is also part of an exhibit called a politic, which is a non-partisan exhibition that explores notions of politics through art and features guest artist Ron English. This exhibit will be running at Gallery XIV from July 4 to October 4. Visit Gallery XIV's website for more information. By Adrienne ZakPublished on July 25, 2008
July 2008: A month devoted to Every Third Bite and the issues it highlights (Visit the new Take Action Pack and
Honeybee populations are dropping like it's hot! Check out the newest dance video off of helpthehoneybees.com. If those bee boys can do it, so can you. Do your part to save the honeybees and the environment they maintain by taking action and raising awareness for Colony Collapse Disorder. You can learn more about CCD by watching the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival short Every Third Bite and checking out what you can do about it in our new monthly Take Action Pack. Here at MediaRights.org and the Media That Matters Film Festival, we decided to crew up and give you a fresh, focused, all-in-one package of brand new short films, background information, resources, tips and activities on each of the films covered in the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. The mission of the festival is to take the concept of "audience" a step further and use short-form, big issue media as a tool to educate and inspire activism. Kicking off this series in July - with summer in full effect - is the film Every Third Bite. Watch the film, then read on to find out more about how to take action. This month's Take Action Pack offers suggestions for educators, families, communities, and individuals who want to get involved with this issue and join the fight against Colony Collapse Disorder and the environmental decline it implies. Just like helpthehoneybees.com and the Media That Matters Film Festival, you too can help the world BEEcome a better place. By, Christina CapatidesPublished on July 24, 2008
July 24: Color of Change organizes campaign against racial smears on Fox News
Color of Change is an organization devoted to ensuring that all Americans are represented, protected and served equally despite differences in race or class. Currently, more than 100,000 of their members have united in a campaign to end the racist smears on Fox News. On July 24th, after a graphic on Fox News referred to Michelle Obama as Barack's "baby mamma," rapper Nas joined the campaign against Fox News as well. Nas told MTV that he was also angered by the way in which Bill O'Reilley uses the term "lynching party" with regards to women. Nas and the rest of Color of Change believe that Fox's racist slurs are not only offensive to African Americans, but to all Americans alike. With offenses like this so prevalent in today's world, the dissemination of Media That Matters Film Festival shorts that promote a greater awareness of racism and its consequences is more important than ever. The Media That Matters Film Festival website features numerous films which expose issues of racial justice and injustice. Some examples of these include: We Were Humans, Silence Speaks, Is My Neighbor Latino?, Holla Back Dubai!., Face to Face: Stories from the Aftermath of Infamy and CopWatch from the Third Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; Books Not Bars, Day of Remembrance, and The Children of Birmingham from the Fourth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; System Failure and Something Other Than Other from the Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; A Girl Like Me, Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize and The Rules of the Game from the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; The Apollos and Rapping at Fear from the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; and A Loud Color, African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, Perversion of Justice and Something's Moving from the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival.This Color of Change campaign against Fox News also raises questions about the inherent flaws of the news industry and the power of harmful propaganda. These sorts of media issues are also explored in several Media That Matters Film Festival Shorts, such as the Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival short The News Is What We Make It and the Fourth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival shorts Spring in Awe and Popaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 24, 2008
July 24 - July 27: African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal screening at the 7th Annual National Hip Hop Congres
The Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival's award-winning documentary short, African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal will be screened at the 7th Annual National Hip Hop Congress Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi. This conference, which aims to clarify and further the ways that Hip Hop music can influence and spark action in local and national communities, will take place in Biloxi's Treasure Bay Hotel from July 24th through July 27th. It includes a variety of activities and workshops on assorted facets of Hip Hop culture, the music industry, the work of the Hip Hop Congress, media coalitions, digital distribution, and ways to positively influence communities using Hip Hop. In addition, there will be nightly performances by artists on the cutting edge of independent music and special addresses by Cheri Honkala, the National Coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, and Bakari Kitwana of Rapsessions. This year's musical performers include: DLabrie, Kamikaze, Shamako Noble, B-Girl Media/Knox Family, Silent Lambs, Darkside, Quanstar, F.E.W., and Truth Universal. A headlining performer is yet to be announced, but previous years' performers include Blueprint, Zion I, and Jurassic 5.
This year's Hip Hop Congress Conference is hosted by the Mississippi Artists and Producers Coalition. Hip Hop Congress President, Shamako Noble, hopes that the southern location of this year's conference will help to build a lasting Hip Hop influence in Mississippi and connect the South to the rest of the national Hip Hop movement. He has said that he is especially excited to hold this year's conference in the South because most Hip Hop organizations are afraid to go there. The Hip Hop Congress, a prominent and key voice in the nation's Hip Hop activism scene, offers after school programs, cultural services for schools, and resources for artists and communities.
People interested in attending the conference can register here. Artists interested in performing at the conference can find information on submission here.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 24, 2008
July 23: Washington, DC premiere of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, E Street Cinema, Washington DC.
Campus Progress, an organization devoted to helping young people make their voices heard, is hosting the Washington, DC premiere of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival on July 23 at E Street Cinemas (555 11th Street NW). The eighth annual Festival will be shown in its entirety, and a Media That Matters staff member will be there to speak about our work and answer questions.Published on July 23, 2008
July 22: The News Is What We Make It, Spring in Awe, and Popaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English
Several Media That Matters Film Festival shorts, like The News Is What We Make It, Spring in Awe, and Popaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, have been warning viewers about media issues for years. In particular, they address the deception that is often inherent in propaganda, violations of media democracy, the lack of alternative points of view in media outlets, and the world's disturbing obsession with global capitalism. Years after the Fouth and Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festivals in which these films were featured, these media issues remain poignant.
Product placement has long played a part in comedy, drama and reality television programs. However, until recently, product placement has not affected television news. Currently, though, portions of the media industry are in an uproar over the fact that product placements have entered numerous network morning shows throughout the nation. More specifically, the anchors on the Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, KVVU, have begun displaying coffee cups on their desk during the lighter news and lifestyle segments of the morning show. In addition, WFSB (the CBS affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut), WGCL (the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia), WFLD (the Fox-owned station in Chicago, Illinois), KCPQ (the fox affiliate in Seattle, Washington), and Univision 41 in New York, have all begun accepting fees for product placements on their morning shows. The fact that the three major network morning shows (i.e. NBC's "Today Show," CBS's "The Early Show," and ABC's "Good Morning America") are still refusing to accept fees for product placements offers a small conciliation. While the various morning shows that have begun accepting product placements insist that they are doing so only to shore up advertising revenue and not to influence content, it is certainly an unsettling development in the field of television news nonetheless.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 22, 2008
July 22: Screening of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, Lotus Petal Cinema, Nashville, IN; 6:00 & 8:00
The eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival will be screened in its entirety at Lotus Petal Cinema in Nashville, Indiana on July 22 at 6 PM and 8 PM.
Lotus Petal Cinema, an independent cinema, also recently screened the seventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival.
Published on July 22, 2008
July 21: Katie Couric interviewed on feminism, racism and the media
In an interview on July 21st, Katie Couric stated that, in her experience, sexism is more prevalent than racism in American society today. She then insisted that this situation is unacceptable considering the fact that sexism is just as unforgivable as racism. Couric concluded the interview on a positive note by saying that, in her opinion, her media post and Hilary Clinton's run for president are steps in the right direction. Several short films from the Media That Matters Film Festival also represent steps in the right direction, due to their discussion of poignant gender-specific issues. These films include: As We Sleep, Face to Face: Stories from the Aftermath of Infamy, Rebel, Silence Speaks, Vision Test and We Were Humans from the Third Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; iThemba, Struggling to Survive, Seeds of Hope: South Africa, Novela, Novela and Dedicated To My Family from the Fourth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; A Girl Named Kai from the Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; Slip of the Tongue, In the Morning, In Transit and A Girl Like Me from the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; Grace and I'm Not A Boy from the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film festival; and Perversion of Justice and Diana from the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. For more interview on Katie Couric's interview on feminism, racism and the media, click here.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 21, 2008
July 20: GOOD Magazine’s 2nd Annual Block Party, San Francisco, CA; 1-8PM
Come party with the Media That Matters Film Festival on July 20th from 1-8pm as we celebrate GOOD Magazine's Second Annual San Francisco Block Party!
All ages are invited to celebrate the night of music, drinks and food. There will be vendors, an outdoor stage, and a screening of the Media That Matters shorts Recycle, POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English, Every Third Bite, A Loud Color, and Spring in Awe. Our own Festival Manager, Leah Sapin, will be attending to mingle and answer all your Festival and Arts Engine questions. DJ Franki Chan, The Morning Benders, The Mumlers, and DJ Vin Sol and more will all be performing.
The event is free but you must be a GOOD Magazine subscriber to join. Lucky for you, subscribing is cheap and easy:
For just $20, subscribers get:
(1) 6 issues of GOOD
(2) Entry to all GOOD parties & free drinks
(3) And all $20 goes to one of our 12 nonprofit partners!
You can even ride your bike to the event as bike valet parking will be provided by SF Bike Coalition.
Recycling stations will be provided for old cell phones, pagers, and PDAs, so bring any you have lying around the house.
The event takes place at 111 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. You must RSVP to this event by Sunday July 20th at 11am and you can do so by visiting GOOD's Block Party event details page.
by Austra Zubkovs
Published on July 20, 2008
July 26: E-Waste Disposal Events in Your Area
As films like the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival short, E-Waste, and other media outlets educate the population about the hazards of E-Waste, more and more organizations have started to take action.
July 20: E-Waste Recycling Event in Chicago, IL
On July 20th from 12:30PM to 3:30PM, Chicago Machine Lacrosse (Chicago's Men's Professional Lacrosse team) is teaming up with the 30 Illinois Cartridge World stores to host an E-Waste Recycling Event. The event aims to encourage local consumers to refill, reuse and recycle cartridges and electronics. With this in mind, the event is accepting old cell phones, computer equipment, and more. All the E-Waste products that are dropped off at this event will be hauled away and recycled responsibly by Chicago Surplus Computer. Not only is this service complimentary, but participants will receive both a discount on tickets to a Chicago Machine Lacrosse game and a coupon for a free ink cartridge refill. This event will take place at Toyota Park, 7000 S. Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, IL 60455.
July 26: Free E-Waste Disposal Event in Santa Clarita, CA
In Santa Clarita, California, the Sheriff's Station will be holding its first "Safe and Secure Community Shred and E-Waste Disposoal Day" from 9AM to 3PM on July 26th. Interested patrons can drop off old credit cards, all types of paper, electronics, batteries, household appliances, and computer equipment. This event, hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station and the city of Santa Clarita, is free and located at 23740 Magic Mountain Parkway.
July 26: E-Waste Disposal Event in Pennsylvania
On July 26th from 10AM to 2PM, the Allegheny County Healthy Department, the Pennsylvania Resources Council, and the Mall at Robinson are teaming up to sponsor the "Hard to Recycle" E-Waste disposal event. All sorts of hard-to-recycle E-Waste, including: televisions, electronics, toner cartridges, cell phones, fluorescent light bulbs, mixed paper, cardboard, tires without rims, Freon and non-Freon appliances will be accepted. These materials will then all be refurbished, reused or recycled, with any Freon in the appliances first removed by certified Freon removers so as not to damage the ozone layer. Any tires that are brought to the event will be shredded and used to make new products such as rubberized asphalt and artificial turf. Disposal fees vary, but range from $2 to $50. The event is located at 100 Robinson Centre Drive of Route 29. For more information, you can contact Sarah at the Pennsylvania Resources Council at 412-488-7490, ext. 236, or saraha@ccicenter.org.
E-Waste Disposal Events in Other Areas
To locate E-Waste recycling locations and disposal events in your area, visit the ecyclingtools website. The earth911 and INFORM websites are also helpful for this.
The MTM8 film, E-Waste, is currently feature in an article on the earth911 website. Earth911 supports this film because it educates audiences about the benefits of recycling E-Waste through responsible organizations like earth911. The article can be viewed here.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 20, 2008
Argentina Turning Around filmmakers screen their latest film
Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, directors of Argentina Turning Around, a selection of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, will be screening their latest feature-length documentary, Good Food. This 72-minute film looks at the ways the entire food system in the Pacific Northwest is becoming more sustainable. (It is not related to our GOOD FOOD Collection!)
This screening will be held on July 18 at 5:45 PM as a part of the 146th-annual King County 4-H/FFA Agricultural Fair which will occur from July 18-20 in Enumclaw, WA. Young and Dworkin will both be in attendance to provide an introduction to a special screening of their film, which was screened during this year�s Seattle International Film Festival.
Published on July 18, 2008
July 17: Screening of numerous Media That Matters Film Festival shorts at Netroots Nation 2008 in Austin, Texas
The third annual Netroots Nation gathering will be held from July 17 to July 20 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. As part of the progressive film screening component of its program, numerous short films from the Media That Matters Film Festival will be screened on Thursday July 17th at 3PM. This screening will feature: Hammoudi, A Loud Color, Perversion of Justice, Diana, and Every Third Bite from the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; Still Standing from the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; Permission and Slip of the Tongue from the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; and Battleground Minnesota from the Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Angela Tucker, a representative from Arts Engine's Production Department, will be in attendance as a panelist at this screening.
Netroots Nation is a three-day event that celebrates the best in progressive visual media and examines new tools with which progressive activists, candidates and officeholders can communicate their messages. This event amplifies the nation's most prominent progressive voices by providing venues for the exchange of ideas and instructing key thinkers on ways in which they can better wield technology to affect the public debate. For three years, this event has sparked action, fortified community and developed progressive ideas with the potential to create positive social change. In addition to screening numerous shorts from the Media That Matters Film Festival, Netroots Nation 2008 includes four days of discussions, regional and identity issue caucuses, panels, issue and policy-oriented keynote speakers, a progressive film screening series and media events.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 17, 2008
July 13: Collage Cultural Festival, Floriana, Malta: 8:00PM - 10:00PM
The Collage Cultural Festival will be screening a selection of the Media That Matters Film Festival shorts in their celebration of local and global cultures. The event will be held at the Argotti Gardens in Floriana on Sunday, July 13th from 4:00pm to 11:00pm. While the main attraction of the Collage Festival will be a concert by several bands, a selection of documentary shorts from the Media That Matters Film Festival will also be shown. This selection includes: Garbage Dreams, Rapping at Fear, Massacre at Murambi
, and Ashray from the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; A Girl Like Me and In Transit from the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; World on Fire and The Luckiest Nut in the World from the Fifth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; I Promise Africa, iThemba, Books Not Bars, and Novela, Novela from the Fourth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival; and We Were Humans from the Third Annual Media That Matters Film Festival.
This event, which is organized by the Third World Group and several other NGOs, also features art exhibitions, drum work shops, traditional food, a discussion forum, and stands where thirteen Maltese non-governmental organizations will be promoting their work. Although Collage aims to display aspects of many different cultures, it also offers a unique glimpse into how a number of global issues such as migration, racism, free trade and war are directly and indirectly affecting countries the world-over, including Malta. Entrance to the festival is free, but donations to the various social projects run by the Third World Group (primarily in Malta) will be greatly appreciated.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 13, 2008
July 11: Screening of By-Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime on WNET 13, 12:30 AM.
By-Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime, a winner of the seventh annual Media That Matters Festival, will be screened as a member of the Reel NY Film Festival on July 11 at 12:30 AM. The Reel NY Film Festival is a six-week festival that showcases films from 24 emerging and established filmmakers.Published on July 11, 2008
Social Networking with Arts Engine and the Media That Matters Film Festival!
With the social networking scene exploding across the Internet, we at Arts Engine and the Media That Matters Film Festival didn’t want to miss the chance of bringing our social issue-focused films to an even broader audience. But with the wealth of online communities out there today, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight the main networks we’ve been using and show you how you can become part of our community.
Many of the conversations in the indie media world, and indeed in our offices, are on corporate media’s tight grip on the online promotion and distribution sector, including nearly all of the current social networking platforms, and we at Arts Engine certainly have our concerns as well. At the recent Allied Media Conference that two of our staff members attended, many filmmakers and activists talked about their fear and wariness about uploading and distributing their work through these ‘big name’ sites and were yearning to find new, indie outlets. Arts Engine will always prefer and support independent efforts breaking into the social media / online media distribution field (hint: stay tuned to learn more about our involvement with independent, open source media provider Miro, which we’ll be writing about later in the fall) but in the interest of our mission, we also want to reach a wide audience and for now, we are looking to utilizing the tools out there!
From blockbuster names like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr to the up-and-coming Th!nkMTV and Participant Media’s TakePart, here is your guide to Arts Engine and the social networking web.
Arts Engine’s main Facebook page has only been active since the build-up to this year’s Media That Matters Film Festival, but is proud to already acquire hundreds of fans and supporters and counting! We post news items for our friends to see, have uploaded our photos from the recent eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival launch, and have a YouTube widget that allows you to view videos right from our page. You can view the groups we like and join any that interest you. Post comments on our page regarding what you like or don’t like about Arts Engine, the issues that interest you most or that you want to find out more about. This page is about you - our audience - and is a place where you can connect to other like-minded individuals and discuss issues that are important!
We also have a more specific Media That Matters Film Festival Fan page where you can find a copy of our DIY Screening Guide and get festival-specific updates.
Our newly reformed DocuClub has been working on its own Facebook page. Join this if you’re interested in seeing past and future DocuClub attendees or if you’ve attended a meeting yourself!
We then host individual groups that you can join if you’re interested in a more specific Arts Engine program, like our MediaRights group or our Election Day group, for our documentary that recently debuted on PBS. Joining either will give you updates on these specific Arts Engine happenings.
—Facebook How-to —
Sign in or sign up to Facebook for free. Visit our Arts Engine page and click “Add Arts Engine as a Friend” under our main profile picture. From there, visit our Film Festival Fan page, DocuClub page, MediaRights group or our Election Day group, clicking “Add as Friend” or “Become a fan” as you go.
YOUTUBE
The Media That Matters Film Festival YouTube Channel has been climbing the YouTube charts since its formation over two years ago. Recent stats place our channel as the #8 Most Viewed Non-Profit of all time and the #13 Most Subscribed Non-Profit of all time. Here you can find individual videos from our third annual festival all the way to our recent eighth annual festival. From here you can join the ongoing discussions on each film’s page, send your favorite video to a friend, grab a link to embed it on your own personal page, or even just subscribe to our channel or make it as a favorite for easy access from your favorites section on your own YouTube homepage.
—YouTube How-to —
Simply visit our channel and click away to view the shorts! Logging in or signing up for free is only needed if you wish to subscribe or add a video to your personal favorites.
FLICKR
Before Arts Engine had a Facebook account, there was Flickr. View past Media That Matters Film Festival photos and those from other Arts Engine happenings at our Flickr group photo pool.
—Flickr How-to:
Anyone can view the photos simply by visiting our Flickr group photo pool. If you have photos of a Media That Matters event in your area, sign in or sign up to Flickr for free, then join our group, upload your pictures to it, and include in your tags “mediathatmattersfilmfestival” or “artsengine.”
MYSPACE
Though we have been veering away from MySpace lately, especially since their new heavily ad-focused redesign, we still care about our fans and supporters that frequent the site. Feel free to visit our Media That Matters page and add us as a friend there. Post to our wall about yourself and your current projects; we like to provide a sounding board for up-and-coming social issue media makers and activists.
—MySpace How-to —
Though registration is required to use any of the features in MySpace, our page is easily viewable without signing in. Once signed on, simply click “Add to Friends” next to our main profile picture to be able to post on our wall.
TH!NKMTV
Th!nkMTV joins young people across the globe with the organizations and celebrities that care about the same issues they do. View our Media That Matters Film Festival page to see select shorts and blog posts and leave a comment about our work. Then get connected with other members, groups, and organizations to learn, speak out, and take action about a variety of social justice issues.
—Th!nkMTV How-to —
You can sign up or log into Th!nkMTV for free. From there, visit our page and click “Support this Organization” to join our team.
TAKEPART
TakePart is a new social action networking tool brought to you by Participant Media. Participant Media is the company behind An Inconvenient Truth and the current employer of Media That Matters Film Festival winner Wendy Cohen. Wendy is a member of the Meerkat Media Collective, whose film Every Third Bite won this year’s Good Food Award. Take Part seeks to blend current social networking connectivity with ways to take action about the issues most important to you.
Arts Engine and the Festival are still working on their public profile for this new site, but in the meantime, check out the cool blog posts submitted featuring our shorts!
—TakePart How-to —
TakePart is still in its final testing and development phases. Join today for free and help them make their site even better!
STILL CRAVE MORE?
If you need even more ways to keep in touch with Arts Engine and the Media That Matters Film Festival online, you can watch our shorts stream online at Blip.TV and read a recent blog post by our Web Developer, Laimah, about how to find our iTunes podcasts and Miro downloads.
Published on July 10, 2008
July 10: San Francisco Premiere of the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival at BAVC, San Francisco, CA: 6:00PM
The Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival will be screened for free at the Bay Area Video Coalition on Thursday July 10th from 6pm to 8pm. Media That Matters staff and possibly some filmmakers from past festivals will be in attendance to discuss the Festival and the films in this year's collection. BAVC was found in 1976 by a group of activists and media makers who hoped to find civic-minded, alternative ways to utilize new technology. BAVC believes that the communication of compelling stories through media is an important process for both the media maker and the audience. Therefore, it strives to provide underserved communities with media instruments, so that they may more fully participate in cultural and economic discussions. Throughout the years, BAVC's programs have united artists, educators, low-income citizens, non-profit organizations, and media professionals in the pursuit of its admirable mission. BAVC had been a long-time partner of Arts Engine and the Media That Matters Film Festivals. In fact, the award-winning Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival documentary short, The Apollos was made by two of BAVC's students.
BAVC is located on the corner of Mariposa and Bryant streets in the Mission/Potrero district in San Francisco.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 10, 2008
July 2008: The Ontario Ministry of the Environment approves the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program
As films like the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival short, E-Waste, and other media outlets educate the population about the hazards of E-Waste, more and more organizations have started to take action. In early July, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment approved the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program. This program was originally developed under the Waste Diversion Act. It proposes to reduce the amount of E-Waste across the province by placing the financial responsibility for that E-Waste on the companies that produce it. The program also aims to increase the percentage of E-Waste in Ontario that is either reused or recycled. Lastly, it will ensure that the number of drop-off locations for responsible E-Waste recycling and refurbishment is increased by the end of the year. Waste Diversion Ontario and the Ontario Electronic Stewardship are collectively responsible for overseeing the implementation of this plan.
With WEEE, OES anticipates the diversion of approximately 17,000 tons of the 91,000 tons of E-Waste that Ontario resident and businesses dispopse of each year from landfills within the first year of this program. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program contains two phases. The first phase involves the recycling of products like computers, printers, monitors, keyboards, fax machines and televisions. The second phase addresses the recycling of other electronics like cell phones. The WEEE plan aims to set an environmentally-conscious standard for E-Waste diversion throughout the rest of Canada. It incorporates the most successful components of other current E-Waste dversion programs in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and British Colombia.
Several computer manufacturers have taken steps to curb the environment problem of improper E-Waste disposal with recycling initiatives of their own, but these sorts of programs tend to both require that consumers pay a fee and place restrictions the types of products that are eligible. On the contrary, the WEEE will accept E-Waste materials and products of all makes and models, old or new. This provincial program will recycle industry, commercial, and consumer waste. Businesses will be responsible for transporting materials to drop-off locations and OES will be responsible for handing the recyclables once they reach the drop-off locations. However, the brand owners of the electronics industry (e.g. importers and assemblers) will have to foot the bill for the program. The program costs are estimated at $62 million for the first year. If these brand owners choose to pass along the expenses to consumers, the cost of the average desktop computer could increase by $13 and the cost of the average television could increase by $10.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 10, 2008
Company Plans to Test AIDS Vaccine on Humans
From Atlanta Journal-Constitution:GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based biotechnology company specializing in prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, said Tuesday it hopes to begin a large human trial of its AIDS vaccine this fall.
The Emory University spinoff is seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start a Phase 2 trial this fall of its human version of its preventative vaccine that has proven successful in previous studies, said Robert McNally, president and CEO of GeoVax Labs.
The trial, to be conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and supported by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, will involve 225 healthy volunteers from the United States and South America.
The purpose, he said, is to "further evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the GeoVax preventative vaccine."To read more about this development visit Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Published on July 9, 2008
International Treaty on Cluster Munitions Announced as HAMMOUDI Premieres
Published on July 8, 2008
July 8: US Defense Department releases a new memo on the use of cluster bombs
After international pressure to quell its use of cluster bombs, the United States Department of Defense released a memo saying that it will begin using less dangerous forms of the controversial weapon. Cluster bombs explode during their decent and disperse hundreds of smaller bombs throughout the nearby land. These scattered bomblets often fail to explode on impact and consequently, remain active until stumbled upon by unsuspecting civilians. As seen in the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival documentary short, Hammoudi, this feature of the cluster bomb poses a serious threat to innocent civilians, often years after armed conflict has ended in their countries. The three-page memo released by the Defense Department states that the United States will ensure the detonation of 99 percent of all scattered bomblets on impact by the year 2018. Additionally, the Defense Department memo asserts that the US will begin taking measures to decrease its supply of cluster bombs which do not meet the new safety requirements.
While these measures certainly signify a step in the right direction, they are dwarfed by the actions of the 111 other countries which agreed to totally ban the use of cluster bombs at a conference in Dublin this May. The Dublin Treaty, established at this conference, demands the destruction of participating countries' cluster bomb inventories by 2016, the caesura of cluster bomb vending, and the discouragement of cluster bomb use in general. The United States opposed this treaty based on the belief that cluster bombs are efficient weapons with the potential to save the lives of both civilians and soldiers. Unfortunately, these controversial weapons all too often kill and maim the very civilians and soldiers that they are meant to protect.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 8, 2008
July 4: Rooftop Films - Un-American Films, New York, NY; 5:00PM-11:30PM
Eighth annual Media That Matters winner A Loud Color will be shown in the fresh lineup of shorts from Rooftop Films. The collection of Un-American Films will be shown at the new hot spot: Solar One 24-20 FDR Drive, Service Road East New York, NY 10010 July 4th - doors open at 5PM and make sure to GET THERE EARLY! Doors will close at 6PM. Tickets are $25 and include live music and a two hour open bar. For more info, to check out the lineup of films, and to buy tickets click here!Published on July 4, 2008
July 2: Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival filmmakers, Jazmin Jones and Nick Parker, receive a prestigious
Every year, the National Education Association hosts an awards ceremony for individuals who they feel have defended and championed human and civil rights. This Human and Civil Rights Awards program was originally founded by the American Teachers Association (ATA) in order to recognize and commend individuals who have both bettered student-teacher relations in public schools and developed new educational opportunities for students and teachers of color. This tradition is now upheld by the National Education Association, which merged with ATA in 1966. NEA aims to amalgamate champions of human and civil rights whose actions and leadership have ensured the continuation of these rights into future generations.
One of this year's prestigious NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards will be presented to Jazmin Jones and Nick Parker for their work on the documentary short, The Apollos. This film, which was featured nationwide in the Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival, illuminates the efforts of a groundbreaking group of Oakland Technical High School students, tokened the Apollos, who tirelessly fought to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a recognized state holiday in 1981. Jones and Parker's film includes historical documents, sound clips, and interviews with former Oakland Technical High School students and faculty members. July 2nd's Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association is only the latest of a series of honors which The Apollos has earned the young filmmakers.
By, Christina Capatides
Published on July 2, 2008
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