FESTIVAL NEWS
Cool article on Every Third Bite Featuring Additional Take Action Links!
Thank you to Irked Magazine, who wrote a great article on MTM8's Every Third Bite. The article includes some great images, background on the filmmakers who make up the Meerkat Media Collective and Take Action Links a la MTM. Read our Take Action Pack on Sustainable Living and our most recent one on Conscientious Consumption to spend some quality holiday time with the fam while doing something good for the community! Happy holidaysPublished on December 23, 2008
Feature Length Version of MTM Short Named One of The Top 10 Unseen Films of 2008
Lumo is the stunning feature-length version of MTM6's In Transit, a film made by the same people who brought us the incredible new film to MTM8, A Nomad's Life, which is also being made into a feature. Congratulations to Nelson Walker and Lynn True and we hope your films are seen and appreciated even more in 2009! Check out the article here and click to see more related news for In Transit and A Nomad's Life.Published on December 23, 2008
December 23rd - January 1st: Eighth Annual Media That Matters Festival To Screen In New Orleans, LA at 5:30 p.m.
The Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, LA will host a total of seven screenings for the Eighth Annual Collection of the Media That Matters Film Festival, from December 23rd to January 1st. The Zeitgeist Center regularly hosts events for the New Orleans community, and the festival screening will part of a programming filled with activist documentary films. The Zeitgeist Center is located at 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd (Across from Cafe Reconcile in the Saturn Screen Printing Building) in New Orleans, Louisiana 70113. You can reach them by telephone at (504) 827-5858 recording or (504) 352-1150 office, or by email at rene@zeitgeistinc.net. The screenings will take place every day from December 23rd through January 1st, except for New Years Eve; the screenings will all start at 5:30 pm.Published on December 23, 2008
Interview with Filmmakers of Hip Hop in Senegal
Read this article from last year when Hip Hop in Senegal was but a twinkle in our Media That Matters eye...Published on December 22, 2008
December 9th: Hip Hop in Senegal Screening as part of the African Diaspora Film Festival in New York, NY at 7:30 p.m.
Eighth annual Media That Matters film Hip Hop in Senegal will be screening with it's fellow shorts by Ben Herson, Magee Mcilvaine and Chris Moore that makes up the AFRICAN UNDERGROUND: DEMOCRACY IN DAKAR collection on Tuesday Dec. 9 @ 7:30pm CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE By Ben Herson, Magee Mcilvaine, Chris Moore. 65mins, 2007, Senegal/USA/France, documentary in English, Wolof and French with English subtitles A film that explores the transformative role of hip-hop in politics in Senegal during the February 2007 presidential election campaign. Looking at the election through the eyes of hip-hop artists around Dakar, the capital of Senegal, the film is a fresh and engaging documentary that presents a very positive image of hip-hop as an educational tool in an continent where oral tradition is central. Part of Senegal: Cinema and Society. Screening followed by a Panel Discussion: Senegal Cinema and Society. Tue. Dec. 9 @ 7:30pm at Cowin Center - Teachers College, 525 West 120th St., 147 Horace Mann Moderated by Senegalese Journalist and host of African Times radio show in New York Dame Babou. Reception after discussion.Published on December 22, 2008
December 18th: Chicken & Egg Grant Recipient and Media That Matters’ Garbage Dreams Screens at 92Y Tribeca, New York NY
Garbage Dreams, from the Seventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival was selected by Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films as a grant recipient. Congratulations Mai! Director Mai Iskander will be screening her work in progress at the 92Y on December 18th as part of the Story Leads to Action series. To check out the feature work in progress version of Garbage Dreams, please visit www.92YTribeca.org for more information.Published on December 18, 2008
NEW Take Action Pack From Media That Matters: Conscientious Consumption
The Media That Matters Film Festival is proud to present our newest Take Action Pack, focused on the topic of Conscientious Consumption. This month's pack was inspired by the film E-Waste from the Eighth Annual Festival. Both the film and our pack are chock full of helpful information on sustainability and recycling, plus what you, as a consumer, can do to help the environment. Check it out!Published on December 17, 2008
Media That Matters: A Creative Commons Case Study
Watching, reading, quoting, sampling, producing, remixing, commenting on, yelling at, dissecting, dissing... when has media ever not been interactive? Now we have the platforms to do it publicly and cheaply, we can ease quite naturally from being consumers of media to creators of media, blurring that divide of creator vs audience and making all of us what we have always been - individuals with opinions, reactions and ideas. The laws surrounding this conversation however, can make the whole scene pretty difficult to navigate... There were a couple of recent articles written on MediaRights that tackle this issue. Check them out: Copyleft, Copyright and Everything in Between and Some Rights Reserved. All of our Media That Matters films, for example, are encoded with a Creative Commons license that allows you to copy and distribute the films, as long as you are attributing them to us, and are not selling them or making money. But what does this mean for the filmmakers? Watch our new video on how we at Arts Engine and Media That Matters are working with organizations such as Creative Commons to take this idea of sharing creativity on a few steps. We made this video with partner organizations WITNESS and Miro, Big Mouth Films' Producer Elizabeth Mandel, our Media That Matters filmmakers from last year's collection America For Dummies and Every Third Bite, and from the fifth annual Bush For Peace. To find out more about you can submit your film to this year's collection check out our page now!Watch the video
Published on December 11, 2008
A Nomad’s Life Awarded Sundance Institute Grant
Lynn True and Nelson Walker, the directors of A Nomad's Life from the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival, has just been awarded one of the coveted Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program Grants. Only 20 projects were awarded financial and creative support from Sundance, out of over 800 applicants from more than 70 countries. Their website states: "The Sundance Documentary Film Program supports U.S. and international documentary filmmakers exploring the critical issues of our times in documentaries with cinematic potential. The films funded in this round tell stories of perseverance and dignity in the face of our world's greatest contemporary challenges." A Nomad's Life, the story of a young couple whose traditional nomadic lifestyle is threatened by a rapidly globalizing Tibetan economy, is a perfect recipient for the grant. Congratulations Lynn and Nelson!Published on December 10, 2008
E-Waste Filmmaker To Screen At Sundance
Lindsey Utz, one of the filmmakers behind E-Waste, which was featured in the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Festival, will screen one of her short films at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. This year's Sundance will take place in Park City, Utah and has chosen to include 96 short films throughout their 10-day programming. Utz's film, Internet Censorship , explores how different countries apply their censorship laws on the web. The film was produced by GOOD Video, an arm of GOOD Magazine, with whom all of the E-Waste filmmakers are affiliated, and with whom we partnered with for the eighth annual festival. Sundance is one of the most high-profile and respected film festivals in the world, and we heartily congratulate Lindsey for her achievement.Published on December 10, 2008
December 3: Media That Matters Short Film Festival: On AIDS at 92Y Tribeca, New York, NY at 8:00 p.m.
Come to the 92Y Tribeca Screening Series where we curate topical Media That Matters Films and present them to the public. We will be there, and there is an opportunity to find out more about the work that we do, as well as check out 92Y's new screening space! Get your tickets now and check out recent blog post, complete with links to various additional resources regarding World AIDS Day.Published on December 3, 2008
100 Countries Sign Treaty Banning Use Of Cluster Munitions
Last year's Media That Matters Film Festival introduced us to Mohammad, a young Lebanese boy whose life was forever changed when he lost both of his legs when a cluster bomb detonated next to him. The film, Hammoudi, follows Mohammad around his home city of Beirut, capturing his time spent with friends and family as well as his courageous and spirited personality. The film exposed many of our viewers to the pressing issue of cluster munition explosions, which have killed or wounded over 100,00 people worldwide since 1965, 98% of them civilians, and over quarter of them children. Today's treaty, signed by over 100 countries in Oslo, is a groundbreaking victory for all those who believe that what happened to Mohammad should never happen to any other child. Several of the world's greatest arms producers, such as Russia, China, India, and the United States, chose not to sign the treaty. Go here to see what you can do about banning America's use of cluster munitions.Published on December 3, 2008
Perversion of Justice’s Hamedah Hasan Publishes Letter From Prison
Perversion of Justice, winner of the Changemaker award at the Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival, introduced Hamedah Hasan, a mother of three sentenced to twenty-seven years in prison for a first time non-violent drug offense. This Thanksgiving, Hamedah published a moving letter from her prison cell, speaking to the difficulties of mothering her children while fighting an uphill battle to reduce her outlandish sentence. This letter is only one part of the huge amount of press that Hamedah's case has been receiving since the distribution of the film. We would like to continue to send her our support throughout this long difficult appeals process. To learn more about Hamedah's case, visit the film's official website. For more information about U.S. drug sentencing laws, and the movement against unfairly harsh prison terms, visit Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).Published on December 3, 2008
December 2: Argentina Turning Around at Sustainable Ballard, Seattle, WA at 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sustainable Ballard, an organization focused on promoting community sustainability nation wide, in association with Central Cinema in Seattle, Washington will screen two of Moving Images Productions short films about Argentina, including Eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival's winner Argentina Turning Around to the general public on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Central Cinema box office. They will also be screening Argentina-Hope in Hard Times[2005] , a film which has screened in festivals around the world and won several awards, including a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle. This film is a prequel to Argentina Turning Around and expands the discussion of a tumultuous period in Argentina's history. Check out SustainableBallard.org to find out more about the cause as well as details on this and other screenings.Published on December 2, 2008
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