Home| Watch | News | Tools | Store | Submit | Films | Press | About

FESTIVAL NEWS

March 12: MTM9’s Immersion screening at California Association for Bilingual Education Conference in San Jose, CA

MTM9 filmmaker Richard Levien will be presenting his film Immersion at the annual conference for the California Association for Bilingual Education on Friday, March 12 in San Jose, California.

The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1976 to promote bilingual education and quality educational experiences for all students in California. CABE has 5,000 members with over 60 chapters/affiliates, all working to promote equity and student achievement for students with diverse cultural, racial, and linguistic backgrounds. CABE recognizes and honors the fact that we live in a rich multicultural, global society and that respect for diversity makes us a stronger state and nation.

March 10-13, 2010
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, CA
Click here to register for the conference.

Published on March 12, 2010

March 2 - 3: 2010 MOSAIC Film Festival screens select films from Media That Matters in Bloomington, IN

Diversity Theatre, a program of the City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department, presents the 3rd MOSAIC Film Festival.

MOSAIC will begin on Saturday, February 27 at the Monroe County Public Library, and continue throughout the week at various locations through Saturday, March 6.  MOSAIC features short films for adults highlighting poverty and homelessness, and films for children focusing on disability and accepting differences. All MOSAIC events are free and open to the public!

Select films from the Media That Matters collection will screen on Tuesday, March 2 at Rhino’s All Age Music Club at 7 p.m. and on Wednesday, March 3 at Rachael’s Cafe at 7 p.m.:
Struggling to Survive
Fast and Reliable
Dedicated to My Family
Recycle

Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the movies and issues with some of the filmmakers and with representatives of local agencies which are co-sponsoring MOSAIC and provide services in the areas of poverty, homelessness and disability.

Published on March 3, 2010

Tenth Annual Festival Jury

John Biaggi

John Biaggi has worked at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival for the past thirteen years, starting as deputy director. He became director in 2008. John works on every aspect of the festival’s many projects which include the two flagship festivals in New York and London, as well as festivals in Munich, Toronto, San Francisco and a traveling festival that reaches over 40 sites in the United States and Canada. He screens upwards of 200 films each year at festivals worldwide, including the festival’s extensive submissions. John also helps organize the many co-presentations the festival presents with other festivals and organizations worldwide.

Prior to his work at Human Rights Watch, John was a festival coordinator for the Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. He also enjoyed a successful career as a director and producer of independent films and as a director of photography on numerous films and videos for television. John graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology/Archaeology from Stanford University in 1985. He lives in Irvington, NY.

Moni’ca Brown

Moni’ca Brown grew up listening to underground Hip Hop in Seattle, Washington, which makes her a Hip Hop snob. Nonetheless, this enriching youth experience prepared her for the pursuit of her greatest passion: using the arts to engage and educate underprivileged teens who have been left out of the running for the opportunities she was given. Everything that makes her who she is came from those who saw potential in her. When she applied to the League of Young Voters in the summer of 2009, she wanted to make an impact on the lives of all the young, smart people she saw left out of the major debates that were deciding their future. Endlessly inspired by the power and magic of nonprofits everywhere, the League in particular has become synonymous with sharing her most personal dreams. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in Creative Writing at the New School.

Dan Cogan

Dan Cogan is the co-founder and executive director of Impact Partners, a fund and advisory service for investors and philanthropists who seek to promote social change through film. Since its inception two years ago, Impact Partners has been involved in the financing of over 25 films including: Freeheld, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film; The Garden, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2009; and The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, which won an Emmy in 2007 for Best Documentary Special. Mr. Cogan received his B.A. from Harvard University magna cum laude and attended the Film Division at Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts.

Daphne Farganis

Daphne Farganis is director of Educational Initiatives for Freemind Ventures/The Black List Project, where she has developed national educational initiatives for both K-12 and universities across the country. Daphne specializes in bringing together partners within the arts, cultural, educational and business communities to find common ground through education oriented projects. Based primarily in New York, Daphne has more than ten years of experience in forging strong, and sometimes surprising, collaborations among a wide range of individuals and groups. Her most recent projects includes designing and implementing special initiatives for: the Hip Hop Theater Festival, The Kennedy Center, DC Commission on Arts and Humanity, New York University, The People’s Speak/Howard Zinn, Brave New Voices/HBO, Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School.

Prior to this, Daphne was the founding director of the Institute for Urban Education at New School University, an innovative program supporting high school students in their transition to higher education. In addition, she held post of project director at the International Education Center (Denmark) where she designed curriculum on global issues. There she worked with a number of globally recognized figures, including Cornell West and the late Sekou Sundiata. She is graduate of Vassar College and holds a master’s degree from the Bank Street School of Education. She joined Freemind Ventures/The Black List Project in 2009.

Catherine Gund

Catherine Gund, the founder of Aubin Pictures, is an Emmy Award-nominated producer, director, writer and organizer. She is the director of the award-winning film “What’s On Your Plate?”, which aired on Discovery’s Planet Green in February and is in educational and community-based screenings now. The home video will be available in September. Catherine’s media work, which focuses on arts and culture, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health and other social justice issues, has screened around the world in festivals and theaters, on PBS and the Sundance Channel, and at universities and museums.

As a filmmaker who has worked in all aspects of production for 20 years, her interest lies in telling stories and finding the details that educate and inspire. Gund’s productions include Motherland Afghanistan (AFI Fest Official Selection; PBS broadcast), A Touch of Greatness (Best Documentary Award, Hamptons Film Festival, Ohio Film Festival, and Denver International Film Festival; PBS broadcast; Emmy nomination), Making Grace (theatrical release), On Hostile Ground (Sundance Channel broadcast), Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance (Best Documentary Award, Chicago Underground Film Festival), When Democracy Works, Positive: Life with HIV and Keep Your Laws Off My Body, as well as work with the collectives DIVA TV (co-founder) and Paper Tiger Television. She co-founded the Third Wave Foundation and was on the founding board of Working Films. She has served on the advisory council for MediaRights.org and as a consultant for the Robeson Fund.

Cynthia Lopez

Cynthia Lopez is the vice president of the award-winning P.O.V. documentary series. Under her previous leadership as communications director, national media coverage of P.O.V. programs have more than tripled. She has forged strategic partnerships with Harpo Studios, Netflix, ABC News’ Nightline, WNYC New York Public Radio, Pentagram, Inc., Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Ms. Magazine, among many others. The promotional campaign Lopez spearheaded for the P.O.V. film, Farmingville, won the prestigious EPPSilon Award.

Before joining P.O.V., Lopez spent four years at Libraries for the Future as Advocacy Director, developing innovative strategies to serve some of the nations poorest libraries. She is also a founding board member of NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) and is an advisor to REEL New York (Thirteen/WNET New York). She has been a presenter at a variety of venues including: Medimed (Spain), Prague Eastern European International Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs (Canada), SilverDocs, Independent Feature Project, White House Conference on Libraries, United Nations Women’s Conference, Channels for Change (Scotland) Center for Democratic Communications (South Africa) and Videazimut (Peru), among others.

Nancy Schwartzman

Nancy Schwartzman is a filmmaker, writer and activist working for over thirteen years to create community solutions to combat sexual violence and promote public debate. She recently completed the 24-minute documentary The Line, a personal film that explores consent from a sex-positive point of view. With an emphasis on interactivity, new media and dialogue, she launched THE LINE Campaign and group blog WhereIsYourLine.org to continue the discussion. Her work has been profiled in Time Out New York, Feministing.com, Think.MTV.com, Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and more. 

Nancy is the founder of NYC-Safestreets.org an online initiative noted by The New York Times, Gawker, The Village Voice and The Daily News to engage community organizations and businesses to create safer routes for pedestrians, especially women. From 2002 to 2005 she was a founding editor and creative director of HEEB Magazine. For six years Nancy was the program officer at the Fund for Jewish Documentary Film. She has curated short film festivals at the Pioneer Theater, Berlin, London and Tel Aviv. Her essays have been featured in The Independent, HEEB, Sh’ma and Plenty Magazine, and the upcoming anthology “Pleasure and Peril: Moving Past the Sex Wars.”

Melinda Tenezapf

Melinda Tenenzapf is a 19-year-old student of film and political science at Marlboro College in Vermont. Melinda hails from Brooklyn, New York, where she was raised by her Jewish father and Jamaican nanny. Growing up in a diverse family, with regular visits to the Jamaican countryside, her unique childhood inspired her to make her first documentary, Jewmaican, at age 15.

While continuing to explore her own background, Melinda aspires to tackle the issues of globalization and inequality through her films, as she already does through her studies. She is currently an intern with Nomadic Wax global Hip Hop label & production company in Brooklyn, working as an assistant editor on the upcoming documentary, Democracy in Paris.

View past festival jury members

Edited by Daniel Cassady and Austra Zubkovs

Published on March 1, 2010

February 27: Democracy in Dakar Screens in the Black History Month Film Program at Lafayette College, PA

MTM8 filmmakers Ben Herson and Magee McIlvaine, as well as their producer Chris Moore, will attend a symposium focusing on their most recent film Democracy in Dakar. The film screening will be followed by a panel with the filmmakers and Moussa Sall, a Senegalese rapper featured in the film. Herson and McIlaine won the MTM8 Roots & Rhymes Award for their film African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, which inspired them to start Nomadic Wax – the successful Hip Hop record label and film/events production company.

Saturday February 27th
12-4PM
FREE
Lafayette College
Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104
317 Hamilton Street
Easton, PA

Lafayette College will be celebrating Black History Month throughout the month of February with lectures, an art exhibit, films, discussions, workshops, and performances.

For the complete listing of events, visit the college’s website.
For more information about the College’s Black History Month celebration, contact Amina DeBurst, assistant director of intercultural development at debursta@lafayette.edu.

Published on February 27, 2010

February 20: Selected Media That Matters Films and Filmmaker Q&A at Brooklyn Museum at 2:00 – 4:00 P.M

Highlights from Media That Matters at The Brooklyn Museum.

Selections highlighting Black History Month and feminist issues from the Media That Matters Film Festival will be screened, followed by a Q&A session with some of the films’ directors and staff from Arts Engine.

Saturday, February 20, 2–4 p.m.
Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

Films include:
Diana (MTM8)
Perversion of Justice (MTM8)
Locusts  (MTM9)
Knock Knock (MTM9)
I’m Not a Boy (MTM8)
Why Do White People Have Black Spots? (MTM9)
A Girl Like Me  (MTM6)

Published on February 20, 2010

February 12: Africa Underground to screen at The Pan African Film and Arts Festival in L.A.

The feature-length film of MTM8’s Africa Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, entitled Democracy in Dakar by Filmmakers Magee McIlvaine, Ben Herson and Chris Moore, will screen at The 18th Annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival in Los Angeles on February 12th at 9:15pm.

Bridging the gap between hip-hop activism and video journalism, this groundbreaking documentary explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process during recent presidential elections in Senegal.

 

Published on February 12, 2010

February 6: African Underground to screen in Portland, OR at the Cascade Festival of African Films

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar - the longer feature of MTM8’s Hip Hop in Senegal—will be screened as part of the 20th Cascade Festival of African Films in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, February 6 at 2:30 PM.

The Cascade Festival of African Films honors the art and craft of filmmaking from that continent. The movies imported for the festival draw capacity crowds every year and are shown Thursdays through Sundays at various North Portland locations through February and early March. It’s a film festival with one of the largest collections of African films in the Northwest and its dedicated legion of volunteers are set to celebrate its 20th year by bringing acclaimed Ethiopian film director Haile Gerima to Portland.

The festival honoring Black History Month runs from Feb. 5 through March 6 at the Cascade Campus’s Moriarty Auditorium (705 N. Killingsworth St.), McMenamins Kennedy School Theatre (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.) and the Hollywood Theatre (4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd.). The Cascade Festival of African Films is free and open to the public. It features a wide range of films and special matinee days and feature nights. They include StudentFest Matinee on Feb. 18, Family Film Day on Feb. 20 and ends with Women’s Filmmakers Week.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar
Saturday Documentary Matinee
Saturday, February 6th 2010, 2:30 PM,
Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building, Room 104
Sponsored by Columbia River Peace Corps Association

All films are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

Published on February 6, 2010

MTM8 Argentina: Turning Around’s dvd now available on the McNabb Connolly’s online film catalogue

MTM8 awarded Argentina: Turning Around and Argentina: Hope in Hard Times by filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin are now available on dvd via the Canadian  McNabb Connolly Foundation’s online film catalogue. Each dvd includes extra resources and both Spanish and English versions of the films.

Visit their website for more information.

Published on February 4, 2010

January 23: MTM Awarded INFORM unveils a new video from its Secret Life Series in New York, NY

INFORM, whose directors produced the MTM9 The Secret Life of Paper, is currently working on a new short video for its Secret Life Series. The Secret Life of Beef  will preview at the Generation INFORMed night in New York on Saturday January 23rd.

Along with the video, the event will include cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, Eco Hustler MC, free gift bags, and raffle prizes. In addition, the first 100 people to buy tickets will receive Lucid Food Cooking for an Ecoconcious Life by Louisa Shafia.

INFORM is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to using new media to build environmental literacy in the general public. Their new video, The Secret Life of Beef, addresses the environmental impact of livestock production and consumption.

The $40 tickets include unlimited cocktails and hors d’oeuvres…
A night not to be missed!

Saturday, January 23rd
8:00 to 11:00 PM
$40 in advance ($50 at the door)
Environment Furniture Store
18th & Broadway
New York

Click official invite and directions.

Published on January 23, 2010

Jan 22: MTM8’ Every Third Bite screens as part of The Night of Foodie Flicks in Chattanooga, TN

The Meerkat Media Collective’s film Every Third Bite, winner of MTM8’ Good Food Award, will be screening Friday January 22th at 7:30pm as part of The Night of Foodie Flicks along with other short and feature length food related films in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The screening will be held immediately following the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s (SSAWG) annual conference, Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms. Held in Chattanooga for the second year in a row, the conference draws 1100+ attendees from across the region. This event aims to create a dialogue between this group and the Chattanooga public.

Friday January 22th
7:30 –9:00 PM
FREE
CreateHere
55 E Main Street, Suite 105
Chattanooga, TN

For the schedule in whole and directions, please visit this website.

For more information, contact Veronique Bergeron via e-mail at veronique@createhere.org, or by calling 423.648.2195

Published on January 22, 2010

January 22: MTM9 Screening at Minnesota State University Moorhead

Join the Film Studies Department at Minnesota State University Moorhead for a free screening of the ninth annual Media That Matters collection.

Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Start Time: 7:00 pm (Time Zone: US/Central)
Location: Weld 106 (Glasrud Auditorium)
MSUM - Moorhead 56563

Questions?: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Published on January 22, 2010

January 22: MTM8’s Every Third Bite screens at Green Spaces and CreateHere in Chattanooga, TN

MTM8 film, Every Third Bite, is among the foodie flicks being screened at two venues immediately following the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s (SSAWG) annual conference, Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms. Held in Chattanooga for the second year in a row, the conference draws 1100+ attendees from across the region.

Screening includes feature length and short films:
Buttermilk: It Can Help | Hush Hoggies Hush | Greenhorns | The Adventures of the Big Bad Chef | Every Third Bite | Smoke & Ears | Mutton: The Movie | Home Grown

7:30 pm to 9:00 pm at both:
CreateHere, 55 E Main Street, Suite 105 and
green|spaces, 63 E Main Street

More details here, also contact Veronique Bergeron via e-mail at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or by calling 423.648.2195

Published on January 22, 2010

Tenth Annual Media That Matters Call for Entries - Extended Deadline - January 29!

ALERT: We are extending the call for entries for a late deadline.
Complete submissions must be submitted online / mailed with a postmark no later than January 29, 2010.

Please be aware that there is a fee increase of $5 from midnight, January 22nd. No waivers will be granted.

Extended Deadline postmarked by: January 29th 2010
* Individual Filmmaker: $30 / each film submission; Max: 2 submissions
* Student Filmmaker (18+): $15 w/ Student ID; Max: 2 submissions
* Youth Filmmaker (18 & under): FREE w/ proof of age; Max: 2 submissions
* Non-profit / Youth Media Organization: FREE; Max: 5 submissions

Please visit our SUBMIT page for more information!
www.mediathatmattersfest.org/submit

Thanks

- MTM

Published on January 21, 2010

January 18 - 20: MTM9 Screening at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, LA

The ninth annual Media That Matters collection will be screening for 3 days from January 18-20th at the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center
1618 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70113
January 18-20 at 5:30 PM

Published on January 18, 2010

January 13: Garbage Dreams from MTM Filmmaker Mai Iskander screens in Colorado Springs, CO

The Independent Film Society of Colorado will screen Garbage Dreams from MTM Filmmaker Mai Iskander, as part of its January 2010 Film Series. The short-length version of Garbage Dreams, IFSOC website

Published on January 13, 2010

January 6-12: Garbage Dreams from MTM7 Filmmaker Mai Iskander screens at the IFC Center in New York, NY

Garbage Dreams, the feature-length version of MTM7’ We are the Zaballeen, will be screening at the IFC Center in New York City from Wednesday January 6th to Tuesday January 12th. We are the Zaballeen had won MTM7’ Sustainability Award . Director Mai Iskander will appear in person at the 6:30pm shows nightly from Wednesday, January 6 through Sunday, January 10.

To attend one of the shows (6 per day), call (212) 924-7771 or click here for schedules, ticket info and directions. 

Published on January 12, 2010

December 28: Argentina Turning Around screens at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco, CA

MTM8 Labor Award winner Argentina Turning Around will be screening at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco on Monday December 28th as part of the Left Turn Magazine‘s Left Turn Movie Nights. The Film, from Director Melissa Young, provides an intimate and unique view of a new community development model growing in Buenos Aires, in the context of the new economic democracy underway in Argentina.

Monday, December 28th
7:00 PM
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA
94110

Fore more information, please visit this website www.moderntimesbookstore.com

Published on December 28, 2009

Support The Next Wave Filmmakers and Pre-Order Feature-Length DVD Today!

Support Filmmakers Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger as they finish up their feature length version of MTM9 Jury Award winner The Next Wave entitled Sun Come Up.

You can now pre-order the film on DVD and at the same time help the filmmakers to finish up their film. Read the note below for more information.

As we approach the end of this journey, we would love your help in finishing the film. Our plan is to pre-sell 560 DVDs for $25 (for a total of $14,000) to cover our editing for two more months. (Please note that we will send the DVDs when they are available for release. This could take up to several months after the project is completed). Of course, larger donations will help us meet our goal faster and are greatly appreciated! We would be most grateful if you would help to support our project and to spread the word.

We will post regular media and updates on the film and the campaign. Please check back often.
With heartfelt thanks,

Jennifer & Tim

A tax-deductible contribution to the project can also be made through our fiscal sponsor Women Make Movies.

 

Published on December 15, 2009

MTM Filmmaker Lynn True Featured in New York Times 1 in 8 Million

Filmmaker Lynn True of MTM8’s A Nomad’s Life and MTM6’s In Transit is featured in the most recent New York Times 1 in 8 Million Piece.

It’s a great portrayal of Lynn’s love of sports in gorgeous black and white photography. A filmmaker’s life outside of film? Who knew!

Published on December 15, 2009

MTM7 Film African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal’s Feature Artist to Speak at National Geographic in DC

Nomadic Wax artist Waterflow, from the Wageble crew featured in the feature film Democracy in Dakar and its shorter MTM7 awarded version African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, will be speaking on the Distant Relatives panel with Damian Marley and Nas (and many more) at National Geographic Live in DC on Saturday December 12th. The conversation, on the Deep-Rooted Connections and Evolution of Reggae and Hip-Hop will be moderated by MTV VJ Sway.

Nomadic Wax produced the MTM7’ Roots & Rhymes awarded film African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, in which Waterflow and others embody and speak about the transformative role of Hip Hop on politics in Senegal.

The panel can be watched live here.

For more information, please contact Ben Herson, Executive Director and Producer at Nomadic Wax:
www.nomadicwax.com

Published on December 12, 2009

December 10: MTM Filmmakers screening Argentina: Hope in Hard Times in Seattle, WA

MTM8 Filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young‘s film Argentina : Hope in hard Times (2004) will be screening Thursday December 10th at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA.

Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin won the MTM8 Labor Award for Argentina Turning Around, also showing the efforts and the new development model to rebuild communities in the aftermath of the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina.

The event will mark the 10th anniversary of the WTO protests in Seattle. On that occasion, the two local filmmakers, with a deep history of social-issue filmmaking, will also screen raw footage of the WTO protests and attend a post-screening Q&A.

Thursday, December 10th
7:00 PM
$5 General (Free to Members and Students w/ID)
Henry Art Gallery
4100 15th Ave. N.E.
(University of Washington Campus)
Seattle, WA
98195

For more information on the event and directions, please visit this website or contact Henry Art Gallery: 543-2280.

Published on December 10, 2009

Meerkat Media Filmmakers Collective of MTM6 and MTM8 Fame Win 2009 Brooklyn Film Race

Meerkat Media Collective recently participated in the Brooklyn Film Race 2009 and won several awards for their short film The Wants. One of its filmmakers, Jay Sterrenberg and many more, took up the challenge to write, shoot and edit an original short film in just 24 hours.

Meerkat Media Arts Collective has produced dozens of short films featured in various festivals across the country and Jay Sterrenberg is a longtime educator and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. He was part of the Meerkat Media collective of filmmakers who won an award in MTM8 for the short documentary film Every Third Bite and the MTM6 film How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett .

Meerkat Media Collective’s new film premiere The Wants was screened on Thursday October 22nd at Brooklyn Heights Cinema in Brooklyn, NY.  You can watch the competition version, and their edited and improved version on their website.

Published on December 9, 2009

MTM8 Filmmaker Mai Iskander wins an IDA Award for her film Garbage Dreams

Garbage Dreams, from MTM Filmmaker Mai Iskander, was awarded the new Humanitas Award at the International Documentary Association’s 2009 competition on Friday December 4th.

Mai Iskander’s short version of Garbage Dreams, entitled We are the Zaballeen, won the MTM7 Sustainability Award. Her film depicts Egyptian entrepreneurial garbage collectors’ efforts to evolve their trade in the modern world. 

Congratulations to Mai!

To check out the 2009 IDA Documentary Awards in full, please visit this website.

Published on December 9, 2009

MTM Filmmaker Emile Bokaer interviewed on Merging Arts’s Spoiler Alert Radio

MTM9 Filmmaker Emile Bokaer was recently interviewed on the Spoiler Alert Online Radio program, produced by Merging Arts. The interview was conducted by Toni Pennacchia, director of the Merging Arts Short Short Story Film Festival and mainly focused on the filmmaker’s background and the story behind Looking Back. The full interview in podcast is available here.

Published on December 2, 2009

MTM Producer Karen Chien nominated for a Spirit Award

MTM7’s Producer Karen Chien was nominated today for a Spirit Award for her work on the independent feature films The Exploding Girl (2009 Berlin International Film Festival) and Santa Mesa (2008 San Diego Asian Film Festival Jury Award).

Karen Chien also produced By-standing: The beginning of an American Lifetime, showing a collective of women of color of different ages who use spoken word to express their view of a society based on justice.

The Indie Film Spirit Awards’ 25th ceremony will air live and uncut in Los Angeles on on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. PST/11:00 p.m. EST on IFC. Early nominees for the Spirit Awards include Spike Lee, the Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmush and others.

Check their website to browse the 2010 nominations in full.

Published on December 1, 2009

November 21 and 28: Looking Back Screens at 2009 MergingArts Short Short Story Film Festival in NYC and Providence, RI

Emile Bokaer’s film Looking Back from MTM9 will screen at the 2009 MergingArts Short Short Story Film Festival as part of the “Heartstrings” program.

There are a couple of screenings and locations so make sure you catch it and make a donation!

Saturday, November 21st
7:00 pm FREE
Think Coffee
248 Mercer Street (@West 3rd)
New York, New York USA

Saturday, November 28th
Cable Car Cinema & Cafe
204 South Main Street
Providence, Rhode Island USA

1:00 PM - Heartstrings Program $7
7:00 PM - Heartstrings Program $9 ($7 students/seniors)

Link to schedule on MergingArts website:
http://www.mergingartsproductions.com/Film/SSS/2009/FestivalMain.aspx

Published on November 28, 2009

MTM8’s Film The Countdown to be added into Culture Unplugged Film Festival’s special collection

MTM8’s Film The Countdown, by filmmaker Rene Dongo in collaboration with spoken word artist Sofia Snow, has recently been added to the Culture Unplugged online film festival’s special collection. The Countdown won Link TV’s “Best Youth Film (18 and Under)” at the 2008 Culture Unplugged Festival, which awards best short films and documentaries with an outlook on prevalent social issues.

Published on November 24, 2009

Garbage Dreams Shortlisted for 2009 Oscar® for Documentary Feature!

Congratulations to MTM7’s Mai Iskander who’s film GARBAGE DREAMS has just been announced on the shortlist for Best Documentary Feature for the 82nd Academy Awards®

The short version of GARBAGE DREAMS, entitled WE ARE THE ZABALLEEN can be purchased on our seventh annual Media That Matters DVD.

Let us know what you think about this film and where you plan on hosting a screening! Remember that all public screening costs are included with the purchase of the DVD.
And the free downloadable Discussion Guide can be the perfect accompaniment for when you watch the longer version too.

Here are all 15 shortlisted films:
  *  “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
  * “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
  * “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
  * “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
  * “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
  * “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
  * “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
  * “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
  * “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
  * “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
  * “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
  * “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
  * “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
  * “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
  * “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

Published on November 19, 2009

MTM Filmmaker Melissa Mummert interviewed about her new film Life Without

Melissa Mummert, filmmaker of MTM8’s Perversion of Justice, was recently interviewed in the Charlotte Observer on the issue of incarcerated parents and their children, an issue covered in both Perversion of Justice and her new autobiography film Life Without, which premieres Thursday Nov. 19 at The Light Factory in Charlotte, NC.

Read the full article here and learn about the stories behind Mummert’s documentary projects and work with kids whose parents are incarcerated.
Find out more about criminal justice issues by browsing our MTM related film selection.
 

Published on November 19, 2009

November 19 and 21: Looking Back screens at the 2009 Starz Denver Film Festival

Emile Bokaer’s film Looking Back from MTM9 will screen on November 19th and 21st at the this page for all information on the screenings, schedules and locations!

Published on November 19, 2009

November 18: Good Food Screening at Casket Cinema in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 8:00PM

Minneapolis, Minnesota screening of Media That Matters: Good Food
Wednesday, November 18 2009 08:00 PM
FREE, RSVP required

To celebrate Thanksgiving, Casket Cinema is a having a special November screening of GOOD FOOD, 12 short films on food and sustainability with special guest, organic farmer Dave of “Hogsback farms” on Wednesday, 11/18 at 8pm. Farmer Dave Van Eeckhout will be on hand to engage the audience on the wonders of natural farming, csa and his take on our food situation. So please save the date of 11/18 at 8pm!

your $5 donation, after film costs will go to a food charity TBD.

Casket Cinema is located in the art studio of Mark Wojahn & Tobin Russell

Doors will be at 7:30pm, film at 8pm.

You can join the Casket Cinema facebook group at;
http://www.facebook.com/group

for more info on Farmer Dave please visit his website at: http://www.hogsbackfarm.com/

HOSTED BY: Mark Wojahn, Hogsback Farm’s David Van Eeckhout.
WHERE: Casket Cinema at Studio 145
681 17th Ave NE #145
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413

DIRECTIONS: BYOB and enter in the NE loading dock door and under the big red arrow.

CONTACT: Mark Wojahn for more details.
RSVP at bravenewtheaters.com!

Published on November 18, 2009

We Are The Zaballeen NGO Wins $1 Million Grant From The Gates Foundation

Great news in the social-issue documentary world, as award winning filmmaker Mai Iskander successfully shines a light on a progressive but struggling NGO in Egypt. The Gates Foundation recently awarded a $1 million grant to The Spirit of Youth Association, the NGO profiled in MTM7’s We Are The Zaballeen and the feature documentary version, entitled Garbage Dreams.
The boys featured in MTM7’s We Are The Zaballeen are members of the NGO, which teaches the processes and theories of recycling.

Good luck and congratulations to everyone involved!

Looking forward to hearing updates.

Find out how you can get involved in recycling practices in your neighborhood.

Published on November 17, 2009

November 11-15: Bits & Pieces Screens at Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC

MTM9’s Bits & Pieces has been selected to screen as part of the 15th Annual Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC on Nov 11-15.

Here is some more about the event!

Cucalorus, named one of the “Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals” by Moviemaker Magazine, is celebrating its 15th anniversary as an international film festival located in the historic, port city of Wilmington, NC. The festival is non-competitive to create a laid-back atmosphere and to foster open dialogue where filmmakers and audience feel free to share stories and socialize. Cucalorus provides a forum where film becomes a player in the social and political arena and offers a new voice for the South. Over 10,000 tickets were sold in 2008 and over 130 films will screen this November 11th-15th, 2009.

Published on November 11, 2009

November 7: MTM8 Hammoudi to be screened at the United Nations Association Film Festival in Houston, TX

The Houston local chapter of the United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) will be showing MTM8 Filmmaker Anwar Saab‘s film Hammoudi as part of its 1st Traveling Exhibition, a selection of the UNAFF12 films chosen to be hosted by local UNA chapters across the nation and the world throughout the year.

The UNAFF screens documentaries by international filmmakers dealing with topics such as human rights, environmental survival, women’s issues, children, refugee protection, and more. Hammoudi deals with the impact of arm conflicts on innocent civilians in a moving and unique portrait of Lebanese Mohammad in his post-war life. The film has won the MTM Jury Award in 2008.

Hammoudi will be screening Saturday November 7th in Houston, Texas.

For the UNAFF schedule in full and directions, please visit this website.

Published on November 7, 2009

November 7: MTM Co-Presents Screening of Lone Wolf and The Yes Men Fix The World in San Francisco, CA at 9pm

Join MTM for a special screening of Lone Wolf along with new film The Yes Men Fix The World at Roxie Theater in San Francisco, CA on November 7 at 9pm.

Lone Wolf filmmaker Jason Sussberg will be present for a Q&A following the film.

http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.htm
Roxie Theater, San Francisco CA
3117 16th Street
http://www.roxie.com/

LONE WOLF
The rights of an independent journalist are compromised by the government’s attempts to control media content.
The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premiere showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action.

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world’s most outrageous pranks. From New Orleans to India to New York City, armed with little more than cheap thrift-store suits, the Yes Men squeeze raucous comedy out of all the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet. Bruno meets Michael Moore in this gut-busting wake-up call that proves how far a little imagination can go towards vanquishing the Cult of Greed. Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun?

  Advance Praise for THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
  Winner - Audience Award - Berlin International Film Festival
  “It shines with raw wit and originality.” - Newsweek
  “Hilarious, therapeutic, inspiring. The Yes Men are geniuses.” - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo
  “Funnier and more useful than Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno.” - The Observer
  “Comedic vigilante justice… Media-savvy pie-to-the-face.” - USA Today
  “This is the year’s top documentary film.” - New Scientist
  “This movie is a hoot, and a pertinent one at that.” - Hollywood Reporter
Oh, and our favorites:
  “We think it is a serious matter when people willingly misrepresent themselves.” - Exxon
  “It’s really a sick, twisted - I don’t even want to refer to it as a joke.” - US Department of Housing and Urban Development

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.htm

Published on November 7, 2009

November 5 - 9: Arts Engine in Jerusalem with b(art) and Al-Quds University

Arts Engine and the Media That Matters Film Festival Director of Festival and Outreach Maia Ermita will be joining a global collective of filmmakers and festival programmers in conjunction with the b(art) organization to examine the place of independent film in entertainment, advocacy, and social change throughout a series of screenings at Jerusalem Cinematheque.

The visit will conclude with a day-long symposium with students from The Honors College at Al-Quds Univeristy—a liberal arts program developed in collaboration with Bard College that offers the region’s first four-year, American-Palestinian dual-degree undergraduate program—focusing on developing tools for media education in the classroom.

b(independent)?
November 5-7, 2009 | Jerusalem

b(art) invites film fans and artists to join together for a celebration of purposeful filmmaking and to explore the role of independent film as an agent of discovery and change.

Aspen Film| Cook County | Adela | Media That Matter | Clear Films

Documentary and drama, short and feature-length, film is a leading vehicle for providing new and challenging perspectives.

“Independent Film” is a term often used, but increasingly difficult to define. What is the set of values and practical realities that lie behind an assertion of independence? Can one be fully “independent” and still have an impact?

Over the course of three days, b(art) will examine the place of independent film in entertainment, advocacy, and social change with intimate film screenings, a photographic exhibition, gallery talks, and an interactive panel discussion with accomplished filmmakers and industry professionals.

Please join us for this behind-the-scenes look into independent film.

Guests:

George Eldred - Program Director, Aspen Film
David Pomes - Writer & Director, Cook County
Danielle Bernstein - Filmmaker and Producer, Clear Films
Adolfo B. Alix Jr. - Director, Adela
Maia Ermita - Festival and Outreach Director, Media That Matters / Arts Engine

Published on November 5, 2009

November 4: Something’s Moving Screens at Colorado State University, CO

MTM8 Unspoken Truth Award winner Something’s Moving will be presented as part of a lecture given by a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Walter Littlemoon this Wednesday November 4th at the Colorado State University campus. His book, They Called Me Uncivilized, The Memoir of an Everyday Lakota Man from Wounded Knee, reflects his experience of living through sanctioned prejudice and institutionalization and the impact federal Indian policies have had on his family history.

In Something’s Moving, Filmmaker Randy Vasquez explores, in a similar manner, the reality and legacy of American Indian boarding schools through the voices and stories of survivors, and follows their courageous attempts at healing themselves, their families, and their communities from this little-known and seminal 20th century trauma.

Wednesday, November 4th
6 pm,  FREE
Eddy Room 10
Colorado State University campus
Fort Collins, CO 80521

For more information about the lecture, please contact:
Kimberly Sorensen
970.491.0757
Kimberly.Sorensen@ColoState.EDU
or visit this website.

Published on November 4, 2009

November 4 - 8: Arts Engine at Sheffield Doc/Fest in Sheffield, England

Media That Matters Festival & Outreach Manager Leah Sapin will be at Sheffield Doc/Fest this year. Check out their listing of events, screenings and speakers and check back for blog posts covering the festival!

Sheffield Doc/Fest brings the international documentary family together to celebrate the art and business of documentary making for five intense days in November. Doc/Fest is a film festival, industry session programme and marketplace, offering pitching opportunities, controversial discussion panels and in-depth filmmaker masterclasses, as well as a wealth of inspirational documentary films from across the globe.

Media That Matters will be at the following sessions:
DocDay - Wednesday 04 November 2009, 9:30AM, HUBS C

DFG Newcomers Day Session 3 - My Way: Taking the Indie Route - Thursday 05 November 2009, 2:00PM, Site 1

Newsflash! - Saturday 07 November 2009, 12:15PM, HUBS B

 

Published on November 4, 2009

November 4: MTM Co-Presents Screening of Looking Back and The Yes Men Fix The World in San Francisco, CA at 9pm

Join MTM for a special screening of Looking Back along with new film The Yes Men Fix The World at Roxie Theater in San Francisco, CA on November 4 at 9pm.

Emile Bokaer will be present for a Q&A following the film.

http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.htm
Roxie Theater, San Francisco CA
3117 16th Street
http://www.roxie.com/

LOOKING BACK
Homeless Veteran Albert Lewis photographs his life and sheds light on the support of his community.
The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premiere showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action.
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world’s most outrageous pranks. From New Orleans to India to New York City, armed with little more than cheap thrift-store suits, the Yes Men squeeze raucous comedy out of all the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet. Bruno meets Michael Moore in this gut-busting wake-up call that proves how far a little imagination can go towards vanquishing the Cult of Greed. Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun?
  Advance Praise for THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
  Winner - Audience Award - Berlin International Film Festival
  “It shines with raw wit and originality.” - Newsweek
  “Hilarious, therapeutic, inspiring. The Yes Men are geniuses.” - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo
  “Funnier and more useful than Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno.” - The Observer
  “Comedic vigilante justice… Media-savvy pie-to-the-face.” - USA Today
  “This is the year’s top documentary film.” - New Scientist
  “This movie is a hoot, and a pertinent one at that.” - Hollywood Reporter
  Oh, and our favorites:
  “We think it is a serious matter when people willingly misrepresent themselves.” - Exxon
  “It’s really a sick, twisted - I don’t even want to refer to it as a joke.” - US Department of Housing and Urban Development
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.htm

Published on November 4, 2009

October 26: MTM8 Filmmaker Melissa Young screens Good Food at Stanwood High School Performing Arts Center, in WA

Melissa Young, who co-directed MTM8 Labor Awarded Film Argentina Turning Around with Mark Dworkin, will be screening her feature-length documentary, Good Food, which looks at the development of a sustainable food system in the Northwest. Melissa Young will be in attendance to provide an introduction to the screening of the film to be held this Monday October 26th, at 7pm, at the Stanwood High School Performing Arts Center, in WA.

For more information on the event, check this page or call the local library at 360-629-3132.

Published on October 26, 2009

The Next Wave Filmmaker Interviewed in Treehugger about Carteret Islands

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), filmmaker of MTM9’s Jury Award winning The Next Wave was recently interviewed in Treehugger.com about the fate of the Carteret Islanders; a story covered in The Next Wave and the upcoming feature-length version of the documentary entitled Sun Come Up.

Read more about it here and find out how you can get involved.

There are more tips about how you can become involved in the fight to curb climate change in a recent Tips From The T List article covering the Carteret Islands.

Published on October 22, 2009

October 18: Screening of Every Third Bite at 15 Short Film Festival in Charlotte, NC at 6:30PM

MTM8’s Every Third Bite was selected to be a part of Charlotte, NC’s annual 15 Short Film Festival.
The fall collection screens at THE EVENING MUSE at 6:30PM.

5 Short Film Festival showcases a wide range of short films (the “15” in the title means that no work can exceed 15 minutes in length), with the winning pieces coming from 15 different countries. The categories are DRAMA, COMEDY, ANIMATION, EXPERIMENTAL, and DOCUMENTARY. There will be a fall festival (October 18, 2009) and a spring festival (April 2010)

 

 

Published on October 18, 2009

October 17: MTM Filmmaker Rene Dongo’s film Dear Mr President Screens at NEMPAC festival in Boston, MA

The North End Music and Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) will screen MTM Filmmaker Rene Dongo‘s most recent film Dear Mr President as part of its first annual Short Film Festival’s official film selection.

Rene Dongo won the MTM8 Emerging Artist Award for his film The Countdown, a documentary featuring spoken word artist Sofia Snow on the subject of 9/11 events.

Thursday, October 22
7:00pm - 11:00pm, $10
Hard Rock Cafe Boston
22-24 Clinton Street
Boston, MA

To view the NEMPAC 2009 Film Selection in full, check this website.

For more information, please contact NEMPAC’s director, Jonathan Sproul:
Phone: 6175193106
Email: jonathansproul@gmail.com

Published on October 17, 2009

October 17: Selected MTM9 Films at PaleyDocFest09 in NY, NY at 2:00 - 4:00PM

The feature length version of MTM9’s The Next Wave entitled Sun Come Up will be one of five pre-selected projects to pitch their idea at The Paley Center’s PaleyDocFest09 on Saturday October 17th.

MTM9’s Bits & Pieces and Why Do White People Have Black Spots will also screen for the audience during the jury deliberation.

Good luck Jennifer!

Buy your tickets now!

THE ART OF THE DOCUMENTARY PITCH WORKSHOP
Sponsored by SnagFilms
Saturday, October 17 at 2:00 – 4:00pm
A workshop/competition in which five pre-selected emerging documentary filmmakers pitch their ideas to a panel of distinguished documentary executives and producers.

Paley Center
25 West 52 Street
New York NY 10019

Published on October 17, 2009

October 17: Screening of MTM9 as part of Urban Mediamakers Film Festival in Norcross, GA

October 17 in Norcross, GA
Urban Mediamakers Film Festival
Marriott Hotel Norcross
475 Technology Parkway
Norcross, GA 30010

Free, all-day screening of the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival

Check out their Highlights Video!

Published on October 17, 2009

October 15: Select MTM Screening & Presentation at Representing Ourselves: From the Grassroots Festival in NY, NY

MTM9’s Knock, Knock, Who’s There? and Locusts will be screened as part of the “Representing Ourselves: From the Grassroots IV” 2009 Film Festival on October 15th.
Director of Locusts, Joe Namy will be present, along with MTM’s Festival & Outreach Manager, Leah Sapin, who will discuss strategies and considerations for distributing video on the internet on a panel along with Picture the Homeless, the Participatory Culture Foundation and May First/People Link.
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009 from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location:
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011

For more information and to register, click here:  nycgrassrootsfilmfest09.eventbrite.com

Published on October 15, 2009

MTM Filmmaker Ben Herson Speaks to the BBC about “Life on Planet Hip Hop”

MTM supporter and filmmaker of MTM8’s African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, Ben Herson, spoke with BBC News about African Underground and the global hip hop movement.

Check out the article, along with audio interview and a cool audio/video map locating various international hip hop artists. Read more about developments in the feature-length version of our short at Nomadic Wax‘s website.

Published on October 12, 2009

October 11: MTM Co-Presents Premiere Screening of The Yes Men Fix The World in New York, NY at 8:00PM

Join MTM and The Yes Men for a special screening of their new film The Yes Men Fix The World at The Film Forum on Sunday, October 11th at 8:00PM.
MTM will be present for a Q&A following the film, along with Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men and Jennifer Redfearn, filmmaker of MTM9’s The Next Wave. We will be showing a short clip from Jennifer’s film preceding the feature.

Read for more details:

As you may know, The Yes Men Fix The World the film is coming out theatrically next week at Film Forum (Oct. 7-20), before going out nationally to 25 cities and counting theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.  There’s a button to view the trailer right on the home page.

October 7, the film opens at Film Forum in New York City. Then, beginning October 23, the film rolls out to 25 cities (and counting).

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world’s most outrageous pranks. From New Orleans to India to New York City, armed with little more than cheap thrift-store suits, the Yes Men squeeze raucous comedy out of all the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet. Bruno meets Michael Moore in this gut-busting wake-up call that proves how far a little imagination can go towards vanquishing the Cult of Greed. Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun?
Advance Praise for THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
Winner - Audience Award - Berlin International Film Festival
“It shines with raw wit and originality.” - Newsweek
“Hilarious, therapeutic, inspiring. The Yes Men are geniuses.” - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo
“Funnier and more useful than Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno.” - The Observer
“Comedic vigilante justice… Media-savvy pie-to-the-face.” - USA Today
“This is the year’s top documentary film.” - New Scientist
“This movie is a hoot, and a pertinent one at that.” - Hollywood Reporter
Oh, and our favorites:
“We think it is a serious matter when people willingly misrepresent themselves.” - Exxon
“It’s really a sick, twisted - I don’t even want to refer to it as a joke.” - US Department of Housing and Urban Development

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!!

Published on October 11, 2009

October 10-11: Bits & Pieces Screens at Renderyard Short Film Festival in London and Spain

MTM9’s Bits and Pieces screened recently at the 5th Renderyard Short Film Festival (Oct 10-11, www.renderyard.com) 

Here is some more about the event!

5th Renderyard Short Film Festival runs from 10th to 11th October 2009 and supports the screening of new short films and animations including documentaries. The Festival also includes music videos, film titles, scripts and film scores. The Festival is held in London and Spain and we screen the films at the best venue in central London which is the Roxy Bar & Screen. The festival is also held in Spain at the the Lacolmena Cinema and the Biblioteca in Logrono in La Rioja. The films that are shown have been produced by drawing inspiration from personal sources and influences that allow each director to project their own reflections and ideas as new forms of visual self expression.

Published on October 10, 2009

October 8: MTM9 Screening at NEED Magazine Event in Minneapolis, MN at 7:00PM

NEED magazine presents a screening of the Ninth annual Media that Matters Film Festival, including a spoken word performance by Poetic Assassins.
Oak Street Cinema
309 Oak St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 331-3134

Afterparty

Stub & Herb’s
227 Oak St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 379-0555

Tickets are available at the door and online

This event will bring leaders from nonprofit and community organizations together to screen 12 award-winning short films that represent different social issues. Each organization leader will relate to a certain film and will be available to answer questions and spark conversation. Help us make an impact and hold true to the film festival’s mantra of “Screen. Act. Impact.”
Food and drink sponsors

Finnegan’s Irish Amber Ale will be available for purchase at the Oak Street Theater. 100% of proceeds go to charity.

Stub & Herb’s will have food available at the Oak Street Theater, and don’t miss the MTM afterparty at Stub & Herb’s!

Published on October 8, 2009

October: The Secret Life of Paper and Feature-Length Water Warriors at Eco Film Fest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

MTM9’s Secret Life of Paper will be screening alongside The Water Front; Liz Miller’s feature-length version of MTM6 and GOOD FOOD‘s Water Warriors as part of the month-long Eco Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Check them out for more details!

Eco Film Fest is back! This time we are featuring new award-winning environmental films (full length and shorties) that have never been screened before in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Catch these films this year in a month long festival at Palate Pallete, every Sunday(3:00 to 6:00 pm) from October 4th till October 25th and indulge in some cool green activities and food.
The Eco Film Fest is a festival for everyone – old and young. So come on out and shout green!
All movies are FREE (simply because we don’t believe in charging anyone who are keen to learn more about the environment).

Then read how you can screen your own curated collection of MTM films.

Published on October 1, 2009

October 1 to 24: MTM Filmmakers Present Film Series at Maysles Institute in Harlem, NY all Month

Filmmakers of MTM8’s A Nomad’s Life and MTM6’s In Transit and MTM4’s iThemba are presenting a series of events in Harlem, NY this month. Read below for more details!

Taken from POV’s Blog:

I just got an email from the filmmakers of Lumo (POV 2007) that there will be films and events celebrating Congolese culture and raising awareness about the conflict at the Mayles Cinema in New York City all this month. Three of Lumo’s producers — Louis Abelman, Lynn True and Nelson Walker — were involved with programming the series, which will include screenings, special events, panel discussions, performances and receptions.
According to their website, Congo in Harlem will not only offer New Yorkers the chance to see some great films, but it will also offer opportunities to discover Congolese culture, learn about the ongoing humanitarian crisis, engage in dialog and get involved. Sounds great to us!

This week’s events include screenings of Soul Power (10/1, 7:30 pm) and Lumumba (10/2 7:30 pm) with panel discussions, and a screening of “Yole!Africa short films” (10/3, 7:30 pm) and a Q&A with the directors.

Get the full schedule at the Maysles Institute website. For more information please contact the planners at (212) 582-6050 x206 or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Volunteers needed throughout the month of October.

Published on October 1, 2009

Filmmaker of Exiled in America Featured in San Antonio News Article

Angela Torres Camarena, filmmaker of MTM9’s Exiled in America discusses her work and inspiration for the film that won last year’s Changemaker Award in San Antonio’s www.mysanantonio.com

Read the article and then check out how you can learn more and take action.

Published on September 28, 2009

September 27: Every Third Bite and Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) at Modesto Reel Food Film Festival in Modesto, CA

MTM8’s Every Third Bite and MTM: Good Food’s Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) will be screened as part of the Modesto Reel Food Film Festival on Sunday, September 27 at 2:00pm. The annual festival presents contemporary short movies with themes involving food, cooking, and eating. Details are below! For more information, visit the festival website.

Modesto Reel Food Film Festival
Sunday, September 27 at 2:00pm
State Theatre
1307 J Street, Modesto, California.
Tickets are only $10 for the tasting reception and the films.

Published on September 27, 2009

September 26: Screening of Selected MTM films at Aurora Picture Show’s Garden Party in Houston, TX at 6:30PM

MTM Good Food film Inch By Inch: Providence Youth Gardens for Education and MTM8’s Every Third Bite will screen at the Garden Party - an event hosted by Aurora Picture Show this Saturday along with a tour of the gardens and food / drinks.

In an evening that will get you off of your couch and out into nature, Aurora invites you to join in a garden party with film, food and flowers.  Ride your bike, walk your legs or drive on over, but don’t forget your blankets or chairs to sit in the grasss for a night under the stars in Mandell Park in Houston’s Museum District.  In partnership with Friends of Mandell Park and State Farm Agent E. Bailey Moore, Aurora Picture Show presents a night under the stars with short films about gardening and nature on Saturday, September 26 at 7PM in Mandell Park, 1501 Richmond Ave. The screening is curated by Mary Magsamen of Aurora Picture Show.

Bees, manicured lawn, community gardens and dung beetles are just a few of the subjects in this big-screen presentation of garden-inspired short films. The program features animation, live action and documentary films that highlight gardening and natural environments.  In addition to the screening, gardeners from Meredith Gardens will host tours of the gardens and offer brief demonstrations of seed planting. Household chefs are also invited to arrive early with garden-inspired culinary treats to share with the community.  Each chef will be entered into a drawing with gifts courtesy of Whole Foods Market.  Fuze Beverages will also be on hand to share their yummy drinks.

WHAT TO BRING:  Picnics, garden-inspired pot luck tasting, blankets and lawn chairs.
WHAT NOT TO BRING: Alcoholic beverages, any glass containers.

Saturday, September 26th, 6:30PM Garden Tours and 7PM Screening
Location: Mandell Park, corner of Richmond and Mandell
Free Admission

Published on September 26, 2009

September 26: Screening of Every Third Bite at Last Supper Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY at 6PM

MTM8’s Every Third Bite will screen as part of The Last Supper Film Festival in Brooklyn this Saturday.

The Last Supper is a multimedia, project-based collaborative festival that addresses the act of consumption. Viewing the creative process as a cyclical, communally interactive conversation between media, it is a non-profit benefit event for the Food Bank of New York City. The Last Supper is an indoor-outdoor salon of ideas occurring in NYC during the crux of seasonal change at the end of September. As a feast for the senses and a symposium of genres, the gathering kindles the creative miasma infused by the city’s autumnal shift, harvesting the cornucopia of media in our own backyard and sparking an atmosphere for open dialog and collaboration. Short films and works from emerging directors and artists, edible installations from creative culinarians, performance, design projects, writing and music from several local bands and DJ’s will grace the dinner table. Each year, the show sparks dialog about consumption by curating projects based on a theme of global and local import. This year, more than 50 creators and volunteers will discuss ideas about “Means” with an audience of peers to evaluate our state of consumption. The decay of Summer and the emergence of Winter will be celebrated at the Fifth annual Last Supper.

Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 6pm-2am
3rd Ward, Brooklyn
195 Morgan Ave, Bushwick
Tickets Available at: www.brownpapertickets.com

Published on September 26, 2009

September 25: MTM9’s Bits & Pieces Screens At Beirut International Documentary Film Festival at 8:00PM

MTM9’s beautiful film by Jackie Sawiris and Ben Mandell entitled Bits & Pieces screens at Beirut’s International Documentary Film Festival: DOCUDAYS.

Check out this, and the other incredible films on offer at the festival running September 23 - 29.

Published on September 25, 2009

September 23-26: Harlem Premiere of Democracy in Dakar: Four Screenings in Harlem NY at 7PM

MTM8’s short African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal was an excerpt from a longer piece entitled African Underground: Democracy in Dakar. The Harlem premiere is this week Make sure you catch it and support some of the hardest working filmmakers we have seen yet!

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar is a groundbreaking documentary film about hip-hop youth and politics in Dakar Senegal. The film follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors and people on the street at the time before during and after the controversial 2007 presidential election in Senegal and examines hip-hop’s role on the political process. Originally shot as a seven part documentary mini-series released via the internet – the documentary bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film and explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process

Wednesday to Saturday -  September 23 to 26
7:00pm - 9:00pm
MAYSLES CINEMA
343 Malcolm X Blvd / Lenox Ave
New York City

Good luck guys!

Published on September 23, 2009

September 23: MTM9 La Hoja Filmmaker Airs New Film on PBS World Focus at 6PM (EST)

Gabrielle Weiss, filmmaker of MTM9’s incredible film about the effect of US drug policy on Bolivia and the current state of coca leaf production, La Hoja has recently completed a series The Glass Closet, which will be airing tonight on PBS. Read more from Gabrielle and make sure to catch the program!

...the second of five documentaries in a series called The Glass Closet about HIV/AIDS and homosexuality in Jamaica that I worked on with Micah Fink and Lisa Biagiotti will air tonight on PBS’s World Focus (in NYC and most of the East Coast it will be at 6pm).
Check it out if you can, or you can watch the videos and see extended interviews at:
http://pulitzergateway.org/the-glass-closet/
or
http://worldfocus.org/
all the best,
Gabrielle Weiss

Published on September 23, 2009

September 20: Looking Back Screens at Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, PA at 7:00PM

Ninth annual Media That Matters winner, Looking Back will screen as part of a night run by Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, PA called Photographic Memory on Sunday, September 20 at 7:00 PM

International House
3701 Chestnut Street
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe members

Filmmakers Ashley Maynor and John Petit and photographer J.J. Tizou will be there in person

This program assembles four works which explore how the photographic images triggers and informs and influences our memories and sense of ourselves as individuals, family members, artists, activists and survivors. 

Ulysse (France, 1982, 35mm, color, 22 min. French with English subtitles)
Directed by Agnès Varda.
Varda returns to a striking photograph she took in 1954, its subject a naked man on the beach beside a young boy, also naked, and the corpse of a goat. When the subjects, tracked down thirty years later, fail to remember the circumstances surrounding the photo, the film becomes a haunting meditation on the elusive nature of memory as well as a fascinating introduction to Varda’s photography and its influence on her filmmaking.

Looking Back (US, 2008, 5:25 min)
Directed by Emile Bokaer
Homeless veteran Albert Lewis photographs his life and sheds light on the support of his community.

The Archivist (US, 2007, 4:43 min)
Directed by John Petit

For Memories Sake (US, 2009, work-in-progress,29 min)
Directed by Ashley Maynor
For Memories’ Sake investigates the life and work of Angela Singer, a Southern homemaker who has taken an average of a dozen photos a day for the last 35 years, compiling a mysterious and strange archive of over 150,000 photographs of her daily life. Her life and hobby of photography is explored through the lens of her granddaughter, filmmaker Ashley Maynor.  The film asks questions about the nature of photography as a form of memory and captures a cross-generational portrait of two Southern women whose lives as image-makers have taken very different paths.

Published on September 20, 2009

September 17: MTM8’s Every Third Bite Screens at Cleopatras in Brooklyn, NY at 9:00PM

Check out MTM8’s popular Every Third Bite doc which is screening at Cleopatras in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on September 9th, 2009.
Here’s a note from the Meerkat Media Collective:

Our short documentary, EVERY THIRD BITE is screening at Cleopatras – a gallery space in Williamsburg as part of an Exhibition called “No Bees No Blueberries.” Come and enjoy the fall air with some fresh blueberries and a lively discussion about the future of our food system.

Cost: FREE!
When: Thursday, September 17th, 9pm
Where: Cleopatras, 110 Meserole, Brooklyn, NY

Learn more about Cleopatras here.

Published on September 17, 2009

September 17: Dayton Access Television Fundraiser Screens MTM9 in Dayton, OH at 7:30PM

September 17 in Dayton, OH at 7:30PM
Screening of the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival and fundraiser for Dayton Access Television
Neon Movies
130 E 5th St
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 222-7469

Presented by DATV - Dayton Access Television

Published on September 17, 2009

September 15: Filmmaker Nelson Walker Presents MTM8’s A Nomad’s Life and Discussion in NY, NY

A Nomad’s Life filmmaker Nelson Walker will present his film and speak about his work alongside two other documentary film shorts at Columbia Alumni Association Film Series on Tuesday September 15th at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street). Tickets are $8.

Check out the interesting article and then learn how to host your own screening!

Published on September 15, 2009

September 12: Meerkat Media short film to screen at Rooftop Films Closing Night in Brooklyn, NY

On September 12th, as part of long-standing Arts Engine partners Rooftop Film’s Summer Series closing weekend, make sure you check out Meerkat Media’s latest documentary short: Brooklyn Boondoggle.

Meerkat Media; makers of MTM hits Every Third Bite and How Walmart Came to Haslett, will screen their new piece tackling the controversial issues surrounding the Atlantic Yards development project in Brooklyn, where community voices come together to ask—what if we were allowed to decide the future of our own neighborhoods? Many of the Meerkats that made this film have the Atlantic Yards in their backyard and wanted to bring this story to yours. So join them, amidst live music and free sangria on the roof of the Old American Can Factory, for this festive outdoor program featuring a wonderful slate of provocative short docs about our beloved borough, Brooklyn.

In the event of rain, the program will take place indoors at the same venue. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $9 at the door or online.

TICKETS: http://newyork.going.com/event-625209;Rooftop_Films_Brooklyn_Non-Fiction

Published on September 12, 2009

August 26: Philadelphia’s Street Movies screen The Next Wave

As part of the Street Movies! screening series, the Scribe Video Center in collaboration with North Light Community Center and Manayunk Neighborhood Council will screen the MTM9 Jury Award The Next Wave and MTM4’s The Meatrix on August 6th. You don’t want to miss this wonderful screening. Tickets are free!

Thursday, August 26 - 8:30pm
Ticket price: FREE
North Light Community Center
175 Green Lane
Philadelphia, PA, 19127

Street Movies! is an outdoor screening series that brings independent films and videos to vibrant public spaces throughout the Philadelphia and Camden, NJ areas at no cost to audience members or our community group co-hosts.

Published on August 26, 2009

August 9: MTM9 Encore Screening in Washington DC

Come out and support a great local eatery and social justice think space at the Busboys & Poets newest 5th & K location.

August 9 at 8:00 pm
Busboys & Poets @ 5th & K
1025 5th St. NW
Washington, DC
Free and open to all!

As part of the Focus In! screening series, Busboys & Poets is hosting an encore presentatin of the ninth annual collection on Sunday, August 9th. Focus In! screens important films by local, national, and international filmmakers. Each segment offers a focus dedicated to social justice, peace, and community value.  Check out some highlights from July’s first screening at Busboys.

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of social justice and peace. Each Busboys and Poets location should enhance the community—allowing us to bring together a diverse clientele reflective of the surrounding neighborhoods. Busboys and Poets creates an environment where shared conversations over food and drink allow the progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact.

Published on August 9, 2009

August 6 - Philadelphia Screening of Films from “Good Food”

As part of the Street Movies! screening series, the Scribe Video Center in collaboration with Montessori Genesis II will screen Good Food films Inch By Inch: Providence Youth Gardens for Change and Profit Cola on August 6th. You don’t want to miss this wonderful screening. Tickets are free!

Thursday, August 6, 2009 - 8:30pm
Ticket price: $0
Location:
Montessori Genesis II
3529 Haverford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA, 19104

Click here for a map.

Street Movies! is an outdoor screening series that brings independent films and videos to vibrant public spaces throughout the Philadelphia and Camden, NJ areas at no cost to audience members or our community group co-hosts.

Published on August 6, 2009

August 5: Every Third Bite to Screen at Cheap/Urban/Sustainable

Go to The Tank this Wednesday, August 5th at 6:00pm for a screening of MTM8’s Every Third Bite, created by the Meerkat Media Collective. The film deals with the disappearance of honeybee colonies and its impact on the environment. The filmmakers will be in attendance alongside activists and green business owners, discussing how to live a sustainable lifestyle in NYC!

When:
Wednesday, August 5th
6:00pm – 9:00pm

Where:
The Tank
354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th)
New York, NY 10036

Organized by Living Liberally, this should be a great event – hope to see you there!

Published on August 5, 2009

Meerkat Media Collective Wins Top Documentary Awards at the New York International Latino Film Festival

The Meerkat Media Collective’s (Every Third Bite, How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett) feature-length documentary Stages just won the 2009 Cinelatino Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary and the Best Documentary Award at the New York International Latino Film Festival! The Festival was made up of a mix of highly-anticipated Hollywood premieres to independent films from filmmakers across the globe.  28 feature films and 19 documentaries competed for the Cinelatino Audience Choice Awards.

The film takes place in New York City’s changing Lower East Side, where a group of older Puerto Rican women are brought together with a group of inner city youths to create an original play from the stories of their lives. Over a twenty-week period, the participants confront stereotypes and examine their own histories, exploring themes of immigration, relationships, coming of age and growing older.

Congratulations to the Meerkat Media Collective for this honor!

Published on August 4, 2009

August 1: Argentina Turning Around on Dublin Community TV

MTM 8’s Argentina Turning Around will be shown on Dublin Community Television (DCTV) on Saturday, August 1st starting at 7:30pm as part of Horizonte: A Latin American Documentary Festival. Films from across Latin America will be shown every night from Friday, July 31 to August 6 on Dublin Community TV over DIGITAL NTL 802.

Published on August 1, 2009

July 29: MTM9’s Lone Wolf and The Future of New(s) Media

Woodward and Blog-stein: The Future of New(s) Media
Lone Wolf Screening and Panel Discussion on the Future of Journalism
Wednesday, July 29 - 7:30 pm
The Tank
354 W 45th St.
New York, NY 10036

Screening Liberally ponders the future of journalism with a special presentation of Lone Wolf Wednesday July 29th 7:30PM at The Tank. The short film follows blogger turned newspaper reporter, Josh Wolf, who served 226 days in jail, longer than any other journalist in American history, for refusing to turn over to authorities video of a San Francisco protest. This beautifully-shot film explores the tenuous distinctions between bloggers and staff journalists by presenting a new conception of “press” in America.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, featuring journalists, bloggers, and media activists, on the continuing evolution of journalism and the future of the fourth estate in the internet age.

Published on July 29, 2009

July 29 & 31: Meerkat Media Collective Premieres Documentary at HBO New York International Latino Film Festival

The Meerkat Media Collective (How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett, Every Third Bite) is premiering their first collaboratively created feature documentary, Stages, at the HBO New York International Latino Film Festival next week! The two screenings are Wednesday July 29th at 3:30pm and Friday July 31st at 5:00pm. Check out this link to learn more, watch the trailer and get tickets.

Stages takes place in New York City’s changing Lower East Side, where a group of older Puerto Rican women are brought together with a group of inner city youths to create an original play from the stories of their lives. Over a twenty-week period, the participants confront stereotypes and examine their own histories, exploring themes of immigration, relationships, coming of age and growing older.

Published on July 29, 2009

July 27: Immersion at LA Shorts Fest in West Hollywood, CA

MTM9’s Immersion will be screening as part of the 13th Annual LA Shorts Fest on Monday, July 27th at 5:30pm. Check out the information below for all the details on the screening. Congratulations to filmmaker Richard Levien for this honor!

Date/Time
Monday, July 27 - 5:30 PM
Program # 22

Theatre Info
Laemmle’s Sunset 5
8000 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323-848-3500

Click here to order tickets online.

Parking
Underground parking is available at the 8000 Sunset Complex. Three hours of parking is FREE with a validation from the theatre (ticket purchase required).

Published on July 27, 2009

MTM9 Arrives in Washington, DC

On July 19th, Media That Matters screened the ninth annual collection at the 14th & V location of Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. And what better way is there to spend a Sunday evening than with good food, awesome company, and Media That Matters?

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant and bookstore that inspires progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact. As part of their Focus In! screening series (a weekly showing of social-issue related film), the entire collection of the 9th Annual Festival was screened as part of a double-feature to an intimate, diverse group.

Among the crowd was Maya Carpenter, a Washington, DC-based journalist and self-described independent film buff. “I really enjoyed the films,” she said. “I sat with a few people who commented on every film, and I wished there was more time to talk about them.” Many others spoke about the wide range of subjects that the Festival covered, and how there was something for everyone. Melinda Weekes from Boston, MA quoted her favorite lines from the films via her Twitter account, including one from Looking Back which resonated most: “Being appreciated is the beginning of hope.”

Following Media That Matters, the documentary film “Abused Innocence: Childhood Sexual Abuse in Africa” was shown, which focuses on the plight of sexually abused and exploited children in various East African countries. A Q&A followed and the crowd left feeling energized, inspired, and full!

There are more screenings of Media That Matters scheduled at Busboys and Poets within the coming weeks. Stay locked in to Media That Matters Film Festival or log on to the Busboys and Poets Events Listing for dates and showtimes.

Published on July 24, 2009

Textile Recycling Grows in NYC

Textiles such as clothing and linens comprise nearly 6% of residential waste in New York City, adding to landfills and disposal costs. The Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) is expanding their textiles recycling program and adding a Queens location to the mix! Beginning August 1 the following Greenmarkets will accept clothing and other textiles for reuse or recycling:

SATURDAY
8am-3pm, Fort Greene Park Greenmarket, Washington Park at DeKalb
8am-2pm, McCarren Park Greenmarket, Bedford & Lorimer, Greenpoint
8am-3pm, Inwood Greenmarket, Isham St b/t Seaman & Cooper

SUNDAY
8am-3pm, Jackson Heights Greenmarket, 34th Ave b/t 77th & 78th Sts, JUN-NOV ONLY

You can also continue to use drop-off sites on Fridays at the 97th St. Greenmarket, Saturdays at Union Square and Grand Army Plaza (Brooklyn) Greenmarkets, Sundays at the Tompkins Sq. Greenmarket and Mondays at the Union Square Greenmarket.

How does textile recycling work? You drop off clean clothing, shoes, bedding, linens, hats, handbags, belts and other textiles in usable or non-usable condition. Donations are sorted into different grades such as cotton blend and synthetic scrap and then redistributed to markets where there is a demand for these materials, such as wearable clothing or stuffing for mattresses.

For more information on greenmarkets, recycling locations, environmental education, farmer development and take action activities, visit the CENYC website. Check out MTM9’s The Secret Life of Paper and MTM8’s E-Waste for more information on recycling strategies.

Published on July 24, 2009

July 24-26: Ninth Annual Media That Matters in Sacramento, CA

July 24 & 26 in Sacramento, CA
Each year, Movies on a Big Screen has presented the annual Media That Matters Film Festival, a compilation of socially conscious short films made by youth, student and independent filmmakers from around the world.

The notion of Movies on a Big Screen fits perfectly within our distribution goals with Media That Matters, in that MOBS puts to screen films that may not be able to secure week-long runs in a commercial theater, but can highlight independent films and bring them to Sacramento - remember, the capital of California - and add to the great creative spirit that lives in that community.  A special aspect about Movies on a Big Screen this summer points to their summer Sundays at the classic Guild Theater.  Check back in with MOBS in the coming months about their next venue but we wish them luck in continuing the great work they do.

Some of the topics covered in this year’s include: homeless veterans, paper consumption in the US, the impacts on youth when parents are deported, the damaging effects of the US War on Drugs in Bolivia, the Carteret islanders (the first climate change refugees), independent journalists’ fights against government control of media, and much much more!

Movies on a Big Screen
2828 35th St, Sacramento, CA (corner of 35th & Broadway)
Friday, July 24 7 PM and 9:30 PM
Sunday, July 26 7 PM
Admission: $5.00

Published on July 24, 2009

July 23: African Underground Screening at 92Y Tribeca in NY, NY

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar, the feature length version of MTM8’s African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal, will be screened Thursday, July 23 from 8-10pm at 92Y Tribeca. Directors Ben Herson and Magee McIlvaine will be attending along with artist Baay Musa for a post-screening Q&A. Click here for more information.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar explores the transformative role of hip-hop on politics in Senegal, West Africa during the February 2007 presidential election campaign. Looking at the election through the eyes of hip-hop artists around Dakar, Senegal’s capital, this documentary mixes interviews, freestyles and commentary from journalists, artists and politicians. Originally shot as a series of shorts distributed via the internet, African Underground: Democracy In Dakar explores the boundaries of guerrilla-style film production & distribution.

92YTribeca
200 Hudson St
212.601.1000
Thursday July 23 (8–10pm)
Tickets: $12.00

 

Published on July 23, 2009

Argentina Turning Around Filmmakers Interviewed on truthout.org

Check out a feature of 8th Annual Festival film Argentina Turning Around on truthout.org. Filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young give t r u t h o u t’s Benjamin Dangl a thoughtful and in-depth look at Argentina’s economic crisis and the making of their film, as well as a glimpse of their upcoming projects.

Published on July 22, 2009

July 22: Campus Progress to Screen MTM9 in Washington, DC

July 22 in Washington, DC
E Street Cinema
555 11th St NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 452-7672
Free and open to the public.
RSVP here!

Campus Progress invites you to attend the Washington D.C. premiere of the Media That Matters Film Festival! The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premier showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action.

Campus Progress, part of the Center for American Progress, works to help young people—advocates, activists, journalists, artists—make their voices heard on issues that matter. Through an online magazine and student publications, public events, multimedia projects, and grassroots issue campaigns, Campus Progress acts to empower new progressive leaders nationwide as they develop fresh ideas, communicate in new ways, push policy outcomes in a progressive direction, and build a strong progressive movement.  We are always excited to partner with groups like Campus Progress as they help support our case of using film and new media to engage and encourage our audiences to Take Action.  This month’s screening - while free and open to the public - is specifically catered to the great group of interns that typically flood the DC area in the summer. We hope there will be some memorable Take Action takeaways this time around.

Published on July 22, 2009

Organize for the National Eat-In!

On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009, people in communities all over the country will sit down to share a meal with their neighbors and kids. This National Eat-In will send a clear message to Congress: It’s time to provide America’s children with real food at school! You don’t have to have done anything like this before - you’re just gathering a group of people for a potluck.

With your help, Sept. 7, 2009 will mark the day this country comes together to take the first step towards a future where no child is denied his or her right to be healthy and where every child enjoys real food.  Sign up to organize an Eat-In on Sept. 7. The website has also created an Organizer Toolkit to guide you through the process. .

Check out the Media That Matters: Good Food Festival for more information on food and sustainability.

 

Published on July 22, 2009

Support the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act!

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Congress’ only microbiologist, introduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (H.R. 1549) to phase out the non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics on farm animals. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate (S. 619).

As factory farms have crammed more and more animals into tighter and tighter spaces, modern pharmaceuticals have become regular tools of the trade.  But this has hatched unintended consequences: more germs that are resistant to antibiotics! According to the National Academy of Sciences, roughly 70 percent of the antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs used in the U.S. are fed to farm animals in order to promote growth and prevent rampant disease. As a result, many common bacteria have developed a resistance to these drugs. When these superbugs then infect humans, they become much more difficult to treat, and the consequences can be devastating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), MRSA infections result in more than 18,000 human deaths every year in the U. S. For comparison, MRSA causes more deaths annually in the U.S. than AIDS does.

This legislation represents an important step! Contact your legislators today and ask for their support. Send a quick and easy e-mail asking them to actively support H.R. 1549 and S. 619 by becoming co-sponsors and voting YES.

Published on July 21, 2009

Argentina Turning Around Filmmakers Interviewed

MTM8 filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin (Argentina Turning Around) were recently interviewed for Toward Freedom, a progressive publication on world events. In the interview, the filmmakers talk about what led them to make the film, how the social and political environment in Argentina has changed since the 2001 economic crash, and how Argentina’s methods of combating economic crisis on a grassroots level might offer lessons to activists in the US facing economic trouble.

The 37 minute version of Argentina: Turning Around is available from Bullfrog Films.

Toward Freedom envisions a world ethic that honors the human spirit and the right of individuals to freedom of thought and creativity; advances movements for human rights, peace, justice, enlightenment, and freedom from oppression; and celebrates the contributions of the world’s diverse cultures.

Click here to contact Toward Freedom or submit writing.

Published on July 21, 2009

MTM9 filmmakers look back on the festival

One month after the World Premiere of the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, we look back on some great behind-the-scenes moments with our filmmakers and reveal to our Media That Matters community some new elements making this year ‘More Than a Festival.’

With all 12 films fully represented during our launch week, we had a unique opportunity to play host and create an engaging space for filmmakers to bring their individual experiences to the surface and add to a collective bond that was evident this year more than ever.

A new and welcomed element this year was a great sponsorship from The Standard - a newly constructed hotel in the Meatpacking district in New York City adjacent to The High Line. This creative space served as a great welcome spot for some of our out-of-towners. Emile Bokaer, filmmaker of Looking Back was able to use the space at the Standard to continue connecting with the new batch of filmmakers. “I met up with other filmmakers in the lobby or out front on several occasions, and I think the hotel worked well as a rendez-vous point for fellow filmmakers and New York friends alike, because of its location and interesting decor.”  Angela Torres Camarena of Exiled In America found some time to relax and rejuvenate before our events started.  “I do believe that it help me to feel connected to other filmmakers because it was a great experience for all of us, and also, because I rested in such a great way that the next days I felt all the energies to participate in the film festival.” Don’t forget to check out the amazing Marco Brambilla animation that plays in the elevator.

Photo by jlintz.

Staying in the meatpacking district, we convened at 5Ninth for a filmmaker brunch organized by our co-presenter Cinereach and sprinkled with a few of our integral partners such as Shooting People and our post-production partners Post-Logic.

Later that night, the filmmakers joined us for the greatly anticipated premiere at the new SVA Visual Arts Theater.  Everyone participated in a new impACT salon, bringing life to the Take Action Links and organizations that will help continue the outreach for each of these films throughout the 12 months of the traveling festival. 

A great vibe filled the air as filmmakers connected with partners, bringing our audience closer to the outreach work we will continue to do throughout the year.  As we fold the crowd into the theater for a larger sold out show, the night convened with a fully engaged Q&A session and some great stories behind each of the films.

The next day, our operations moved to HBO for some one-on-one interviews and preparation for the Awards Ceremony later that night.  The communal spirit as filmmakers gathered continued throughout the night as presenters Rosa Clemente, Amy Goodman, Pharoahe Monch and our other distinguished guests and sponsors line up to present awards and share words of support for each film.  This year’s Jury Award - The Next Wave - closed out the night with a presentation by filmmaker and jury member Abigail Disney and Cinereach‘s Mike Raisler.  Filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn shares a special shout out during her stay at the Standard Hotel.  “My most memorable moment came when the hotel briefly lost its wireless connection. With thirty minutes left to print our thank you speech, change clothes, and race up to HBO headquarters for the Awards Ceremony, I was a bit frazzled. When I explained this to the assistant manager, he offered to retype the speech and print it out for me on his computer, making my stay all the more memorable because of this generous gesture.” Wow - thank you to The Standard!

Could we find a better group of sponsors and partners to help pull off another successful year of Media That Matters?  Going forward, we continue to pay homage to the dedication of all the filmmakers and their commitment to the Media That Matters Film Festival.

Published on July 20, 2009

July 19: Media That Matters screenings at Busboys & Poets, Washington DC

Come out and support a great local eatery and social justice think space at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC.
July 19 at 8:00 pm - 14th & V
Free and open to all!

As part of the Focus In! screening series, the ninth annual collection will premiere in DC on July 19th, with encore performances on at the 5th & K and Shirlington locations. Focus In! screens important films by local, national, and international filmmakers. Each segment offers a focus dedicated to social justice, peace, and community value.

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of social justice and peace. Each Busboys and Poets location should enhance the community—allowing us to bring together a diverse clientele reflective of the surrounding neighborhoods. Busboys and Poets creates an environment where shared conversations over food and drink allow the progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact.

Published on July 19, 2009

July 16-19: MTM9 to Screen at Allied Media Conference in Detroit, MI

July 16-19 in Detroit, MI
Allied Media Conference will screen the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival.
Filmmakers of MTM9’s Locusts, Invincible and Emergence Media will be in attendance to speak about the films.
Campus of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

The Allied Media Conference is the central project of the Allied Media Projects (AMP) network, which emerges out of ten years of organic relationship-building. Since the first conference (then the Midwest Zine Conference) in 1999, people have been compelled by the concept of do-it-yourself media. Later, as the Underground Publishing Conference, the emphasis was on building a movement of alternative media makers. With the shift towards Allied Media, the AMC has attracted more and more people who are interested in using participatory media as a strategy for social justice organizing.

The deadline for online registration is July 2, 2009.
Walk-up registration is available the weekend of the AMC, but pre-conference online registration is STRONGLY encouraged.

Published on July 16, 2009

The Next Wave Profiled in The Daily Green

The Next Wave filmmakers Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger, winners of the MTM9 Jury Award, were just featured in The Daily Green. One of the most trusted sources on the web for news and information about environmental issues, the website interviewed Jennifer and Tim about their feature-length documentary Sun Come Up. Check out the article to learn more about the status of the film and to get an update on the Carteret Islanders.

 

Published on July 15, 2009

Immersion Filmmaker Richard Levien Profiled in SF360.org

MTM9 filmmaker Richard Levien (Immersion) was recently profiled in the San Francisco Film Society’s online magazine SF360.org, which is devoted to daily coverage of the Bay Area film and media scene. The site is designed to showcase the extraordinary vitality and variety of local filmmakers. Richard was highlighted for the tremendous success of Immersion, his directorial debut.

Published on July 7, 2009

July 4: Media That Matters Films Screen at Rooftop Films AMERICANA Screening in New York, NY - VENUE CHANGE!

HEY EVERYONE - IF YOU ALREADY GOT TICKETS, PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A CHANGE OF VENUE FOR SATURDAY’S SCREENING!
New address:
The Exchange
640 W 28th street
9th Floor
Between 11th and 12th Avenue
Chelsea
6:00PM

If you weren’t able to grab tickets, sorry - there are no more tickets available for July 4th screening!

Americana: Rooftop Film’s annual celebration of the weird and wonderful country we live in.
A sunset party with free drinks, a fantastic fireworks view, live music, and short film comedies, dramas and political documentaries including Media That Matters shorts Immersion and Looking Back.

Check out other Rooftop Screenings coming up this Summer and get your tickets before they sell out!

Published on July 4, 2009

June 30: Selected Media That Matters Films to Screen at Senza Frontiere Film Festival in Roma, Italy

Selected films from the ninth annual Media That Matters collection will screen on June 30 in Roma, Italy for the official opening night of Senza Frontiere / Without Borders Film Festival.
It will be held at the Casa del Cinema
Villa Borghese
Largo Marcello Mastroianni, 1
Roma, Italy
tel: 06 423601

Information en italiano http://www.casadelcinema.it/

Senza Frontiere runs from July 1 – 3 and is a not-for-profit event. They depend on donations to support all activities.

Published on June 30, 2009

Immersion to Screen at New Zealand Film Festival

The MTM9 film Immersion will be playing in the New Zealand Film Festival, which screens at locations across the country! It’s part of a program of short films called “Homegrown: Drama on Video”. For tickets and information, visit the NZFF website.

Auckland Screenings:
Fri 17 July 6:00 pm SkyCity Cinemas, Queen Street
Sun 19 July 11:45 am SkyCity Cinemas, Queen Street
Wed 22 July 4:00 pm SkyCity Cinemas, Queen Street

Wellington Screenings:
Mon 27 July 6:15 pm Film Archive
Wed 29 July 10:30 am Film Archive
Wed 29 July 6:15 pm Film Archive

Dunedin Screening:
Mon 3 Aug 6:15 pm Rialto

Christchurch Screening:
Tue 11 Aug 6:30 pm Regent 2

Note: The Dunedin/Christchurch schedule is not yet live on the website as the program is not yet released for these regions. More screenings will be added for smaller cities in the coming weeks. Continue to check http://www.nzff.co.nz for more information.

Published on June 30, 2009

New Developments for Perversion of Justice’s Hamedah Hasan

There have been more developments in the case of Hamedah Hasan - the woman profiled in last year’s Media That Matters Film Perversion of Justice.
Filmmaker Melissa Mummert sent us a note about it on Facebook:

the judge ruled she should serve 12 years. With 16 years served, she should get out this Monday. Remember, this is for a first time, non-violent offense. She helped her cousin who was a drug dealer with some wire transfers. After getting a double life sentence under mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws, Hamedah’s sentence was eventually reduced to 27 years. Thanks, all!

But there is still work to do. Hamedah’s commutation request is still in doubt so it’s a great time to get involved! Follow Melissa Mummert as she updates Hamedah Hassan’s status on Twitter. 

Check out ways you can take action on the issue of mandatory drug sentencing!

 

Published on June 23, 2009

June 24: Immersion to Screen at Palm Springs International Shortfest in Palm Springs, CA

MTM9 filmmakers Richard and Zareen Poonen Levien will screen their film, Immersion, at the Palm Springs International Shortfest in Palm Springs, CA. The film will be shown as part of the “Culture Clash” program, which highlights short films that deal with issues of intercultural communication. Both filmmakers will also be in attendance! Check out the Immersion website for more information on the film.

Wednesday, June 24 - 12:30 pm
Camelot Theatres
2300 E. Baristo Road
Palm Springs, CA 92262

For tickets call 1-800-898-7256 or go to the Shortfest website.

Published on June 23, 2009

June 19: MTM8 Screening with Dubuque Film Society in Dubuque, IA at 7:30PM

June 19 in Dubuque, IA at 7:30PM
(Doors open at 6:30 for social hour)
Dubuque Film Society will screen the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival
at The Blue Nickel Salon
1572 Central Ave
Dubuque, IA. 52001
FREE (Donations will be happily accepted)

Published on June 19, 2009

June 18: MTM9 Films to Screen at Edinburgh International Film Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland

Looking Back and Bits and Pieces; from the newest collection of films from the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, will be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on June 18th in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the world’s best-loved audience festivals, the EIFF emphasizes “young talent, discovery and innovation.” Both films will be screened as part of the “Document Shorts” section, joining a group of renowned international shorts from Australia, Iran, Switzerland and more! Congrats to Emile Bokaer, Ben Mandell and Jackie Sawiris for this tremendous honor!

Published on June 18, 2009

June 18: African Underground: Democracy in Dakar Plays at NXNE Film Festival in Toronto, ON at 5:00PM

On June 18th, the feature-length film, of which last year’s MTM film African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal was a section will play at the NXNE Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar
NFB Theatre, 5:00 PM Thu, Jun 18
150 John St, Toronto, ON M5V 3C3

Check out their site for more info on the event as well as the rest of the program, which looks to be a great collection. Congratulations Ben, Magee and Chris!

Published on June 18, 2009

Jury Award Winners for MTM9 Launch Online Fundraiser for Feature-Length Version of The Next Wave: Sun Come Up

MTM9 filmmakers Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger (The Next Wave) just launched an online fundraiser for Sun Come Up, their feature length documentary following the relocation of climate change refugees. A percentage of funds raised will go directly back to the community for the Carterets’ relocation program. They hope to reach their fundraising goal of $20,000 in 4 weeks. So far they’ve raised $2,000. Online donations can be made here: http://www.wmm.com

Good luck Jennifer and Tim!

Published on June 18, 2009

“Knock Knock” Filmmaker Named One of India’s Most Influential Women

MTM9 filmmaker Malika Dutt (Knock Knock, Who’s There?) was recently honored as one of India’s 50 most influential women by Verve Magazine, India’s premier women’s international magazine! Through her organization Breakthrough, Malika has been one of the country’s leaders on issues of violence against women. Their Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell) campaign has been instrumental in raising awareness of domestic violence in India and encouraging communities to break the silence on this often-hidden issue. Besides being featured in the Ninth Annual Media that Matters Film Festival, the campaign has been honored with advertising and media awards across the world.

Malika believes that, “To improve women’s rights, media campaigns have to be organized at the community level.” Her organization has made this its mission, inspiring community support through innovative calls for action. Breakthrough uses the power of popular culture, media, leadership development and community education to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity. Through initiatives in India and the United States, Breakthrough addresses critical global issues including violence against women, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

Congratulations to Malika on this honor!

Published on June 17, 2009

Warning: Be Careful with Analog E-Waste

The recent switch from the analog to digital television signal has created a tsunami (estimated 5 billion pounds) of e-waste as American households dispose of their old television sets. The toxic waste organization Basel Action Network (BAN) warns consumers to be careful in where they take their televisions for recycling. They urge everyone to use qualified e-Steward recyclers, the only list identifying electronic waste recyclers that will not export toxic TVs and other electronic waste to a developing country. About 80% of companies that call themselves “recyclers” will actually transport to countries like China, India, or Nigeria where the toxic materials may poison villagers using primitive technologies and then dump or burn the rest of the electronic waste.

Watch the MTM8 film E-Waste to learn about the steps you can take to reduce e-waste in your community.

Published on June 16, 2009

NYC E-Waste Law in Effect June 15

A recent New York City law requiring electronics manufacturers to establish and manage e-waste disposal programs will go into effect on June 15th! The regulations require that manufacturers create and pay for a program whereby city residents could mail back or drop off electronics and are required under the law to collect items directly from city residents. Check out the MTM8 film E-Waste for more information on this important issue.

Published on June 15, 2009

June 13: Project: Think Different Hosts Community Connect in Boston

Project: Think Different, producer of MTM8’s Diana, is hosting a big event in the heart of Boston called Community Connect. Community Connect is a huge multi-media event that connects people with other companies and programs that offer services on pressing issues, based on community surveys. There will also be services for college financial aid, child care, jobs, etc. Get out and watch musical performances, spoken word, dance groups, and poetry!

Bands and companies that want to set up there, e-mail submissions@projectthinkdifferent.org

June 13th, 10am-3pm,
Boston Commons in downtown Boston

Published on June 13, 2009

DONATE

BROWSE FILMS BY ISSUE

SEARCH THE SITE