In cities around New Zealand in June and July, Just Focus organizers and youth participants will be screening select Media That Matters shorts in conglomeration with speakers and other events.

If you're a Media That Matters Festival supporter who lives in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland or Dunedin, NZ, and are looking to get involved with a social issue film festival, email Will at will@globaled.org.nz to find out more.

More information about how you can attend the New Zealand festival will be posted as it is announced by Just Focus.

The collection, celebrating diversity, has been curated from the past five years of Media That Matters Film Festivals.

The Mixed Roots Movement provides resources and education to help create a community that celebrates and respects racial and religious diversity. By aiming to connect, network, share ideas, educate and get educated, advocate as well as explore ways to build awareness about the mixed-race experience and community, the Mixed Roots Movements is embarking on a path towards real and measurable societal change.

This collection of films highlights multiracial and multicultural experiences and the different ways in which race, ethnicity and religion are perceived.

The films to be included are:

Children of Birmingham
Face to Face
Holla Back Dubai
Is My Neighbor Latino
Cop Watch
The News is What We Make It
Slip of the Tongue
A Girl Like Me
Something Other than Other
Vision Test
We Were Humans

The screening will be held at the West Bloomfield Public Library in West Bloomfield, Michigan on May 31, 2008 from 2:30PM to 5:00PM (the screening begins promptly at 2:30)
The screening will be followed by a discussion.

So come on out to watch these films, share your thoughts and get connected!

By: Geneva Smith

WORLD PREMIERE
@ IFC Center

Join us for the world premiere of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival! Be among the first to see the 12 inspiring short films we selected this year. There will be Take Action tables AND a chance to meet the festival filmmakers!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
7-9 pm
IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street
New York, NY
See map

Buy your tickets today at movietickets.com!

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SECOND SCREENING
@ Tribeca Cinemas

We are pleased to announce that due to popular demand, this year we have added a second screening to our growing festival event line-up! Don't be left without a ticket for Wednesday's Premiere at the IFC!
Book your tickets for the Friday evening screening at Tribeca Cinemas.
There will be Take Action tables AND a chance to meet the festival filmmakers!

Friday, May 30, 2008
7-9 pm
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
New York, NY
See map

Buy your tickets today at brownpapertickets.com!

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OFFICIAL FESTIVAL PARTY
@ Rose Live Music

Join us for the official Media That Matters after-party as festival winner Democracy in Dakar: Hip Hop In Senegal's filmmaker and featured artists spin tracks and lay down beats at the Rose Live Music center in historic Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Rose Live Music & Nomadic Wax Productions presents:
The Waaw Band - Live Senegalese Afro Beat
& DJ Ben Herson spinning Global Hip Hop, Afrobeat, Reggae & more

Saturday, May 31st, 2008
10pm - 4am
Rose Live Music
345 Grand Street between Havemeyer & Marcy
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
View map

There is no cover charge but you must be 21+ to attend!

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YOUTH PREMIERE
@ Paley Center for Media, NYC

June 6th there will be an additional free screening for youth as part of the annual Media: Overseas Conference, an international celebration of youth and film.

A three-day event, the conference will include screenings and panels from a host of international participants, brought together to discuss today's current media landscape. Panelists from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Egypt, Korea, Kuwait, Spain, Sweden, UK, and the USA will lead the conversations. Attendees will include media industry professionals, educators, students, and the general public.

Friday, June 6th, 2008
6-8 pm
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52nd Street
New York, NY
See map

While this event is free for youth, participants will not be admitted without sending an RSVP to: rsvp@mocnyb.org.

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Make sure to buy your tickets now, as they sell out fast.

WE'LL SEE YOU THERE!

That's the question the AFL-CIO is looking for you to answer in their first ever "Turn Around America" video competition. The contest will feature the winners in television ads in part to engage voters and 2008 political candidates in a national dialogue about what is necessary to get America back on track.

The video contest, found at www.turnaroundvideocontest.com, is part of a larger AFL-CIO initiative to "Turn Around America" which will run through the summer. The "Turn Around America" initiative will feature major events in battleground states and build grassroots momentum to elect leaders who will fight for health care, good jobs and an economy that works for all.

Participants will be invited to submit online videos in any creative form that will answer the question of how to turn around America. The contest will run April 10 through May 20 and winners will be announced in early June. The winning videos will be featured on national and local television. The categories include a national winner, who will receive $2,000 and the chance for the video to appear in national TV ads. City winners will win $1,000 and may be featured at AFL-CIO rallies and on local television. A "young activist" category will also be awarded to the best video made by someone between the ages of 14 and 25. The contest is open to the public.

The judges include Gillian Grisman, director and producer of Grateful Dawg and Keeping Time: New Music from America's Roots; Robert Greenwald, director and producer of Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price; Barbara Kopple, director of Shut Up and Sing; and more. For official jury lineup and bios, visit www.turnaroundvideocontest.com/judges.php.

Titled Asparagus! Stalking the American Life, the filmmakers are happy to announce that a percentage of each sale goes directly back to the U.S. Asparagus Growers and to support local community farm programs!

Read below for the official press release.

AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT MICHIGAN'S "ASPARAGUS CAPITAL OF THE NATION" RELEASED ON DVD

Asparagus! Stalking the American Life - the multiple award-winning documentary film about the "Asparagus Capital of the Nation" - is scheduled for release on DVD May 1, 2008. The DVD includes the 53-minute broadcast cut of the film as well as a number of Special Features including "Extra Scenes," "Asparagus Tips," and a "Recipe File." The DVD will be available at www.asparagusthemovie.com, farmer's markets and at special screening events beginning May 1, 2008. It will retail for $24.99, with a portion of sales going directly to support Michigan family farms and asparagus growers.

The film tells the story of Oceana County, Michigan, whose spear-struck residents built their identity and economic survival on asparagus, but now find themselves taking on the U.S. War on Drugs, Free Trade, and the Fast Food Nation, all to save their beloved "roots". Asparagus! Stalking the American Life journeys to the heart of Asparagus Country to discover why one little vegetable matters so much. New York Magazine called the film "Oddly Brilliant," and the Kansas City Star heralded the film "A Charmer!"

Asparagus! Stalking the American Life had its World Premiere in 2006 at the acclaimed Full Frame Documentary Film Festival - the largest documentary film festival in the U.S. - and toured the festival circuit throughout 2006-2007. It garnered Best Documentary awards at the Rural Route Film Festival in New York and East Lansing Film Festival, as well as Audience Awards at the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival and Waterfront Film Festival. The film also won the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Good Food Film Award at the Media That Matters Film Festival and a special finishing funds grant from P.O.V./American Documentary through New York's Museum of Television and Radio (recently renamed as The Paley Center).

The DVD is being launched in tandem with a "GrassRoots Film Screening Series" in communities and schools across the country. Beginning with a special screening sponsored by The Food Literacy Project at Harvard University on April 29, and including other school, community and special screenings across the nation, including this year's National Asparagus Festival in Oceana County, MI where the project was filmed.

The documentary is a 4-year independent film project of Michigan native, director Kirsten Kelly, and her film partner Anne de Mare from New York, who worked extensively with Michigan arts, humanities and agricultural organizations from the film's inception to its completion. Kirsten was raised on an asparagus farm in Oceana County and was a proud member of the pre-teen asparagus dance troupe "The Oceana Stalkers."

FILM SYNOPSIS:

Thirty years ago, Oceana County, Michigan proclaimed itself the Asparagus Capital of the Nation! Hailed as "Green Gold", asparagus was exactly what this poor rural community needed - a spring cash crop at the end of the long cold winter. Asparagus quickly became Oceana's biggest claim to fame, with everyone from the local clown band to the dance teacher inspired by the "Super Stalk." Then, in a twist of fate, the U.S War on Drugs ushered in a free trade agreement that threatens to take it all away. Virtually overnight, Oceana's asparagus farmers find themselves smack-dab in the middle of international drug policy and the turbulent global economy. They call an Emergency Asparagus Summit, pull up their bootstraps, and jump head-on into the fray. While Mrs. Asparagus advocates at Oceana's National Asparagus Festival, the farmers leave their fields and head into a world of high-powered marketing think-tanks and Asparagus CheezePak Volcanoes-- determined to save their most prized crop.

This is the story of one rural American community scrambling to keep its proud identity and source of survival against impossible odds. Asparagus! Stalking the American Life journeys to the heart of asparagus country to discover why one little vegetable matters so much.

Buy the DVD now through PayPal, or watch the trailer Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) through the Media That Matters FOCUS: Good Food site.

Thanks to your support, By-Standing: The Beginning Of An American Lifetime has won the Reel 13 weekly competition and will air Saturday May 10th on Queen's Thirteen/WNET, in their segment for local independent filmmakers.

The short will air following the 9PM airing of the classic Hello Dolly! and before the indie flick Cry Funny Happy. The line-up of the three films will begin again at 1AM if you miss the first showing.

Kalamazoo College - May 14-15, 2008

"Move This Earth," spoken word preformance by Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, featuring poetry and music on the issues of growin up Asian-American, cultural pride, political activism, immigration, sexual assault, and violence against women.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Spoken Word Performance
Kalamazoo College
Dewing Hall Room 103, LAC
Kalamazoo, MI
8:00 PM
Free

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Spoken Word Workshop
Kalamazoo College
Location TBA
Kalamazoo, MI
Time TBA

Curated by Arts Engine's Filmmaker Services Coordinator Felix Endara, the films include Media That Matters Film Festival winner Karen Lin's expansive visual interpretation of a Kelly Tsai spoken word performance, surrealist animation of Erica Cho, and experimental fiction of Larilyn Sanches and Riza Manalo, among others.

In addition to Lin's piece, two other Media That Matters festival winners will be screening as well. The films are highlighted in red below; click to watch online and find ways to take action about their respective issues.

Line up of filmmakers and films:
- Kai Ling Xue, A Girl Named Kai (8 minutes, 2005)
- Karen Lum, Slip of the Tongue (4 minutes, 2005)
- Nguyen Hoang, Cover Girl: A Gift From God (18 minutes, 2000)
- Larilyn Sanchez and Riza Manalo, Homebound (Balikbayan),
(5 minutes, 2003)
- Erica Cho, Are You Me? (3:30 minutes minutes, 2008)
- Erica Cho, Mechanical Gadgets, music video for Addicted2Fiction
(3 minutes, 2006)
- Marie Gaerlan, First Impressions, (with Janet Pants, 3:30 minutes 2008)
- Kathy Huang, Night Visions (7 minutes, 2006)
- Karen Lin, By-Standing: The Beginning Of An American Lifetime
(5 minutes, 2006)

A question-and-answer session follows the screening.

Screening is free with general museum admission.
(You need not line up for the Murakami ticketing; just proceed directly to General Admission - pay-what-you-wish.)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
View directions

This is a Free event open to the public, limited seating on first come basis.
Further information is available at lotuspetalcinema.com.

Lotus Petal Cinema
75 S. Jefferson St
PO Box 1394
Nashville, IN 47448

Showtimes:
Sun May 4 at 1pm, 3:30pm, 6pm & 8:30pm
Mon May 5 at 3:30pm, 6pm & 8:30pm

This is a FREE EVENT, limited seating on first come basis.

Click here for directions.
Email admin@lotuspetalcinema.com with any questions.

From the Emmy Award-nominated film Deadline, a gripping look at capital punishment in the United States, to Outside Looking In, which explores the impact of trans-racial adoption, the retrospective will showcase eight award-winning documentaries created by Arts Engine’s production arm, Big Mouth Films.

Preceding each Big Mouth film, we will be screening select Media That Matters films, including Luckiest Nut in the World, Recycle, Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary), A Girl Like Me, Battleground Minnesota, and Garbage Dreams.

The Paley Center, previously the Museum of Television & Radio, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape.

The program for the weekend is as follows:

Friday, May 2nd, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today
(2001, 58 min., dir. Katy Chevigny)
Featured Media That Matters films: Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) and POPaganda

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 12:00 p.m.
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
(1999, 67 min., dir. Kirsten Johnson)
Featured Media That Matters films: Vision Test and A Girl Like Me

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
Nuyorican Dream
(2000, 82 min., dir. Laurie Collyer)
Featured Media That Matters films: I Promise Africa and Slip of the Tongue

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Election Day
(2007, 84 min., dir. Katy Chevigny)
Featured Media That Matters film: Battleground Minnesota

Sunday, May 4th, 2008, 12:00 p.m.
Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America
(2001, 56 min., dir. Phil Bertelsen)
Featured Media That Matters films: A Girl Named Kai and Something Other Than Other

Sunday, May 4th, 2008, 2:00 p.m.
Arctic Son
(2006, 75 min., dir. Andrew Walton)
Featured Media That Matters films: Garbage Dreams

Sunday, May 4th, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Deadline
(2004, 90 min., directors Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson)
Featured Media That Matters film: Pizza Surveillance Feature

More about the feature length films can be found at Big Mouth Films and you can click the above links for each Media That Matters short to watch it online, join in our discussions, and find ways to take action.

Regular admission will be $10, with a special third-day-free offer for those who attend all three days. Reduced fare for students is $8 and children under 14 are $5. To make reservations, e-mail eduny@paleycenter.org or call 212.621.6664. The event takes place at 25 West 52 Street, New York, NY and is listed on the Paley Center events page.

by Austra Zubkovs

Since its foundation at Harlem Stage twelve years ago, the Creatively Speaking Film Series has highlighted and promoted the spirit of communities of color through a mix of creative and innovative film, video short narratives, documentaries and feature length films. BAM is excited to bring the series to Brooklyn audiences and beyond.

The Young at Heart segment is a "series of six short films, both narrative and documentary, appealing to the inquisitive mind and open heart in each of us," and the day's session will play as follows:
- By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime (5 min) by Karen Lin and Karin Chien starring Kelly Tsai
- Drawing Angel (18 min) by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Craig Williams
- Still Standing (8 min) by Paola Mendoza
- I'm Not a Boy (6 min) by Julie Joyce
- A Period Piece (20 min) by Camille Holder Brown
- Black Woman (9 min) by Joyia Bradley
The session will end with a Q&A session with some of the filmmakers and other special guests.

The Young at Heart segment is only the first in the three-day Creatively Speaking Film Series. Other sessions include Love Stories and All Dance, All the Time. See the BAM website for more details on these sessions and more. General admission for each session is $11, or a discounted price of $7 for BAM Cinema Club Members and $7.50 for children, students, and seniors. Tickets are available online, by phone at 718.777.FILM (theater ID #545), or at BAM Rose box office.

You can view all of the Media That Matters films online, as well as find ways to take action, by clicking on the film information tabs here.

by Austra Zubkovs

Come and join the party!

To celebrate the rich breadth of youth making social issue films in New York City, Arts Engine and the Tribeca Film Institute are putting together a bash to honor and encourage youth-produced media dedicated to documenting issues of great importance in our world today.

Making Media That Matters: A Celebration will feature a variety of Media That Matters shorts that highlight the role of youth in producing and promoting socially conscious media, all in a festive setting.

We invite educators, activists, and filmmakers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to join us in appreciating the role of youth-produced media in exploring and changing our world.

More about TFI Youth Screening Series
The TFI Youth Screening Series is a yearlong presentation of films that serves NYC youth and educators with access to free, relevant programming. The aim of the program is to spark debate and galvanize awareness and action in young people around the issues that are affecting them.

Arts Engine and the Tribeca Film Institute have partnered for the second season of the yearlong TFI Youth Screening Series, which runs through May 2008. On a monthly basis, a Media That Matters short film has been paired with a feature film curated by Tribeca Film Institute and presented to young people and educators in and around New York City. The educators receive a screening package with the short film and accompanying Discussion and Take Action Guides to use in their classrooms.

The event will take place on April 25th from 5-8pm at DCTV on 87 Lafayette Street. Space is limited, so please email festival@artsengine.net to RSVP or with any questions you may have. We hope to see you there!

by Austra Zubkovs

The goal of the Food For Thought Film Festival is to raise public awareness of current food issues to promote action within communities for the protection and sustainability of basic human rights and the overall health of the environment.

The festival will be screening the trailer for the longer film Asparagus: Stalking the American Life and the sequel The Meatrix I, II and II 1⁄2, and the best part is that it's free!

The event will take place at a different venue each Saturday, so be sure to take note:

April 5, 2008
Community Space at Good Shepherd
108 Cooper St. at 207 St. in Inwood

April 12, 2008
Countee Cullen Branch Library in Harlem
104 West 136th St., near Lenox Ave.

April 19, 2008
Cooper Union's Wollman Auditorium
51 Astor Place at Third.

More information can be found at the festival website or by contacting Martha Ma at naniolaprod@yahoo.com or tel. 347-439-4110.

Meanwhile, watch the Media that Matters: Good Food versions of the films Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) and The Meatrix and the rest of the collection online now.

by Austra Zubkovs

Presented by the Baum Forum and Teachers College Columbia University, this conference is held to bring attention to the issues of agriculture and sustainability through two days of conference sessions, workshops, cabaret, resource fair, and a seasonal luncheon. This conference is the third in a series that discusses how to promote healthy food choices in children and teens from the family, school, and community level. Other speakers include representatives from World Hunger Year, the Sesame Workshop, and the Children's Aid Society.

The event takes place in New York City at the Teachers College on Broadway between 120th and 121st Streets. Registration begins at 2pm on Friday and tickets can be bought for $25 for individual sessions or as a whole package (both days) for $115. Just attending the Saturday session, luncheon, and party is $75. Student and youth tickets are reduced. Full details can be found here. Advanced registration is required as the conference did sell out last year.

by Austra Zubkovs

The e-Festival will be five days of online discussion around democracy, media, arts and social change, live and unmediated with special guests from around the world and, most importantly, you. Our own Media That Matters staff, as well as other Arts Engine Programs and Tech staff, will be joining the discussions as well.

This year's six forum discussion topics are:

* e-Participation: Fad or future?
* 2018: New frontiers in digital arts
* Reworking Feminism: Gender equality in the 21st century
* Reaching Off the Screen: Film, audiences and social change
* The Creative Entrepreneur's Toolkit: A how-to guide for young artists
* Are You Being Heard? Youth voices in local government

We will be joining in the Reaching off the screen: Film, audiences, and social change discussion, which will focus on how to make a difference through film given the changing relationship between film content and film form in our fast-evolving technological world. The rest of the crew will be contributing to the other forum topics as they are so inspired.

So jump into a forum and start a conversation with filmmakers, activists, and non-profit organizations now!

by Austra Zubkovs