POV

"Well, we didn't sweep." That's what the always good-natured Gary Weimberg from Soldiers of Conscience said to me as the 30th Annual News and Doc Emmys ended last night. From our 10 nominations, James Moll was the only one to go home with an Emmy last night — he was honored in the Outstanding Interview category for Inheritance. Congratulations, James!

James Moll and Helen Jonas at the 30th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

Despite the low number of actual wins, it was a great night for POV. I was especially happy to be able to personally congratulate all of our filmmakers from Season 21 that were nominated. (I've missed you guys!) It was also a thrill to meet a number of the subjects from the films including Judge Guzman from The Judge and the General, Mrs. Cookie Rudnick from In the Family, and Helen Jonas from Inheritance. Not to mention, I was a little star-struck when I ran into Andrea Mitchell in the ladies room.

Congratulations again to all of our filmmakers — from all of us at POV.
 

See a full list of winners and nominees on the Emmy Awards website.

TAGS: andrea mitchell, emmy awards, in the family, inheritance, james moll, judge and the general, soldiers of conscience

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The Media That Matters festival is an Arts Engine project that brings high-impact shorts and take-action tools to audiences around the country. If you’re in the New York area, join me and other POVers at the 9th Annual Media That Matters Film Festival Premiere on June 3rd.

The festivities kick off on Wednesday June 3, 2009. Doors open at 6:00 pm: Arrive early to take part in the impACT salon with some of our presenting partners for Take Action opportunities and a chance to meet the festival filmmakers.

From 7:00 - 9:00 pm, attend the world premiere of the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Be among the first to see the 12 new inspiring short films selected this year by a jury of 12 incredible activists and media makers.

The festival takes place at:

School of Visual Arts (SVA)
Visual Arts Theater
333 West 23rd Street
New York, NY

The theater is accessible by wheelchair. Presenting Partners for the impACT salon includes WITNESS, POV, MercyCorps, Creative Commons, Miro and Breakthrough.

Buy your tickets today before they sell out! You can also watch online.

TAGS: arts engine, film festivals, media that matters

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Our former office mate and outreach consultant extraordinaire Sonya Childress is helping organize the Reel Justice Film Conference at Lehman College in the Bronx. This free two-day conference (April 29 & 30), hosted by Working Films, Andrus Family Fund and Lehman College's Black Legacy, features great films and speakers that will spur conversation and action on international and domestic models of community reconciliation as a response to police brutality and violence against women. Tami Gold and Iris Baez will be there with Every Mother’s Son (POV 2004).

Find out more: http://workingfilms.org/article.php?id=201

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Our friends at Arts Engine, the non-profit media organization that produced Katy Chevigny's Election Day have just written in to let us know that as the election approaches, they're stepping up their campaign to make sure that people get to exercise their right to vote this year and encouraging people to host viewing parties. Read on to learn more.

Dear friends,

You've registered to vote and now the countdown until Election Day 2008 begins...

Nineteen days left and the question remains: will we have a fair and just election? Or will we see the same obstacles that have disenfranchised record numbers of voters over the last eight years? What are you going to do about it?

View the trailer

Now is the time to host an Election Day house party and get your friends, family and community talking about all of the issues they might encounter at the polls this November.

Through Brave New Theaters, you can organize a screening of Election Day or find a screening in your area. Committed to fostering the "people-powered movie revolution," Brave New Theaters makes it easy to plan your event and spread the word. Join with us to plan a series of screening events in the two weeks leading up to Election Day 2008, at a time when people need to be reminded we have only one day to make it count! Your Election Day house party is only three steps away:

Buy the Election Day DVD at the Arts Engine store.

Publicize your house party or community screening at the Election Day page at Brave New Theaters.

Get ready for the conversation after the film by downloading the incredibly informative POV Facilitator's Guide for the film.

From all of us at Arts Engine

TAGS: election 2008

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According to a recent poll conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans say that health care is one of the most important issues in the 2008 presidential election. Roger Weisberg's film Critical Condition paints a disturbing and gripping portrait of what happens when you're sick and uninsured in America. As health care becomes an increasingly salient issue in our nation, find out what you can do to participate in the national dialogue around health care reform.

Engage with local and national organizations
Visit the Critical Condition Take Action page to join local community groups and national organizations that are pushing the next president and Congress to move the nation toward health care reform. Learn more about organizations working for change.

Host a screening
Share the stories told in Critical Condition with a larger audience and host a screening of the film. The film is available, for free, for public institutions, schools and community groups. Sign up for updates about the film, its broadcast and related POV activities around health issues.

Download the Viewer's Guide
Do you want to learn more about the 2008 presidential candidates' viewpoints on health care reform? Need help understanding the current U.S. health care system? Don't know the difference between single payer and tax credits? Download the Critical Condition Viewer's Guide.

Tell us your thoughts
Add your opinion about the health care debate by visiting the Critical Condition website and posting a comment, a question or a review of the film.

TAGS: election 2008, healthcare, healthcare reform

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Maia Ermita is the director of the Media That Matters Film Festival, a project of Arts Engine. Now in its eighth year, the festival brings high-impact shorts and take-action tools to audiences around the country. This year I was lucky enough to serve on the jury of the festival, so I can say with assurance that these films are worth checking out. I invited Maia to tell us more about the festival, and this week's activities.

Hope everyone rested up over the weekend in time for all of the events happening at Arts Engine with the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival!

This year's collection includes some amazing films focusing on such issues as the essential role of youth in a democracy, the burden of war on a young boy's life, the changing face of nomadic life in Tibet and the importance of honeybees on the environment. After watching these films and meeting with the filmmakers, we are proud to provide this platform to celebrate these visions of hope through film.

The world premiere on Wednesday, May 28th will feature 12 new inspiring short films from around the world at the IFC Center in New York City at 7pm. The filmmakers from this latest collection will be participating in a Q&A soon after the premiere, so come out to meet these great new advocates for social change through film. Get your tickets quick!

In case you can't make it to our Wednesday premiere, due to popular demand, we'll be having a second screening on Friday, May 30th at Tribeca Cinemas at 7pm where you'll join many of our partners (including POV!) for a run of these same 12 films with many of the filmmakers for a follow-up Q&A session. Bring your friends to Tribeca Cinemas this Friday.

And if all of this isn't enough, join us for the official Media That Matters after-party on Saturday, May 31st as festival winner African Underground: 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.

I hope some of you are able to attend our events — but in case you can't, the festival will officially launch online on May 29th.

Stay tuned for more screenings and events around the world with Media That Matters.

See you there!

TAGS: arts engine, film festivals, media that matters, shorts

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We're happy to announce that the winner of the POV Film Your Issue award is Brandan Odums's New Orleans for Sale, a film that decries suffering as a tourist draw in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Watch the video:

Odums is a 22-year old New Orleans college student who is part of a young filmmaking collective called 2-cent that makes projects to inspire change within young people. When they noticed the gawking tourists who had come to see the devastated 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina, they decided to make a video about the locals' reactions.

In addition to winning the POV award, New Orleans for Sale also garnered an FYI Jury Award 2008, the NAACP Award and the AFI SILVERDOCS Award.

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Earlier this month, I attended the Film Your Issue launch party at the United Nations. I first heard about Film Your Issue (FYI) from our partners at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. For the past five years we've worked with their American Democracy Project, to support them in accomplishing the goal of educating undergraduates in public higher education on global issues. Why? So students are ready to wisely practice their civic responsibilities as thoughtful and engaged citizens.

The concept behind FYI is beautifully clear and direct. They ask 14-24 year olds to "film their issue" because they want young people to contribute to the public discussion on pressing issues — and even influence policy. We are in fantastic company on this project — the United Nations, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NAACP, USA TODAY, Associated Press, MTV, the Humane Society of the United States, the NRDC, Starz, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Association of Student Councils, AFI Silverdocs and AFI Screen Nation, International Documentary Association, MySpace, the American Association of University Professors, the University Film and Video Association and the Association of American Colleges and Universities are some of the other sponsors. Plus, we are offering this year a summer internship at POV as one of the special prizes. For our prize, the winning film will be selected for illuminating issues relevant in the 2008 Presidential election, including education, election reform, environment, foreign policy and the war, healthcare and immigration.The winning film will be posted on the POV site and broadcast in full or excerpted on Starz.

Find out how to submit your video.

TAGS: election 2008, environment, healthcare, politics

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I ran into Shelby Knox, a passionate young activist, recently in Manhattan. We first got to know each other in 2005 when POV broadcasted The Education of Shelby Knox. Still one of our most requested films by communities across the country — the film follows Shelby, a Southern Baptist high school student from a politically conservative family in Texas, as she pledged abstinence until marriage and became the Lubbock Youth Council's most vocal proponent of comprehensive sex education.

Shelby and I spent a lot of time together that year. Along with filmmakers Marion Lipshutz and Rose Rosenblatt, she reviewed a discussion guide that helps educators and community organizers organize successful screenings of The Education of Shelby Knox. She also attended a number of events my department co-organized with high school teachers, school boards, youth groups and GLBT organizations to draw attention to and foster conversations about the debate concerning sex education in America's high schools.

One of the things that POV filmmakers do well is putting a human face on contemporary social issues. Through their storytelling, audiences don't just learn about the issues, they also deepen their understanding by seeing someone deal with the consequences of public policies. Shelby, Reverend Ed Ainsworth, and the pregnant students at her school were affected by the outcomes of the abstinence vs. comprehensive sex education debate as they played out in the Texas public school system.

Continue reading this entry »

TAGS: education, lgbt, shelby knox, social issues

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