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What Filmmakers Are Saying
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What Filmmakers Are Saying
We believe that Media That Matters will help you make an impact with your project. But don't take our word for it — here's what filmmakers have said about being a part of our Festival:
Martina Radwan, Director of Spring in Awe
"I wanted my film to be part of Media That Matters because it's an outreach festival, not just a regular film festival, and I really want my film to reach communities. Also what this festival offers is the DVD circulation and the Internet streaming. Usually with a festival, if you miss the screening then you don't see the film."
Nicole Sobbotke, Youth Director of Dedicated to My Family
"It's a big honor and I'm really glad to be here. Media That Matters shows more people my film, it puts it out there more, and more people can understand where I'm really coming from."
Jen Simmons, Director of Bush for Peace
"I think it's a great honor to be part of the Media That Matters Film Festival. It's very encouraging to be doing work that feels risky or perhaps something beyond what people consider OK or safe. And then this festival comes around and says 'This is great - we want to help you, we want to distribute this, we want even more people to see this. We want to give you aid for distribution and get this work out there.' It means a lot...it really means a lot."
Rebecca Yenawine, Instructor and Producer The Children of Birmingham
"I think its great to be side by side so many great pieces and so many pieces that have so much to say. It's a very powerful statement about what media can do."
Kristina Schoentag, Director of Laugh at the Fat Kid
"I think this Festival is really great because it brings together different messages and different artists. It gives us the chance to present our work to an audience that we wouldn't generally reach. I'd like to thank everyone at Media That Matters and the MediaRights organization for giving us this great venue so that filmmakers can showcase their work and for giving us an opportunity to voice what is important to us. Hopefully through this venue a lot of people will get a chance to see these messages and they will spark some thought and inspire some change. Thank you."
Cynthia Fujikawa, Director of Day of Remembrance
"I'm really grateful to MediaRights for giving my film a voice - it's got an audience now."
Sarah Hesterman, Director of Seeds of Hope: South Africa
"I think it's really important as filmmakers to show communities where change is happening, as well as showing communities where change is needed. I just think what we're doing, everyone in here, is really important and what Media That Matters and MediaRights does is so critical. Thank you."
Keefe Murren, Director of iThemba
"We love Media That Matters because it allows us to accomplish our original goal with our project, which was to create a short piece that could be used for advocacy outreach and fundraising around the issue. It's phenomenal that you guys create that infrastructure for us and allow us to point people to the web. It takes so much effort and so much money for us to do our own outreach - it's fantastic to have that infrastructure in place."
Elizabeth Miller, Director of Novela, Novela
"I think the Media That Matters Film Festival is one of the most important venues my film could have been screened through. It's true that you can work very hard to convey a message that means something to you, but without the support of distributors and of festivals, it's impossible to reach people. And Media That Matters actually connects the films to action! Actually seeing it go into all of these community spaces and seeing it inspire people is amazing. So I think this is the most important festival that this film has ever been a part of."
Alex Rivera, Director of The Sixth Section
"I think that every venue that you go through is like a capillary flow of blood through the body. That's how the media travels - you put it one place and it goes out like a branch that reaches a whole bunch of communities. Im excited about the DVD, I'm excited about the partnership with Sundance, I'm excited about the Web and I'm excited about all these alliances. It seems like you guys have done an incredible job of laying a foundation - there's an infinite amount of work to be done and endless new audiences to reach and so hopefully the Media That Matters Film Festival will be part of that puzzle for my film. And it's been incredible to be with Chuck D and Peter Yarrow, what a trip."