It’s August and I’ve just about wrapped my internship here at Arts Engine. As I sit and reflect upon what this summer has been for me, two obvious answers come to mind: tons of movies and lots of sun. Actually, I was very careful and only got burnt maybe a total of three times, but the movie thing is no exaggeration. I went to the theater at least twice a week and enjoyed many a free outdoor screening. This in addition to working at a film production company, specifically for the film Election Day, and on the set of our Little Pim project.

But as the summer’s end nears and my days at Arts Engine dwindle, I have begun to seek out new and different experiences. I sort of found some. There are six film screenings at Solar1 in the coming weeks. Although I am unable to attend, I strongly recommend them to everyone. Why? Because watching movies outside is amazing (see above) and solar power is neat. Energy conservation and Albert Maysles anyone? He’s going to hold a Q & A after the August 23rd screening!!

The Solar-Powered Film Series is the first in New York City to use the power of the sun to construct an outdoor “eco-theater” like no other. Our independent film venue integrates natural and human-made components of our urban environment creating the city’s “greenest” motion picture showcase. This year’s Film Series includes a mix of classic and modern films and documentaries and the audio portion of each will be powered by the solar panels on the roof of Solar 1. Refreshments will be available including beer, wine, popcorn, and baked goodies…

Program All films start at 9pm. Admission is FREE.

Wednesday, August 15 Everything’s Cool

Thursday, August 16 Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Friday, August 17 After Hours

Wednesday, August 22 The Day the Earth Stood Still

Thursday, August 23 What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A.

Friday, August 24 Young Frankenstein

After hearing about this series, my interest was piqued and I looked for more solar powered things. I found a solar powered restaurant in Fort Greene called Habana Outpost.

Welcome to the Habana family of restaurants! Manhattan’s Cafe Habana and Habana To Go, opened by Sean Meenan in 1998, serve home-style Latin food with unique Cuban and Central Mexican accents. Habana Outpost, located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, shares the same celebrated cuisine but also functions as a community gathering space. Regardless of the location, the food is renowned and the atmosphere welcoming.

Habana Outpost is also NYC’s first eco-eatery.  Eco-Eateries are restaurants that use earth-friendly practices in their design, construction, and day-to-day operations. Habana Outpost aims to reduce wasteful consumption and promote sustainable solutions.

Mmm. Cuban food. I’ve passed by this colorful outdoor ECO-eatery and “community gathering space� several times, but never knew anything about it. They have movie screenings on Sunday nights! MORE movies!

Sadly I found some disheartening information about solar energy too, like, how it isn’t developed (or developing) into something that can fully sustain the world’s energy demands.

But hey, movies and food and drinks—there are some hip night clubs now powered by the sun, ironically enough (I didn’t look into it because I can’t dance)—are fine by me for this summer at least. Solar1 and Habana Outpost may not be able to solve the world’s environmental troubles, but they can set a good and positive example. Maybe I can’t afford solar panels for my home (my future home,) but I can ride my bike instead of driving my car (my FUTURE car) and I can avoid food waste by eating all of my arroz con pollo!

Adios! posted by Casey

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One of our interns asked me an interesting question a while back: “If I download an image from say Amazon.com and then videotape that image, does that fall under fair use?”  Suffice to say, we were stumped. 

Luckily, we’re…

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I just heard that Kiri Davis has been selected as the first filmmaker ever to receive the Extraordinary Service Award from the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council for her film A Girl Like Me which was a part of the sixth annual Media That Matters Film Festival.  Congrats Kiri! 

What happened with the film after the festival makes a great story, so for those who don’t know…

One of the great things about the Media That Matters Film Festival is the way that web streaming of the films allows the word about them to spread farther than most documentary films can reach—and the shining example of this effect is Kiri’s film A Girl Like Me.  In her film, she recreated Kenneth Clark’s landmark “Doll Choice Experiment,â€? in which a group of African American children were asked how they felt about two identically dressed dolls: one black and the other white.  Back in the 50s, nearly every African American child in the study chose the white doll for all things positive and identified the black doll with those that were negative.  But sadly, the experiment in a Harlem day care center in 2005 produced nearly the same results.

In June of last year, A Girl Like Me began streaming online on our website.  Pretty soon word started to spread as people like Tayari Jones (of TayariJones.com) started blogging about the film.  She wrote:

Go right now to the Media that Matters Film Festival and watch “A Girl Like Me,” a short film by a Kiri Davis. (It’s about 10 minutes to watch). There are lots of terrific short films on this site by teenaged film makers, but make sure you check out “A Girl Like Me.”… watch it and let’s all meet back here to talk about it.

Word online continued to spread, and in early August the New York Daily News found the film through a Google search and wrote a story about Kiri.  This in turn drew the attention of CNN, ABC World News, Good Morning America and a host of major European news outlets, touching off an international debate on the progress (or lack thereof) that Americans have made since Brown vs. Board of Education.  Op Eds, including one by Stanley Crouch, appeared in newspapers from New York to Florida, Arizona and California.  Hundreds of thousands of people heard about Kiri’s film and tens of thousands of people watched it online, sent it to their friends and made comments on it. This year, Kiri was contacted by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund so they could interview her and use the film for a video podcast, she appeared on Oprah in May, and was the winner of the Cosmo Girl Take Action Hollywood Contest.  And most recently we got the news about this award from the Minority Media & Television Council, which they give to recognize “the person who, in the past year, contributed more than anyone else in the nation to the cause of diversity and inclusion in the nation’s media and telecom industries.”

So big congratulations to Kiri, and yay for the Media That Matters Film Festival, and to all the filmmakers who want to make a difference –- it’s happening!  Keep up the good work!

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Lately I have been feeling a bit frustrated by the lack of real life, human interaction I have been experiencing.  Though I love the power of the Internet, getting someone to actually call you is an event!  Sometimes when I…

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