http://www.mediarights.org/news/ en info@valleyfilmfest.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-05T23:38:50+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/VFF12_Call-For-Entries_FREE_Through_2/11/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/VFF12_Call-For-Entries_FREE_Through_2/11/#When:23:38:50Z Criminal Justice, Economic Justice, Environment, Family & Society, Gay/Lesbian, Gender/Women, Health/Health Advocacy, Human Rights, Immigration, International, Media, Politics/Government, Racial Justice, Religious Freedom, Youth, Call for Entries / Submissions 2012-02-05T23:38:50+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/adobe_youth_aspire_awards/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/adobe_youth_aspire_awards/#When:20:47:57Z Youth, Call for Entries / Submissions 2012-02-03T20:47:57+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_comes_to_an_end/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_comes_to_an_end/#When:14:34:49Z The following is a guest post by Anya Kandel, filmmaker of the MTM9 film Why Do White People Have Black Spots? ——————- I left the DocPoint refreshed and inspired. I left with a resolution to collect more stories from my grandma and with a promise to notice the remarkable in the every day. Here is why… How Are You Doing, Rudolf Ming by Latvian filmmaker Roberts Rubins, offers a journey into the creative mind of a young boy. Rudolf, obsessive, eccentric, aloof and (perhaps) brilliant, makes his own movies with strips of paper and a slide projector. Drawing pictures in miniature, this 13-year-old boy plays all the voices and makes all the sounds. “There is this creative spark that drives some people. It consumes them,” Roberts tells me, “This fascinates me.” Roberts next project continues his interest in the creative geniuses of the world. He is currently searching for them.  If you know someone, he might be interested to hear. Lebanese-born Mahmoud Kaabour has a knack for finding both heart and adventure in the simplicity of everyday life. His recent film, Grandma, A Thousand Times has been tremendously successful.  Many of you in New York might have caught it at IFC a few months ago. Mahmoud offers an unaffected and intimate portrait of his quick-witted, wry and lovely 83-year-old grandma in Beruit. After the film, the grandmother of Mahmoud’s sole Finnish friend in the UAE raised her hand. She had traveled from the countryside to send with Mahmoud a hug to her granddaughter. “Grandma’s are the same all over the world,” she said. “Our job is to love.”  Few left without tears in their eyes. Stay tuned for Mahmoud’s next project, The Champ of the Camp, about a national singing competition that takes place in the UAE labor camps. To learn more, read this interview. You may have caught wind of the film Kumaré, directed by and starring Vikram Gandhi. It has received accolades throughout its global festival run, including the documentary feature audience award at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival. Vikram, in his quest to discover why gurus are so popular, becomes one.  Donning his grandmother’s accent, he grows out his hair and beard and becomes central in his own social experiment. With trident and picnic basket in hand, he leaves New York to visit yoga studios in Arizona. He teaches “fake” yoga moves and preaches the notion of “illusion.”  Brilliantly maneuvered, he speaks the truth, fools everyone and finds himself along the way. From what I could tell, many left the theater wishing they had their own Kumaré, illusion or not.  This is only the beginning.  I am sure we will be seeing much more of Vikram’s work in the coming years.  And some other films that got buzz at the festival: Finsurf gracefully chronicles the bold surfers who brave the ice cold waves in Finland. Italy, Love It Or Leave It follows a couple who, fed up with the social and political issues in Italy, travel their country finding a reason not to emigrate. Poignant and playful. And yes, Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi are as delightful in real life as they are in the film. Foreign, a film by Miriam Fassbender, follows a man’s tremulous journey from Mali to Spain, giving a “face to migration.”  Water Babies, by Dutch filmmaker Aliona van der Horst boldly looks at pregnancy, menstruation, and the “possibility to give life” in a way that one viewer said “helped me realize a taboo that I didn’t even know I subscribed too,” then “swept me away with her story.” I actually lied. This isn’t my last post.  Once we finish putting together the footage from the secondary students I worked with, I will pass their film along.  They have important things to say. Thanks for listening. Anya Article, Featured 2012-02-03T14:34:49+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/3MM_-_Social_Issues_Media_Fest_Call_for_Entries/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/3MM_-_Social_Issues_Media_Fest_Call_for_Entries/#When:08:11:34Z Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Juvenile Justice, Police Brutality, Prison Reform, Prisoner Rights, Economic Justice, Economic Development, Housing and Homelessness, Illiteracy, Labor, Poverty, Welfare, Environment, Agriculture, Animal Rights, Biodiversity, Corporate Violations to the Environment, Environmental Justice, Environmental Preservation, Pollution, Sustainable Agriculture, Family & Society, Gay/Lesbian, Gay/Lesbian Adoption, Gay/Lesbian Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian Hate Crimes, Gay/Lesbian Health, Gay/Lesbian Marriage, Transgender, Gender/Women, Body Image, Equal Opportunities, Reproductive Rights, Sexual Harrassment, Violence against women, Health/Health Advocacy, AIDS, Cancer, Death & Dying, Drug Abuse, Elderly, Health Reform, Mental Health, Physical Disabilities, Women's Health, Human Rights, Immigration, Bilingual Education, Immigration Laws, Migrant Workers, Refugees, International, Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific, Canada, Carribean Islands, Central America, Europe, Middle East, South America, U.S./Foreign Relations, Media, Censorship, Digital Divide, Digital Media, Fair Representation, Media Literacy, Politics/Government, Arms and gun control, Legal Reform, Peace/War, Voting/Elections, Racial Justice, African-American, Arab-American, Asian-American, Indigenous Peoples, Jewish, Latino, Racial Discrimination, Racial Hate Crimes, Romany, Religious Freedom, Youth, Adoption/Foster Care, Child Abuse, Educational reform, Gangs, Identity, Teen Pregnancy, Youth Drug Abuse, Call for Entries / Submissions 2012-02-03T08:11:34+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/poor_environmental_conditions_leave_devastating_effects/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/poor_environmental_conditions_leave_devastating_effects/#When:15:15:09Z By Lauren Glass Many individuals who reside in areas with poor sanitation and airborne pollution are subjected to serious health issues and face an early death. When people are exposed to highly contaminated environments, they are prone to obtaining life-threatening diseases such as polio, pneumonia, cholera, typhoid, malaria, etc.  Poverty also serves as a factor for an unsanitary environment since certain individuals don’t have access to clean water and food. Hygienic habits and preservation of pure water and supplies contribute to a more healthy environment for individuals as well as the availability of vaccinations for illnesses. Tippy Tap Set UpIndividuals can easily protect themselves from germs and spreading them to others through a simple task of cleansing themselves. Andrew Hinton’s film, It’s in Your Hands, portrays a couple from India creating a device known as the tippy tap to wash their hands. Sowmya Somnath, an engineer/sanitation specialist, states, “The villages we work with typically don’t have running water.  Those that do, don’t have water coming through their taps during the dry season which can last as long as 6 months. Women and girls bear the burden of water collection, carrying water pots on their heads between wells and homes…” “The villages we work with typically don’t have running water.  Those that do, don’t have water coming through their taps during the dry season which can last as long as 6 months. Women and girls bear the burden of water collection, carrying water pots on their heads between wells and homes…”  -Sowmya Somnath Clean water is therefore not easily obtained and its preservation is important. The tippy tap is created with sticks, a jug of water, string, soap, and a nail for making a small hole in the jug in order to pour out only a small amount of water so that it is not wasted quickly. One of the sticks is used as a foot lever to pour water from the jug, which eliminates the need to touch the device with dirty hands. Sowmya provided information that Dr. Jim Watts developed the earliest version of a tippy tap and different versions of the device were created to save water and to allow use of a way for others to stay clean outdoors (Somnath). The video indicates that a thousand children in India die every day from infections and that half of the deaths could have been prevented from washing hands. U.S. military spraying Agent Orange upon Vietnam The Vietnam War resulted in a highly polluted environment for civilians that continue to suffer from the causes. The film, The Leaves Keep Falling, which was directed by Julie Winokur, displays the hardships of Vietnam families with children that were born with severe deformities and disabilities due to the effects of the chemical, Agent Orange, which is used to kill plants and crops. Winokur and the crew for the film shed light on the legacy of Agent Orange for the Vietnam Reporting Project and the Renaissance Journalism Center. The U.S. military released millions of gallons of the substance in Vietnam during the war and this type of airborne pollution contaminates the food and water supplies, which is responsible for the ongoing health problems of generations within the country. Coming into contact with the air and food that was affected by the chemical caused individuals to spread infections to their children. Mother tending to her disabled child Parents were worried for their children’s health, yet they did not express any hatred towards their opponents in the Vietnam War. Julie Winokur states, “We were impressed and humbled by the lack of anger toward the U.S. for the war and it’s extensive impact.” The video portrays children that are unable to walk or grow and they have no ability to complete tasks or care for themselves. A mother and her child, Nguyen Thi Ly, were analyzed and interviewed about their situation with their same facial deformities. The mother is the daughter of a Vietnam soldier in the war that was exposed to Agent Orange in Quang Binh. This is a result of the hardships that the man’s daughter and granddaughter had to face due to the lasting effects of the chemical substance. Winokur notes, “There are still over 200 ‘hot spots’ on former U.S. military bases in Vietnam where dioxin levels are dangerously high. This is an urgent environmental concern that the U.S. bears a moral responsibility to rectify.”“There are still over 200 ‘hot spots’ on former U.S. military bases in Vietnam where dioxin levels are dangerously high. This is an urgent environmental concern that the U.S. bears a moral responsibility to rectify.”  -Julie Winokur Ways in which people can help prevent the spread of the chemicals effects is to wash their food before eating and to make sure they drink fresh water since contaminated supplies are a factor for infecting people with chemical related health issues and spreading them to future generations. The inability to access any sanitary human needs is a factor of mortality or obtaining diseases.  Many deaths occur from a lack of healthcare and a scarce supply of healthy foods. According to the World Bank, “1.2 billion people lived in absolute poverty, a condition defined by the United Nations at the start of the twenty-first century” (”Poverty”).  Inhabitants in Africa struggle daily to obtain food and water because they often need to travel long distances to fetch the supplies that they need to survive and shortages of human needs make living conditions very difficult. During his address to the World Health Assembly in 2001, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated, “The biggest enemy of health in the developing world is poverty” (Kern, Ritzen, 2). Due to the fact that individuals struggle for what they need to live and don’t obtain an adequate amount, they are subjected to illnesses and early death. A woman from Ecuador stated in the context of her children, “They sometimes get sick for no reason. Sometimes it is because of lack of food. We are poor. We have no money to buy or to feed ourselves..” (Kern, Ritzen, 6). Starvation contributed to many deaths within those whose health remained poor. Between 1981 and 2005, India’s poverty rate decreased from 60% to 42% of the population according to the World Bank poverty statistics (“Statistics on Poverty in India”). However, one third of the world’s percentage of children remains malnourished. Migration has led to an increase in polio cases in certain countries in proportion to a decrease in others. India is reaching the end of the disease endemic due to the use of new vaccines to help prevent inhabitants from becoming infected. The up-rise of the virus in certain countries led to enforcement of vaccine requirements for tourists and immigrants. There has been a 34% decrease for the polio cases in India compared to a 135 % increase in Afghanistan and a 22% increase in Pakistan.  This is due to the importation of people traveling in and out of the countries that may spread the disease. The World Health Organization stated, “Travelers to and from Pakistan should be fully vaccinated, and travelers to the country who in the past have had three or more doses of oral polio vaccine should have another one before they travel.” (“34% Dip in Paralytic Polio Cases”). This requirement is enforced to eventually eliminate the poliovirus and to prevent it from being reintroduced into the country. The leading factors in the spread of diseases involve pollution, poverty, and unsanitary living environments. Solutions such as washing hands and being able to eat and drink cleansed supplies can keep a person healthy because failure to do so makes individuals more prone to poor health issues. Inhabitants need support for the hardships they face, especially when their conditions are beyond their control. Better lifestyles and vaccines would be a beginning towards a healthier environment for inhabitants. To find out more information about how to build a tippy tap, visit tippytap.org. To read about more coverage on the Agent Orange contamination in Vietnam, look into the Vietnam Reporting Project. Article, Featured 2012-02-02T15:15:09+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/the_helsinki_documentary_film_festival_continues/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/the_helsinki_documentary_film_festival_continues/#When:14:06:11Z The following is a guest post by Anya Kandel, filmmaker of the MTM9 film Why Do White People Have Black Spots? ——————- The last few days have been a whirlwind.  As guests here at the Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, we are treated with the utmost hospitality. Last evening they took the guests to the sauna, which was followed by a dip into the ice-covered sea!  Imagine a group of fun, innovative, adventurous and intriguing people, and you have met the DocPoint staff! Then add to the mix brilliantly creative, keenly curious and holistically knowledgeable filmmakers from all over the world and you find yourself in a community that support and inspire each other along with their audience of millions.  Fittingly, Artistic Director Erja Dammert sees in all people a need for an immediate community that can only be accomplished through personal connection. The ritual of watching films together in the dark can access this need for community through shared experience, she says.  Having watched over 400 films, she has created an art piece of her own in her selections. While I can only name a few, every film here motivates us to think how we might stand (and stand up) in our communities. What if you stood up to Donald Trump? Anthony Baxter, shows Trump’s merciless disregard for land and people in “You’ve Been Trumped.”  As Trump begins construction on one of the few remaining dune habitats in Scotland, the few remaining residents are overlooked by a police force, who appear to be at Trump’s beck and call. The land is wrecked.  Water is shut off and the residents wake up to a needless wall of dirt built to roof level.  This is Trump’s solution to the “dirty,” “slum-like” residents—to name a few: Michael Forbes, a farmer who has tractors, a beautiful white horse and a few barns and his mother, an 86 year old woman who raises chickens in her back yard. With the residents, we bear witness to the gross disregard for humanity for the sake of money. Anthony has recently spoken on the Rosie Show and will be coming to NYC in mid February to speak on Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin. Anthony, genuine, curious and humble in demeanor, said he had little idea that this would be his cause. Then again, that is where good investigative journalism will take you—right the center of truths that many people won’t touch. I suspect Anthony will find a pile of dirt outside his window in the near future (in one form or another).  And when that time comes, we as a larger community can take inspiration from the supportive residents on the Aberdeenshire coast who stand in solidarity with Michael, his mother and the others. Let’s help Anthony get their story into the public eye. I also had the pleasure of giving a workshop to a secondary school class on Friday at Kulosaaren Yhteiskoulu. One of their largest concerns was racism in Finland.  They shared their frustration in understanding how to overcome intolerance and how to stand up as individuals in this effort.  In only 1.5 hours, they managed to discuss some of the most complicated political and social problems we are facing today and come up with solutions the each would take as individuals.  AND they made a film about it! Once it is completed, I will be sure to share it with you! More soon! Anya Article, Featured 2012-02-01T14:06:11+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/The_San_Francisco_International_Asian_American_Film_Festival_wants_you/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/The_San_Francisco_International_Asian_American_Film_Festival_wants_you/#When:18:30:30Z Media, Job / Internship 2012-01-26T18:30:30+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_day_2/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_day_2/#When:14:17:59Z The following is a guest post by Anya Kandel, filmmaker of the MTM9 film Why Do White People Have Black Spots? ———————- On my second day at the DocPoint film festival here in Helsinki, I spent most of my time watching films. Each film addressed issues that divide people and provoke many to look the other way. I am happy to see that films addressing climate change refugees are gaining visibility (see also MTM winner and Academy Award Nominee Sun Come Up). This week, DocPoint is featuring There Once Was an Island which opens a window to the lives of the people of Takuu, a Polynesian community on a low-lying atoll in the South Western Pacific.  The waters are rising, the gardens are becoming salty and the life they have known is in danger. Filmmaker Briar March’s camera is a silent witness to their struggle and the community decisions that have to be made. The ultimate need to move to the mainland threatens their culture - one of the few remaining egalitarian societies where all resources are shared. The lifestyle of fishing and farming will have to be replaced by employment in industries of which the community has little familiarity and the move will result in new exposure to malaria. The community is faced with the task of finding solutions to a problem that they did not create and lie far beyond their control.  This is the human reality of climate change.  I implore you - film festival organizers, teachers, citizens of the world - to watch this film. Beautifully shot, unembellished, thoughtful. Jaffa, the Orange’s Clockwork, follows the social and political implications that bear themselves through the Jaffa orange in Palestine and Isreal.  Filmmaker Eyal Sivan is an honored guest of the DocPoint festival this year.  The Jaffa orange, named after the Arab city from which it derived, has become the symbol of both pride during early Zionist movement and the figure of nostalgia for Palestinians who resided there in the past.  Eyal Sivan brings stunning photos to life and digs through history with the figure of the Jaffa orange. Through the voices of scholars and historical photographs he challenges the Zionist notion that the land lay bare before their arrival.  A plethora of information, a history in art and a history of history. Finally, I watched If A Tree Falls, recently nominated for an Academy Award.  Filmmakers Marshal Curry and Sam Cullman bring us into the home of Daniel McGowan who was arrested during the national sweep of radical environmentalists who were part of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). As we wait for Daniel’s hearing, Curry and Cullman show the history of the movement through the stories of those who were involved. Stories, which often fall silent under the auspices of the term “terror,” are given forum in this film. The task of defining “terrorism” is both a definitive decision by the court and profoundly ambiguous notion to the individuals involved. The impetus to make oneself heard, the imperative to incite social change, and the desire for justice—these motivations are given substance in this film. Note: it is currently viewable on Netflix. At the DOKKINO screening today I was asked why documentary film is important. These films offer an answer to that question –they are a practice in storytelling that (hopefully) opens a door to a nuanced of shared humanity. Members of high school media club came up to me after the screening and asked why there weren’t more films with young people telling their own stories. I told them that all it takes is a camera. They said they would get to work. Here’s to our future. Anya Article, Featured 2012-01-26T14:17:59+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_begins/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/docpoint_begins/#When:14:04:20Z The following is a guest post by Anya Kandel, filmmaker of the MTM9 film Why Do White People Have Black Spots? ——————- DocPoint, Helsinki’s well known documentary Film Festival, has launched its 11th rendition as Helsinki celebrates its year as World Design Capital and its 200th anniversary.  Thanks to The Media That Matters Film Festival, my film was noticed by DocPoint and invited (along with myself) to attend the festival. Join me! First, breakfast: smoked salmon and roasted vegetables and a stunning view from the top of the Sokos building, overlooking large shopping centers housed in functionalist architecture.  Then, lunch: smoked herring and mashed potatoes, a Finnish specialty! Oh yes, and the festival begins!  I am met by my gracious host Tanya, a student in Juväskyla with hopes of starting her own documentary film festival there. We make our way to the Maxim Theater for the screening of DOKKINO, a documentary film event for you children and youth.  My film, Why Do White People Have Black Spots? serves as the opening image films that address the importance of promoting tolerance and understanding difference, which has become of social and political importance here due to increasing immigration.  While the subtitles were in Finnish, the stories carried beyond language. One particularly stunning film was by director Fabio Caramaschi: Solo Andata, IL Viaggio Di Un Tuareg, which follows the story of a family who has moved to Italy from Niger. In Italy, the father works in a factory and the eldest son finds solace behind his camera. We sit in suspended time with the youngest son, who plays and in and around his family’s compound in Niger.  Later we watch his eyes dart between trains, people, buildings and merchandise as he first arrives to meet his father and brother in Italy. Stunning images and a compelling story. I spoke with the students afterward.  Some of the places they would like to know more about are Somalia, North Korea, Russsia and Mongolia. Oh, and they also said to say ‘hi’ to New York. I then made my way to a screening by the group A Wall Is A Screen.  Our screens were a pack of snow beneath the Cathedral at Senate Square and a wall in the atrium of a shopping center. The tour was playful, as were the films.  We ended our journey with This Is Alaska, tongue-in-cheek and brilliantly simple, Filmmakers Gunilla Heilborn and Mårten Nilsson tell the story of a couple who, after a workshop in Germany, become extreme individualists and move to Alaska.  The Helsinki snow fell through the light of the projector and we could feel the chill of Alaska. Good timing all around. The evening was topped by the premiere opening of Jälki elämässä – 4 tarinaa kidutuksesta (Afterlife – Four Stories of Torture) by Finnish Director Mervi Junkkonen about four men who have moved to Finland, but remain haunted by their past experiences of torture. Junkkonen’s honest and simple portrayal of these men does not allow the audience to stray into abstract ideas of politics. Instead she brings us intimately into the present moment of their struggle as the camera frames eyes, mouth, hands and silhouette, protecting their identity while inviting us into the details of emotion. The five years she has spent with these men shows in her work. The night ended with a smashing party at the Virgin Oil Company with Lada Nuevo, a Finnish Band with a Baltic Twist. They dressed in fur hats and Oona Airola belted her way into our hearts. Can you believe this was only my first day! Stay posted. Anya Article, Featured 2012-01-25T14:04:20+00:00 http://www.mediarights.org/news/Join_me_for_the_NY_premiere_of_WAITED_FOR/ http://www.mediarights.org/news/Join_me_for_the_NY_premiere_of_WAITED_FOR/#When:12:45:02Z Family & Society, Gay/Lesbian, Gender/Women, Human Rights, International, Racial Justice, Youth, Identity, Film / Screening 2012-01-06T12:45:02+00:00