Arts Engine Inc.: Featured News

FEATURED NEWS

November 24-27: PUSHING THE ELEPHANT World Premiere in Amsterdam, Holland!

Join us for the World Premier of Pushing The Elephant at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam!

Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo, yet she emerged from the suffering advocating peace and reconciliation. After helping numerous survivors rebuild their lives, there is one person Rose must still teach to forgive - her daughter Nangabire.

View the Trailer!

Screening Times & Locations:
Nov 24 @ 7:30pm Tuschinski 1 - Oxfam Novib Selection
Nov 25 @ 11am Tuschinski 5
Nov 27 @ 7:30pm Munt 10

**SPECIAL SCREENING On Nov 24 @ 7:30pm** Oxfam Novib will feature Pushing the Elephant at a special screening in the beautiful, historic Tuschinski 1 theater. Only three IDFA films were selected for this honor. Special introduction with filmmakers Elizabeth Mandel and Beth Davenport.

Tribeca Film Institute: Documentaries as a Social and Political Tool of Engagement

Filmmakers who create social issue documentaries share with activist organizations a commitment to worldwide social justice and utilize media to expose global concerns to audiences in increasingly broad ways.

With social networking, mobile phones, and digital media in a variety of formats, there are more opportunities to educate others and affect change than ever before. On November 2, a panel comprised of filmmakers and representatives from social issue non-profits will discuss the use of new and old technologies to engage the important issues of our time with the global community.

Panelists include Julia Bacha, an award-winning filmmaker who most recently directed and produced Budrus, a film about a Palestinian village’s nonviolent struggle, and also co-wrote and edited Jehane Noujaim’s critically acclaimed documentary Control Room; and director/producer Kim A. Snyder, an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose most recent film, Welcome To Shelbyville, is recipient of a Gucci-Tribeca Documentary Fund grant, which will air on PBS’s Independent Lens in early 2011. The panel is moderated by producer/director Katy Chevigny from Arts Engine.

This event is co-sponsored by Tribeca Film Institute and the Department of Media Studies and Film.

Date:
Tuesday, November 02, 2010 7:00 p.m.

Location:
Wollman Hall, Eugene Lang Building, 65 West 11th Street, 5th floor (enter at 66 West 12th Street)

Admission:
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served

Gotham Awards Nomination for Media That Matters Documentary

MTM8’s A Nomad’s Life, which has since become a longer film (Summer Pasture), has received a Gotham Award nomination for the “Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You.” The film, directed and produced by Lynn True and Nelson Walker and co-produced by Tsering Perlo and Keefe Murren, will play at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York City on Monday, November 29.

THIS MONDAY : Media That Matters at the Docyard in Cambridge, MA

Come along to The Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA, on Monday, October 11 @ 8 p.m. when Media That Matters will screen the following fascinating films:

Lessons from a Tailor dir. Galen Summer
The Next Wave dir. Jennifer Redfearn & Tim Metzger
I’m Just Anneke dir.Jonathan Skurnik
A Girl Like Me dir. Kiri Davis
Denied dir. Julie Winokur
Recycle dir. Vasco Lucas Nunes & Ondi Timoner
Perversion of Justice dir. Melissa Mummert
A Girl Named Kai dir.Kai Ling Xue
Justice Denied: Voices from Guantanamo dir. Joel Engardio
Massacre at Murambi dir. Sam Kaufman

Justice Denied:Voices from Guantanamo director Joel Engardio and Massacre at Murambi director Sam Kauffman will be present and available for a Q&A session on the night, as well as Media That Matters’ own Jolene Pinder.

Tickets: General admission is $10. $8 for students, Brattle, and Chlotrudis members.

The Brattle Theatre is located in Harvard Sq., 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA

PUSHING THE ELEPHANT Will Screen in NY and LA During DocuWeeks!!

Arts Engine’s own Pushing the Elephant will have a one-week theatrical run in New York and Los Angeles in August. These screenings will qualify Pushing the Elephant for consideration for next year’s Oscars. A list of screening dates and times are below.

New York
IFC Center
Fri 6-Aug 12:00 PM 5:30 PM
Sat 7-Aug 1:35 PM 7:30 PM
Sun 8-Aug 3:35 PM 9:45 PM
Mon 9-Aug 12:00 PM 5:30 PM
Tue 10-Aug 1:35 PM 7:30 PM
Wed 11-Aug 3:35 PM 9:45 PM
Thu 12-Aug 3:35 PM 9:45 PM

Los Angeles
ArcLight Hollywood
Fri 13-Aug 12:00 PM 5:40 PM
Sat 14-Aug 1:45 PM 7:40 PM
Sun 15-Aug 3:45 PM 9:50 PM
Mon 16-Aug 12:00 PM 5:40 PM
Tue 17-Aug 1:45 PM 7:40 PM
Wed 18-Aug 3:45 PM 9:50 PM
Thu 19-Aug 3:45 PM 9:50 PM

Tenth Annual Media That Matters Collection Now Available!

On June 2, 2010 the tenth annual Media That Matters collection launched with simultaneous premieres in New York City and Minneapolis. The complete list of screenings for the month of June included:

1. New York City (June 2)—WORLD PREMIERE
2. Minneapolis (June 2)—near-simultaneous screening with questions to the winning filmmakers in NYC, in partnership with Minnesota Film Arts
3. London (June 4)—in partnership with Working Films and Shooting People.
4. Denver (June 12)—in partnership with Denver Film Society (Starz Film Center)
5. Miami (June 16)—in partnership with Miami Beach Cinematheque
6. San Francisco (June 18)—in partnership with Ninth Street Independent Film Center and BAVC
7. Washington DC (June 22)—in partnership with Campus Progress and Women In Film and Video
8. Santa Fe, NM (June 25)—in partnership with Warehouse 21
9. Evanston, IL (June 26)—in partnership with Evanston Arts Depot
10. Portland, OR (June 29)—in partnership with Film Action Oregon

This year’s selection celebrates twelve jury-selected shorts, each under twelve minutes, tackling a broad range of social issues with humor, humanity, and honesty.

All twelve new Media That Matters films are available online. The collection is being distributed nationwide on DVD and via “do-it-yourself” screenings in many different locations. To develop your own do-it- yourself screening, please contact us.

Help Get Media That Matters into Classrooms!!

This year, Arts Engine is trying to bring Media That Matters into more educational settings than ever before. Please join our 2010 Peer2Peer fundraising campaign. Make a donation and let your peers on facebook and twitter know that you’ve done so. Your donation and sharing will help ensure that diverse voices and stories are represented in our youth’s educations in a year when our educational institutions, due to budget cuts, could use the help.

Please donate. A donation of only $24 (or the equivalent of $2/ month for the next twelve months) will help get this year’s collection into schools. There are twelve films. And there’s twelve months until the release of the next collection. Screenings in schools cost approximately $250 each. If even 200 of our 20,000 members donated $24, it would add about 20 school screenings in the upcoming months.

We just launched our newest collection on June 2. Media That Matters, with its teacher-friendly curriculum, is a great way to introduce our country’s youth to new and inspiring points of view. A trusted guide of the media that matters, Arts Engine can play a significant role in the education of our youth.

This June we also had the premiere of Arts Engine’s own media that matters. PUSHING THE ELEPHANT premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. A Peer2Peer donation will help us get PUSHING THE ELEPHANT screened in more venues so that Rose’s story can be seen by all. Work to affect change and join this year’s fundraising campaign!

Thank you in advance for joining us in our annual Peer2Peer Campaign for Media That Matters. After you’ve made a donation, please share that you’ve done so with your friends on Facebook. We appreciate it!

PUSHING THE ELEPHANT Human Rights Watch Premiere!

Pushing the Elephant, Arts Engine’s next Big Mouth film, will premiere at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival on June 12-14, 2010. Both a portrait of a powerful woman and an intimate portrayal of the refugee experience, Pushing the Elephant takes us on a journey from the cul-de-sacs of suburban Phoenix towards peace in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the ethnic violence that engulfed the DRC, yet she emerged advocating peace and reconciliation. After helping numerous victims to recover and rebuild their lives, there is one person Rose must still teach to forgive—her daughter Nangabire.

We have come a long way since April 2007 when we went to JFK Airport to film Nangabire’s joyful and tearful arrival in the U.S. Please join us at Lincoln Center to meet Rose in person and see the results of our three years of work.

Tickets go on sale May 20 at http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/new-york. Buy yours now, before they sell out!

Arts Engine Welcomes Steve Mendelsohn as New Executive Director

After a competitive process and thorough search, the Board of Directors of Arts Engine has chosen Steve Mendelsohn as its new Executive Director. Mendelsohn will succeed Katy Chevigny who will move into a new role as Co-Founder & Senior Director.

Eliza Byard, Arts Engine Board Chair, said, “Steve comes to Arts Engine with a wealth of diverse experience. We all look forward to working closely with him to move Arts Engine forward. His extensive knowledge of the media arts field, locally, nationally and internationally, will be a great asset for Arts Engine’s mission as the organization continues to drive change by connecting media, technology and community.”

Prior to joining Arts Engine, Steve was the Executive Director of FilmAid International, which helps refugees create films and videos on vital issues including health, human rights, protection of women and girls, repatriation information, and more. The films are screened for the communities in large outdoor nighttime events and in smaller focused workshops during the day. Before FilmAid International, Steve was the Executive Director of Project Rebirth, a nonprofit organization based in downtown Manhattan, whose mission is to document the entire reconstruction of the World Trade Center site through a feature-length documentary film and an installation in the Memorial Museum at Ground Zero. From 2002 to 2005, Steve was the Executive Director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the nation’s largest nonprofit public access cable television network. Prior to that, Steve was a General Manager at Razorfish, an Internet design and consulting company, and he also worked at Nurun, a French Canadian Internet consulting firm. Steve also worked for a decade with American Express in a variety of marketing roles. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About the new role for Chevigny, Byard said, “We are extremely lucky to have Katy remain in a senior management role at Arts Engine. Katy’s new role will enable her to continue as a champion of our mission and also devote more time to filmmaking.”

Over the past decade, Arts Engine has grown from a small documentary production company to an innovative and dynamic social-issue media organization. Eight feature-length documentaries by Arts Engine’s production arm, Big Mouth, have been created since 1997, winning prestigious awards, gaining national recognition, and, as was the case with the Emmy-nominated film Deadline, reaching audiences in the millions. Arctic Son and Election Day, our most recent Big Mouth films, were broadcast by P.O.V., public television’s premiere showcase for independent, non-fiction film. MediaRights.org now has over 20,000 members worldwide, more than 7,000 films in an online database searchable by issue, and reaches hundreds of thousands of people every year. Media That Matters, one of the internet’s earliest online video sites, has a nine-year legacy celebrating short-form, social-issue media. And the adoption of DocuClub, a recent Arts Engine addition, continues a fifteen-year mainstay for the New York City documentary community.

DocuClub in May!

For our May DocuClub, we will be screening a rough cut of DeAf Jam by Judy Lieff. The screening will take place on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m.
Read more.

Become Our Fan at Our New Facebook Page!

We at Arts Engine began our tour of Facebook early on, creating a profile as a pseudo-human long before “fan pages” existed. Reaching our 5000 friend allotment that Facebook permits, we have finally made our foray into fan pages. Follow everything Arts Engine and become our fan today!

DocuClub in April!

Our April DocuClub will take place at DCTV on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. We will screen a rough cut of Bismillah by Jolene Pinder and Sarah Zaman.

April 21: Media That Matters & the Mayor’s Office present Immigrant Heritage Week 2010 Screening

In partnership with the Mayor’s Office of NYC, Media That Matters is proud to celebrate the official 2010 Immigrant Heritage Week (April 15-21) with a screening at Maysles Institute Cinema on Wednesday evening of April 21. The screening features themes on immigration, identity and social media for immigration reform, as well as discussions and opportunities to “take action” immediately.

Films to be Screened:
BY-STANDING: THE BEGINNING OF AN AMERICAN LIFETIME
VISION TEST
IMMERSION
EXILED IN AMERICA
THE SIXTH SECTION
SLIP OF THE TONGUE
A NOMAD’S LIFE
AFRICAN UNDERGROUND: HIP HOP IN SENEGAL
WHY DO WHITE PEOPLE HAVE BLACK SPOTS?
THE NEXT WAVE

The screening will take place on Wednesday, April 21st from 7:30-10:30pm.

The Maysles Institute Cinema is located in Harlem at 343 Malcolm X Blvd /Lenox Ave (Between 127th & 128th St). Visit their website for more information and upcoming events: http://www.mayslesinstitute.org/cinema/index.html

Pushing The Elephant Work-in-Progress Screening

On Thursday March 18, Directors Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel, with Moderator Robert West, will be present at 92YTribeca for a 7:30 p.m. fine-cut screening, followed by discussion. Purchase tickets and read more at www.92y.org.

DocuClub in March!

Our March DocuClub will take place at DCTV on Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. We will screen a rough cut of The Learning by Ramona Diaz.

Arts Engine at SXSW

Arts Engine’s David Wright and Austra Zubkovs will be attending the opening days of SXSW. Please drop them a line if you know you are going to be in Austin.

DocuClub in February!

Our February DocuClub will take place at DCTV on Wednesday, February 24, 7 p.m. We will screen a rough cut of Paul Goodman Changed My Life by Jonathan Lee. Read more.

DocuClub Filmmaker Kimberly Reed on Oprah

Kimberly Reed, whose personal documentary Prodigal Sons screened as a rough cut at DocuClub in April 2008, will be a guest of the Oprah Winfrey Show this Thursday, February 11. Check your local listings for air times.

DocuClub Film OFF AND RUNNING Opening in Theaters, January 29, New York City

Please join DocuClub in celebrating Nicole Opper's Off and Running (DocuClub November 2008) on its theatrical release on January 29 at the IFC Center in New York City.

Please join us on opening night this Friday, January 29th at 8:05 p.m.! Screening is co-hosted by co-hosted by DocuClub, P.O.V., Tribeca All Access, and NYWIFT. There will be a Q&A moderated by Terry Lawler of NYWIFT and an after party at Su Casa (404 Avenue of the Americas/8th Street).

With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers -- one mixed-race and one Korean -- Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. When her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, Avery decides to contact her birth mother, which thrusts her into a complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she's always known. But when it seems like her life is unraveling, Avery decides to pick up the pieces and make sense of her identity, with inspiring results.

Recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film, director/producer Nicole Opper also produced the five-part television documentary series LSS for Here! Networks, Macky Alston's Emmy-nominated The Killer Within, and Peter Miller's Sacco and Vanzetti. Opper's documentary short, Song of Hannah, is distributed by The National Center for Jewish Film. She has a degree in Film Production from NYU.

Off and Running will open theatrically in New York in January and air nationally on the PBS series P.O.V. later in 2010.

Media That Matters January Deadline - Extended!

Media That Matters: Screen. Act. Impact.

Arts Engine celebrates ten years of Media That Matters — the premier showcase for short films with big messages.

“We no longer have to rely on major corporations for things to be seen — we have Media that Matters to distribute new material and new voices and new points of view.”
— Tim Robbins, Actor

Submit your film for the chance to work with us in creating social change through film. If selected, your film will take become a part of Media That Matters — an international, multi-platform campaign streaming and playing to thousands of people at screenings across the globe. Media That Matters creates discussion guides and screening materials to promote conversation and encourage educators, activists and organizers alike to Take Action around these films. Join us in our TENTH year and submit your film now!

CRITERIA:

* Short films — the shorter the better—no longer than 12 minutes max, but 8 and under would be great!
* Social issues — Any and all issues will be considered. This year we are focusing on Media Literacy, Human Rights, LGBTQ & Sexual Identity, Youth Activism and International issues in particular.
* The film should encourage the audience to be engaged and take action around the issue.
* All genres — Documentary, animation, public service announcement, narrative, music video, drama, comedy. Creativity is encouraged — but your film must focus on a social issue.
* Open to all ages — Youth-produced projects encouraged!

BEFORE SUBMITTING:

* The film you are submitting must be cleared for NON EXCLUSIVE home video, educational, online, broadcast and theatrical distribution. If you have signed a contract with any other entity for this film that includes EXCLUSIVE rights to this film, please review prior to submitting to our festival. Media That Matters seeks the widest possible audiences for your film. To do this effectively, we use a non-exclusive contract, so unlike many media entities, we do not ask for exclusive rights. This flexibility helps our outreach team go further with your film, creating even more opportunity for distribution and exposure of your work.
* All footage — including music and other referenced video pieces — must have all rights cleared and secured. Please refer to the Center for Social Media’s set of Best Practices for more information on how to use licensed materials. Creative Commons is also a great resource for license-free or flexi-licensed music and media alternatives.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Step 1: Choose submission method:

*Submit via URL
This year we will be accepting online submissions. We prefer a link to watch online. Please remember to send us a password if necessary to view private videos. You can follow guidelines on Vimeo or Youtube for this.
* Submit via DVD
Submissions must be sent to us on DVD and programmed to play as a DVD Region 0 (region free) or Region 1 (US, Canada, US Territories) Please note that the following formats will not be considered this year: PAL, VHS, mini DV or CD-R (QuickTime MOV or MPG files).

Step 2: Fill out details in the film submission form for each film.

Step 3: Process payment (see submission fees below):

* Individual Filmmaker: $25 / each film submission; Max: 2 submissions
* Student Filmmaker (18+): $10 w/ Student ID; Max: 2 submissions
* Youth Filmmaker (18 & under): FREE w/ proof of age; Max: 2 submissions
* Non-profit / Youth Media Organization: FREE; Max: 5 submissions

Step 4: Your submission will be complete once you receive a confirmation email including a reference number for each film and any further instructions.

Regular Deadline Postmarked by: January 22nd 2010

Extended Deadline Postmarked by: January 29nd 2010

Questions?
Contact festival@artsengine.net

DocuClub in January

Our January DocuClub will take place on Wednesday, January 27, 7 p.m., at the 92YTribeca. We will screen a rough cut of Up Heartbreak Hill by Erica Scharf. Read more by visiting the Docuclub webpage.

Pushing The Elephant Awarded Two Post-Production Grants!

Pushing The Elephant was recently awarded two grants for post-production from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and from The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. We are so grateful and excited for these grants and cannot wait to finish up this exciting new project.

Stimulus for 2010

We are asking you, as a friend of Arts Engine, to be our end-of-year stimulus—not just because we might be one of your favorite charitable organizations, but also as acknowledgment of Arts Engine’s resilience in 2009. Please donate.

Arts Engine highlights from 2009 include:

MediaRights.org launched its new feature 90-Second Cinema, which highlights the art and craft in social-issue film. 90-Second Cinema has been one of the highest viewed features of our monthly newsletter. Watch the most recent installment.
The Jury Award winner from Arts Engine’s 2009 Media That Matters collection, The Next Wave by Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger, tells the story of the Carteret islanders’ struggle to relocate due to rising ocean levels. As part of the 2009 Media That Matters collection, the film has screened at dozens of venues and thousands have watched it online. Watch the short film.
This summer the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) honored Rose Mapendo as the “Humanitarian of the Year.” Arts Engine's next Big Mouth film, Pushing The Elephant, documents Rose as a mother, survivor and a Congolese refugee who has succeeded against all odds. The finished film will depict the making of a new movement for transitional justice, a profound and global shift in the rules of the game, where refugees themselves become advocates for transformative diplomacy. Watch the trailer.

Pushing The Elephant, The Next Wave and 90-Second Cinema are examples of how Arts Engine programs stimulate dialogue in multiple arenas. Arts Engine is a trusted source of media that matters. We drive change by connecting film, technology and community. Please donate.

Remember, our strength in numbers and your donation will make a difference. Your contribution matters immensely. If you and the rest of our social-issue media community make a contribution of just $10, we will have a running start to bring valuable stories to wider audiences in 2010. Thank you.

Docuclub in December!

Our December DocuClub will feature Jill Morley’s FIGHTING IT. The screening will take place at Goldcrest Post on Wednesday, December 2, 7 p.m. Read more.

And the Winner Is….

Arts Engine would like to congratulate Robert Reed Altman who won our 2008/2009 Arts Engine survey drawing. He will be receive a Flip Camera! We also thank, again, everyone who participated in the survey. Your opinions got us thinking in many ways about our mission, content offerings and brands.

Robert Reed Altman made his mark as Director of Photography on Tanner on Tanner. His most recent film credits, as as a camera operator or cinematographer, include Looking For Trouble for Roger Corman; several projects directed by his father, Robert Altman, Kansas City (1996), The Gingerbread Man (1998), Cookie’s Fortune (1999), Dr. T. & The Women (2000); as well as the more recent films, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) directed by Kevin Smith, and The Scorpion King (2002) starring The Rock.

DocuClub in November!

Our November DocuClub will take place on Wednesday, November 18, 7 p.m. This screening is a co-presentation with Tribeca All Access. Our venue is Tribeca Cinemas, located at 54 Varick Street. We will screen a rough cut of Beijing Taxi by Miao Wang. Read more.

DocuClub in October!

DocuClub will take place on Wednesday, October 28, 7 p.m., at the 92YTribeca, located at 200 Hudson Street (at Canal). We will screen a rough cut of Bad Blood by Marilyn Ness. Read more.

DocuClub partners with UnionDocs to bring you Sita Sings the Blues!

DocuClub is partnering with Brooklyn’s UnionDocs to co-present a special screening of Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues on Saturday, September 12, at 7 p.m.

UnionDocs
322 Union Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 395-7902

Sita Sings the Blues is a musical, animated personal interpretation of the Indian epic the Ramayana, focusing on the relationship between the gods Sita and Rama, juxtaposed with the filmmaker’s story of the dissolution of her marriage.

Because some of the songs featured in Sita Sings the Blues have not been secured due to copyright issues, the film uses a Creative Commons license for its distribution.

Learn more about the film here: www.sitasingstheblues.com.

On-site dispensing dessert will be Sweet Tooth of the Tiger, a d.i.y. food and participatory art project that takes the form of a bake sale that utilizes the public sphere as a place for eating, feeding, and talking with your mouth full. Details here: www.sweettoothofthetiger.com.

A post-screening discussion on Sita Sings the Blues’ funding and distribution strategy will be held by Karl Fogel of QuestionCopyright.org.

Admission is free for current DocuClub members and $5 for non-members.

If you are a current DocuClub member who plans to attend, please RSVP to: docuclub@artsengine.net. Non-members need not RSVP.

Membership is an annual $50 and it includes free admission to all DocuClub events. It takes five minutes to join online at www.artsengine.net/store/#tools_consul.

Slate of Eight for Good Pitch

The lineup for the Good Pitch at IFP’s Independent Film Week, taking place in New York City on 24 September is announced today.

The Good Pitch brings together inspiring social-justice film projects and a group of expert participants from charities, foundations, brands, government and media to form powerful alliances around groundbreaking films. For more information see www.britdoc.org/goodpitch.

The Good Pitch in North America is a partnership between the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP), generously supported by the Fledgling Fund, Working Films, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Tides Foundation and anonymous donors.

From nearly 200 applications, eight filmmaking teams have been selected to pitch their films and outreach campaigns to an invited audience, in order to amplify the impact of their social-issue documentary projects.

The Good Pitch at IFP’s Independent Film Week builds on their collaborative program with the UN’s Department of Public Information which is entitled ‘Envision – Addressing Global Issues through Documentaries.’ Each of the selected film projects intersects with one or more of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals.

“The high number of applications we received shows just how engaged the documentary filmmaking community is with the spirit and ambition of the UN Millennium Development Goals,” says Good Pitch Director Katie Bradford. “We are excited to bring this themed Good Pitch to New York as part of Independent Film Week.”

“Through Independent Film Week, IFP has facilitated connections between social issue filmmakers and the film industry for the past 31 years,” says IFP Executive Director Michelle Byrd. “We’re pleased to welcome the Good Pitch and its embrace of a wider audience of concerned parties in support of these types of films, as well as the pressing issues upon which they seek to bring awareness.”

The projects for this edition of the Good Pitch were chosen by the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Independent Filmmaker Project. The selected filmmakers are Michael L. Brown (25 to Life), Glenn Baker (Easy Like Water), Mai Iskander (Garbage Dreams), Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel (Pushing The Elephant), Gayle Ferraro (To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America), Beth Murphy (What Tomorrow Brings), Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern (Youthbuild) and Mary Ann Smothers Bruni (Zhinan).

“Good Pitch North America has already opened doors for films pitched in Toronto and Silver Spring. This final 2009 session in New York ends on a set of outstanding projects which are strong character-driven stories, addressing issues from HIV / AIDS to poverty, and from children’s health to the health of the planet,” says Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program. “We anticipate that this forum will engage funders and activists alike in meeting the challenges of this millennium.”

Organisations and individuals already confirmed for the September 24 event include TED, McKinsey & Co, Wallace Global Fund, Microcredit Summit, Abigail Disney, Whole Planet Foundation (Whole Foods), The Calvert Foundation, The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, POV, Impact Partners, The Katahdin Foundation, BAVC Producers Institute for New Media Technologies, Sundance Channel, LINKTV, Wide Angle and Human Rights Watch.

The Good Pitch at IFP’s Independent Film Week builds upon past Good Pitch successes. During the Good Pitch at SILVERDOCS, Art Stevens of the Calvert Foundation made an on-the-spot pledge of $10,000 towards the outreach campaign for Green Shall Overcome. Since then he has begun work on organising a fundraiser for the project in Berkeley, California. The same event introduced Split Estate director Debra Anderson to Planet Green which has now made a broadcast offer, and Hungry in America’s Kristy Jacobson said she and co-director Lori Silverbush experienced NGO partnerships that progressed “from first-date to marriage.” According to Executive Producer Ryan Harrington, the anti-hunger NGOs assembled at Silver Spring raised $600K in funds for the film since the June 16th event.

Two Short Documentaries Screened at DocuClub

A sold-out crowd gathered during July’s DocuClub to watch two short documentaries, El Bondera by Sherif Sadek and Republican Dad by Robert Hatch-Miller, at The Tank. Moderator Reva Goldberg of Cinereach expertly led the discussion. El Bondera chronicles the story of two Cairo cab drivers, Ashraf and Ibrahim, as they focus viewers’ eyes on a world of inadequate meter prices and their day-to-day struggle to survive. In Republican Dad, the filmmaker sets out to document his dad’s campaign for the U.S. House Of Representatives.

To learn more about DocuClub, please visit to our website.

Rose Mapendo Honored by the United Nations

Dear Friends of Pushing The Elephant,

Recently Rose Mapendo, the subject of our upcoming film Pushing The Elephant was the recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR). We were in DC to film the event, which included presentations by Angelina Jolie and Ann Curry from NBC’s Today. The event featured a clip from our film showcasing Rose’s international work. Rose gave an emotional and effective speech about the plight of refugees and the importance of maintaining world focus on the issues, illustrated by her personal story. This was also the first time Nangabire had the opportunity to see her mother at work. Nangabire is adapting well to her new life. She comfortably chatted (in English!) with other guests at a party, relaxed in her hotel room with her mother, and joined in a photo shoot for the Boston Globe.

We are eager to bring this new material into our edit room. We started editing in early May with award-winning editor Mona Davis (LOVE & DIANE). We have made real progress on the film and are amazed at the richness and complexity of the footage. However, our edit budget will only last another 6 weeks, at which point we risk losing Mona (as well as missing the Sundance Film Festival entry deadline). We are grateful to you and to all of our donors and supporters, without whom we could not have come this far. Out of a deep commitment to this important story of peace and family, we feel obliged to ask if you can contribute more to enable us to continue the edit or if you would be willing to ask a friend or a colleague to join you in your support. Every contribution gets us that much closer to a finished film.

All donations are tax deductible. Please consider donating online or sending a check made out to Arts Engine to 104 West 14th Street, #4, New York, NY 10011, and be sure to include Pushing The Elephant in the memo line.

From Your Arts Engine Peers: A $10,000 CHALLENGE

Dear Friends of Arts Engine:

During a time of newly found optimism, we are asking you to join us in making an online donation to one of our favorite organizations, Arts Engine—the folks who bring us the Media That Matters Film Festival, MediaRights.org, Big Mouth Films and DocuClub. As your peers in the independent media world, we feel it is important to band together to keep the organizations we love in good working order.

Arts Engine received a $10,000 challenge grant from one of its strongest local supporters, Guy Lancaster and his family at the Still Point Fund. If all of us reading this letter now donate $35 or more, Arts Engine can reach the $10,000 level and meet Guy’s challenge in no time. All fifteen of us made a donation to kick things off. Won’t you join us?

Click here to support the Peer2Peer Campaign.

By making a donation to this Peer2Peer campaign as a community, we are making a statement to all stakeholders of social-issue media and documentary film that we value the work that Arts Engine does.

Join us and make a contribution now. The amount is not as important as 100% participation. Consider contributing $35, $100, $250, $500 or more.

Click here to support the Peer2Peer Campaign.
Click here to look at what Arts Engine is up to in 2009.

Your donation will help to ensure that:

The ninth collection of Media That Matters streams and screens in more classrooms, community organizations and on more computers across the country and around the world than ever before
MediaRights.org’s new exciting content, to be launched this summer, reaches a greater numbers with more in-depth coverage (Stay tuned!)
Big Mouth Films finishes a rough cut of its current feature documentary, Rose & Nangabire
DocuClub’s monthly screenings continue to positively impact our work and make a rich contribution to the field

Thank you for joining us in this Peer2Peer Campaign for Arts Engine. Your support is important for Arts Engine and for the field of independent social-issue media.

Your peers,

Barbara Abrash, Director of Public Programs, Center for Media, Culture and History & Center for Religion and Media, New York University
Phil Bertelsen, Director, Outside Looking In
Sharese Bullock, Producer, Off and Running; Media/Communications Strategist, The Young People’s Project
Wendy Cohen, Co-founder, Screening Liberally
Laurie Collyer, Director, Sherrybaby
Marshall Curry, Director, Street Fight
Ben Herson, Founder, Nomadic Wax
Susan Kaplan, Founder, DocuClub
Ross Kauffman, Director, Born Into Brothels
Sam Kauffmann, 2009 Guggenheim Fellow
Julia Pimsleur, Founder & President, Little Pim
Kimberly Reed, Director, Prodigal Sons
Lynn True and Nelson Walker, Co-Founders/Directors, The Kham Film Project
Andrew Walton, Director, Arctic Son

Media and Advocacy Special Presentation

Please join us for a special presentation from the filmmakers of the documentary film Pushing The Elephant on:

USING MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY

Rose Mapendo was separated from her daughter, Nangabire, when ethnic violence came to her village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Over a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the United States. Through the eyes of this remarkable pair, Pushing The Elephant explores the effects of conflict on women, and the role of women in bringing peace and reconciliation to war-torn countries.

Screening video footage from Pushing The Elephant, the filmmakers and the film’s cultural consultant will discuss the use of media in activism and advocacy.

Who:
Beth Davenport & Elizabeth Mandel, filmmakers
Marie-Claudine Mukamabano (survivor of genocide in Rwanda), artist, activist and cultural consultant

When: Monday, June 15th, 12:30-1:30pm

Where: Classroom of Dr. Theresa Nona
Lehman College, Room 212, Carman Hall
250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468
(by subway, take the 4 to Kingsbridge or the D to Bedford)

Free and open to the public
For more information, call 646-230-6228 x235 or visit www.artsengine.net/pushing_the_elephant

Special thanks to Dr. Theresa Nona and Lehman College.

Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel are 2008 Artists’ Fellowship recipients of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). This presentation is co-sponsored by Artists & Audiences Exchange, a public program of NYFA.

Arts Engine’s Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival WORLD PREMIERE!

Arts Engine is pleased to announce the world premiere of the
ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival in New York City!

Media That Matters: MORE THAN A FESTIVAL
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
6:00 - impACT salon
7:00 - Screening
School of Visual Arts (SVA)
Visual Arts Theater
333 West 23rd Street
New York, NY
The theater is accessible by wheelchair.

View Larger Map

Join us for the world premiere of the ninth annual Media That Matters Film Festival! Be among the first to see the 12 inspiring short films we selected this year. Arrive early to take part in the impACT salon for Take Action opportunities and a chance to meet the festival filmmakers!
Buy your tickets today before they sell out!

After the official launch on June 3,
we invite you to Screen. Act. Impact.
Media That Matters: MORE THAN A FESTIVAL.

SCREEN the collection of jury-selected films online, at home or in your community.
- Stream all our films and follow news updates on our website mediathatmattersfest.org
- Join one of the hundreds of film screenings worldwide
- Watch the films from our partner sites such as Netflix, Miro, iTunes.
- Purchase the annual festival DVD or create a customized collection based on theme, audience or genre

ACT now to make a change.
- Follow the Take Action Links connected with each film and learn about organizations working closely with each social issue
- Download our free Discussion Guide for tools and resources to use with audiences
- Organize a Do-It-Yourself screening to inspire change in your own community or school and check our website for more screening tools
- Create your own film – documentary, animation, fiction & even music videos and submit your piece to our next Media That Matters Collection

IMPACT your community by incorporating short films with on-the-ground activism.
- Share Media That Matters with your own film festival, conference, workshop or your local broadcast channel
- Become a member of MediaRights.org to read up on and dialogue with other online members committed to the field of social-issue media
- Send us feedback and stories about how Media That Matters was used in your community – this helps us speak greater about the work YOU are doing
- Support the festival either by becoming a partner or a future sponsor

May DocuClub Screening at 92YTribeca

DocuClub’s next rough cut screening is Parting The Waters, by Josh Waletzky and Jenny Levison. Parting the Waters follows African-American Olympic swimmers Maritza Correia and Cullen Jones, and three talented young black and Latino swimmers coming up behind them, in a fish-out-of water story that takes place in the water. The screening date is May 27, 2009. Visit DocuClub.org to find out how you can attend and become a member!

Kim Longinotto and Documentary Filmmaking

DocuClub is proud to co-present this session of the Women Make Movies Master Class filmmaking series featuring Kim Longinotto, purveyor of cinéma vérité and lauded by critics for her sensitive treatment of groundbreaking subject matter. At the event, Longinotto will share clips, documentary techniques, working experiences, as well as craft and process from her 30+ year career as a documentarian. Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, will moderate the event.

Saturday, May 9, 2009
1-4 p.m.

Location: DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, 3rd Fl Studio
RSVP here: https://www.123signup.com/event?id=zhnzn

$50 for DocuClub members and members of co-sponsoring organizations
$75 for everyone else

Become a DocuClub member at www.artsengine.net/store/#tools_consul!

RSVP soon as seating is very limited!

Gaming Prodigy Film to Screen at DocuClub

DocuClub’s next rough cut, Lil Poison by Beth Earl, tells the story of five-year-old Victor De Leon III, the youngest professional video game player in the world. Screening tomorrow night, April 29, 2009. Read more.

Arts Engine Survey: Last Chance to Win a Flip Camera

Please take our survey, like MediaRights member Stacey Brook did, and help Arts Engine better serve its membership. The 2008-2009 survey will close April 22 and we will announce the Flip camera winner in the next newsletter.

MediaRights.org member Stacey Brook said, “Filling out this survey was actually pretty enlightening. It’s interesting to see the issues that are on my fellow media makers’ minds, distilled and categorized. And thanks for keeping it short and sweet. Also, I will happily fill out any survey in the future in which you award a Flip camera to a random participant. Did I win??!!”

April 22: Media That Matters at Immigrant Heritage Week

Declared an official, annual celebration by Mayor Bloomberg, Immigrant Heritage Week is a unique celebration of the vibrant immigrant cultures, heritage, and communities found in every corner of the city. Media That Matters and Breakthrough have partnered to present this free workshop at the Paley Center, NY.

Join us for a special Immigrant Heritage Week selection of films and discussion on
Wednesday April 22, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Paley Media Center, 25 West 52nd Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)
Admission: Free and open to the public

Arts Engine Staffer Angela Tucker NAMAC’s Featured Leader

The National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) recently highlighted Arts Engine’s own Angela Tucker as a Featured Leader in the media arts field. Check out her interview with NAMAC.

Hear more from Angela by checking out her blog posts on our Arts Engine blog, Engine Feed.

February 25: DocuClub at The Tank

An intimate crowd gathered during February’s DocuClub to watch Our House by filmmakers David Teague and Greg King at The Tank. Moderator Brian Geldin expertly guided the discussion. The documentary depicts the various members living in an alternative housing community in the midst of gentrified Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The filmmakers were keen to hear how the structure of the piece was working, and specifically, how the end of the film played out since an unpredictable event throws the residents into momentary chaos. To learn more about DocuClub, please go to our website.

Arts Engine Survey

MediaRights.org member Stacey Brook says, “Filling out this survey was actually pretty enlightening. It’s interesting to see the issues that are on my fellow media makers’ minds, distilled and categorized. And thanks for keeping it short and sweet. Also, I will happily fill out any survey in the future in which you award a Flip camera to a random participant. Did I win??!!”

December 17: Rose Mapendo Discusses Congo with Actor Ben Affleck at the United Nations

A distinguished panel gathered by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) announced a new campaign to raise awareness and financial support for North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Violence has again erupted in this already troubled region. The panel included Rose Mapendo, the subject of our upcoming film, Pushing The Elephant. To find our more about the film, or to make a donation, please click here.

December 4: Arts Engine Presents an Asexuality: The Making of a Movement Fundraiser in New York, NY

You are invited!

Please join us for a fundraiser for Arts Engine’s next Big Mouth Film, Asexuality: The Making of a Movement. The film will profile four people who are trying to live their lives as asexuals. What’s an asexual, you might ask? An asexual is someone who does not experience sexual attraction. Unlike celibacy, which is a personal choice, asexuality is an intrinsic part of who asexuals are. It is their identity.

Curious? Come learn about the film.

We are currently in production and need funding for some additional shoots in Vancouver and San Francisco. Please support this documentary film. It all comes back to you!

WHEN:
Thursday, December 4
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Flatbush Farm
76 St. Marks Avenue
Corner of Sixth Avenue and Flatbush
Park Slope, Brooklyn

PROGRAM:
Featuring emcee Giulia Rozzi (CNN, Stripped Stories)
Plus, a super-duper raffle and even a bake sale!
6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Cocktail Hour and a Half
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Comedy, Raffle and New Scenes Trailer

COST: Tickets are $25

Please RSVP to Jolene Pinder 646-230-6228, x222, jolene@artsengine.net.

For more information on the film, please visit Big Mouth Films. And to find out more about everything we do, check out Arts Engine.

NOW AVAILABLE! Arts Engine’s Ten Year Anniversary Box Set

Arts Engine’s Ten Year Anniversary Collection celebrates the power of film to create positive change. The new DVD box set showcases the highly acclaimed, yet previously hard-to-find, feature-length documentaries and short films of the past decade.

Highlights of the box set include: Deadline, an Emmy-nominated look at capital punishment in the United States; Outside Looking In, which explores the complexities of trans-racial adoption; Election Day, a timely and powerful look at the state of democracy in the U.S. today; and Laurie Collyer’s directorial debut Nuyorican Dream, which chronicles a Puerto Rican family struggling to overcome poverty in Brooklyn. Collyer recently wrote and directed Sherrybaby starring Maggie Gyllenhaal.

While the films have been hits at festivals around the world–from Sundance to Berlin to South by Southwest–and broadcast by outlets such as NBC, HBO, and P.O.V., several of the films in this box set were not available on DVD until now.

The two Media that Matters DVDs included in the box set are: Media That Matters: Good Food, a collection of festival shorts focused on food and sustainability, and the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival, featuring 12 shorts from the 2008 festival.

Visit our store or find out more about our Ten Year Anniversary.

Call for entries - Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival

Media That Matters: More than a festival.

Arts Engine’s Media That Matters is the premier showcase for short films with big messages.

Submit your film now for the chance to be one of the final twelve jury-selected films and become part of our outreach and distribution efforts to create social change through film.

Following a New York City Premiere, Awards Ceremony and industry networking events in June 2009, your film will take part in the Media That Matters international, multi-platform campaign with DVD distribution, broadcasts, streaming and hundreds of screenings across the globe!

All finalists will be awarded $1000 to assist in future filmmaking efforts.

Visit the Media That Matters Film Festival submit page for more information.

ELECTION DAY Broadcast Premiere July 1st on P.O.V.!

Arts Engine’s Election Day will have its national broadcast premiere this summer as part of the award-winning PBS series P.O.V. The film will air on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 10 p.m. (check your local listings). To receive an email reminder the week of Election Day‘s broadcast, click here.

Celebrating its 21st season on PBS in 2008, the award-winning P.O.V. series is the longest-running showcase on television to feature the work of America’s best contemporary-issue independent filmmakers. Airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m., June through September, with primetime specials during the year, P.O.V. has brought more than 250 award-winning documentaries to millions nationwide, and now has a Webby Award-winning online series, P.O.V.‘s Borders. Since 1988, P.O.V. has pioneered the art of presentation and outreach using independent nonfiction media to build new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social issues. The Arts Engine team is proud that Election Day will make its broadcast debut on such a compelling series. More information about P.O.V is available online at www.pbs.org/pov.

Arts Engine’s Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival WORLD PREMIERE!

Arts Engine is pleased to announce the world premiere of the eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival in New York City!

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!

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.
Location:
IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue (at West 3rd Street)
New York, NY
Get Directions | Buy Tickets!

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 the Wednesday, May 28 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!

Date: Friday, May 30, 2008
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.
Location:
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
New York, NY
Get Directions | Buy Tickets!

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 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.

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

Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Time: 10 p.m. - 4 a.m.
Location:
Rose Live Music
345 Grand Street (between Havemeyer & Marcy)
Brooklyn, NY
Get Directions

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

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YOUTH PREMIERE - Paley Center for Media, NYC

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

This three-day 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.

Date: Friday, June 6, 2008
Time: 6 - 8 p.m.
Location:
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52nd Street
New York, NY
Get Directions

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

This event will also be a part of Internet Week NY!
For more details visit internetweekny.com!

For all these events, make sure to buy your tickets now, as they sell out fast.

We’ll see you there!

Arts Engine Honored by Urban Visionaries Youth Film Festival

Arts Engine is to be honored by the Urban Visionaries Youth Film Festival at The Paley Center for Media for our passionate leadership in elevating issues that impact young people. The Urban Visionaries Youth Film Festival is New York City’s longest running film festival produced, promoted and presented by youth. A collaboration between youth and educators from New York City youth media organizations, Urban Visionaries is made possible by The Paley Center for Media and Listen Up!.

Arts Engine Celebrates Ten Years of Media for Change with the Paley Center in New York!

The Paley Center is proud to present eight award-winning documentaries from Arts Engine’s Big Mouth Films and highlights from our renowned Media That Matters Film Festival, the premier showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. This series is in celebration of our ten years of dedication to social issue media. Arts Engine emphasizes empathy and inquiry in filmmaking, bringing audiences to films that tell it like it is, in ways that haven’t been seen before. Find out more about our history at www.artsengine.net/tenyear.

Media That Matters Staff Development Workshop for Educators

Thursday, May 1st, 2008; 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., reception immediately follows

Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action. Media That Matters staff and Paley Center educators will co-present this workshop for teachers using films that focus on human rights issues. The workshop will include screenings, discussion, and classroom extensions. Participating teachers will receive an Educator Pass to the Paley Center and curriculum materials.

To make a reservation email eduny@paleycenter.org or call 212.621.6663.

Arts Engine Film Screenings

All screenings take place at the Paley Center for Media located at 25 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019.

Regular admission: $10
Special: third day is free for 3-day attendees
Students: $8
Children (under 14): $5

Friday, May 2nd, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today

(2001, 58 min., dir. Katy Chevigny)

Shot in the People’s Republic of China and the U.S., Journey to the West depicts the wide range of traditional Chinese medical practices in China and shows their influence in the U.S. today. Premiered at: Asia Society and Museum, New York.

Featured Media That Matters films: Spring in Awe, The Luckiest Nut in the World and Recycle

Friday, May 2nd, 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Brother Born Again

(2000, 76 min., dir. Julia Pimsleur)

Brother Born Again portrays a Jewish woman’s search for her brother who converted to Christianity and joined a separatist Christian community on a remote island in Alaska. Premiered at: South by Southwest Film Festival.

Featured Media That Matters films: Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) and POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, 12:00 p.m.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

(1999, 67 min., dir. Kirsten Johnson)

Innocent Until Proven Guilty takes a critical look at the U.S. criminal justice system through the eyes of a young black public defender in Washington DC at a time when an astonishing number of African American men are under criminal justice supervision.

Premiered at: Berlin International Film Festival.

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)

Nuyorican Dream chronicles five years of the struggles and aspirations of a New York Puerto Rican family as they contend with the devastating effects of urban poverty.
Premiered at: Sundance Film Festival

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)

In a triumph of documentary storytelling, Election Day combines eleven stories into one cross-country portrait of American democracy in action. Factory workers, ex-felons, harried moms, Native American activists and diligent poll watchers, from South Dakota to Florida, take the process of democracy into their own hands. The result is an entertaining, inspiring and sometimes unsettling story of citizens determined to vote on one fateful day. Premiered at: South by Southwest Film Festival.

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)

Introducing three families with transracially adopted children of three different generations, Outside Looking In explores the effects of white parents adopting African American children, as seen through the eyes of director and transracial adoptee Phil Bertelsen. Premiered at: Hollywood Black Film Festival.

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)

In the tiny village of Old Crow, 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle, a father and his son are reunited after almost 25 years apart. They share a name and a bloodline, but the worlds they know and the lifestyles they lead are as different as their respective hometown climates. Premiered at: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

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)

What would you do if you discovered that thirteen people slated for execution had been found innocent? That was exactly the question that Governor George Ryan faced in his final days in office as Illinois’ top politician. Deadline is a compelling look inside America’s prisons, highlighting one man’s unlikely, courageous and historic actions. Premiered at: Sundance Film Festival.

Featured Media That Matters film: Pizza Surveillance Feature

About The Paley Center for Media

The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. The Paley Center in New York is located at 25 West 52nd Street; New York, NY 10019. For more information visit www.paleycenter.org.

Arts Engine Re-Launches DocuClub!

Join Arts Engine’s re-launching of DocuClub, the works-in-progress documentary screening series!

Our first screening for 2008 is scheduled for Thursday April 3rd, at 7:30 pm, in the screening room of our partner Goldcrest Post (799 Washington Street, between Horatio and Gansevoort).

We will watch Kimberly Reed’s Prodigal Sons, the story of “a brotherly rivalry between a man and a woman…and Orson Welles.” Reed was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film for 2007.

Our moderator will be DocuClub founder Susan Kaplan.

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to: docuclub@artsengine.net.

The Chicago Tribune spotlights Election Day

Check out the 3 Star review of Election Day in the Chicago Tribune, in which art critic Sid Smith praises Election Day for offering a “glimpse into everyday life during one of our quadrennial watersheds.” Election Day, the latest release from Arts Engine’s Big Mouth Films, premieres in Chicago on Friday, January 25th at 8pm at the Gene Siskel Film Center (buy tickets here). The film will also screen at the Siskel Center on Monday, January 28th at 6pm (buy tickets here). Tune in to Chicago Public Radio’s Eight Forty-Eight for an interview with Director Katy Chevigny on Monday, January 28th at 9am CST (stream here).

Read the full Chicago Tribune article here.

Arts Engine Celebrates Ten Years of Media for Change

This year Arts Engine celebrates ten years of producing, promoting and exhibiting media for social change. Visit our Ten Year website to watch a new video that recounts our storied past through eight Big Mouth documentaries, seven Media That Matters Film Festivals and our powerful online machine at MediaRights.org. Also, stay tuned to the Ten Year website for more information on the festivities!

A lot has happened in ten years and a lot more will happen in the next ten. Your support has been and will continue to be a very important part of Arts Engine’s sustainability. Please consider making a contribution to Arts Engine online before the end of the year. If you’ve already made a contribution, thank you for your support.

Arctic Son makes headlines in The New York Times

TV writer Daniel Gold touts Arctic Son as “a chance to see something of the country and the lives that remain at the mercy of others.” Arctic Son, a Big Mouth film, will have its U.S. broadcast premiere on Public Television as part of P.O.V.‘s 20th anniversary season this month. Tune in on August 21st (check local listings) and watch this intimate story of a father and son reunited in a remote Arctic village after a lifetime apart. Arctic Son is proud to reach a national audience on P.O.V., television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films.

Read the full New York Times article here.

MediaRights.org launches Upstream: New Column on Public Media and Social Action

Upstream is a new online column launched by MediaRights.org. This monthly column focuses on the impact of online public media on social issues. Read the first article by Katy Chevigny here.

Media That Matters 7 Film Festival Goes Online!

This year’s seventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival showcased 16 brand new short documentaries covering a wide range of social issues. Watched the newest collection of social issue documentaries here.

Arts Engine Launches Staff Blog on MediaRights.org

Arts Engine is excited to announce the launch of Engine Feed, our staff blog. Read about our favorite films, our insights on the global politics and more.

Arts Engine’s Election Day premiere at South by Southwest Film Festival

SXSW announced its lineup of feature films for the 2007 festival!

Arts Engine is proud to be at SXSW for the second time, with its newest film, Election Day as a Spotlight Premiere.

After the success of Brother Born Again, which screened at SXSW, Director Katy Chevigny and the Big Mouth Films crew are excited to return to the festival

SXSW will launch the Election Day tour of the festival circuit, and serve as a kickoff for the national outreach and education campaign. The film will be broadcast on PBS in 2007/2008.

Get Screening Times and find out more about SXSW.

Arctic Son is proud to be featured on Public Television as part of P.O.V.‘s 20th anniversary season

Arctic Son is proud to be featured on Public Television as part of P.O.V.‘s 20th anniversary season. P.O.V. is television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. P.O.V. premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, P.O.V. has presented over 225 films to public television audiences across the country. P.O.V. films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.

Arts Engine and Adobe Partner on Adobe Youth Voices

Arts Engine is proud to announce Adobe Youth Voices, a new global initiative empowering youth to create with purpose. Read more…

Arctic Son awarded at Neuse Riverkeeper Film Festival

Arctic Son was recently awarded Best Feature Length Film at North Carolina’s Third Annual Neuse Riverkeeper Film Festival. The festival was established to celebrate 25 years of the Neuse River Foundation’s environmental victories.

Happy New Year and Happy Holidays from Arts Engine!

Can you tell how great a year it’s been? From the premiere of Arctic Son to the launch of Media That Matters: Good Food, to exciting kick-off events for Adobe Youth Voices, we’ve been making waves from Baltimore to Bangalore and we’re just getting started. We’re filled with holiday cheer and we hope that you are too - Happy New Year and Happy Holidays from Arts Engine! Read more ...

Canada’s Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN)

Arctic Son has been picked up for broadcast by Canada’s Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN), the first and only national Aboriginal broadcaster in the world, with programming by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples.

Arctic Son to screen at the American Indian Graduate Center’s “Walking in Two Worlds” Conference

Every year the American Indian Graduate Center brings together hundreds of students, professors and community leaders to discuss projects and achievements in Native American higher education. This year the conference focuses on the challenges facing Native Americans as they balance their lives between the reservation and popular Western culture. Subjects run the gamut from “How to Succeed in Graduate School?”, to “Perception of American Indians in Film”, to “What Does it Mean to Be Indian in Today’s Society?”. Former United States Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is among many noted speakers at the event.

Arctic Son has the honor of being part of an evening celebration on Friday, September 22nd, where participants will have the opportunity to watch the film and discuss the issues that it presents with the filmmakers.

“Walking in Two Worlds”
American Indian Graduate Center
Albuquerque, NM
7pm, Friday, September 22, 2006

For more information and registration: http://www.aigc.com

Now Playing: The Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival

MTM6 launched on June 1 in New York City and around the country. Check out photos from the Awards Ceremony at the HBO Screening Room. Watch the films online, take action, go to a screening or sign up to organize your own event all year long at www.mediathatmattersfest.org.

May 31 - June 1, 2006: Join Us for the Launch of Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival in NY

Arts Engine presents a brand new collection of inspiring shorts by independent filmmakers. Join us in NYC for the World Premiere at IFC Center on May 31st—get tickets now—and watch the films online starting June 1st at www.mediathatmattersfest.org.

Arctic Son’s West Coast and European Premiere

Arts Engine is proud to announce that Arctic Son, directed by Andrew Walton, will have its West Coast premiere at the prestigious Seattle Film Festival on June 7th. The film’s European premiere will be at Filmfest Munich, held July 15-22.

Arts Engine, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of New York. Please support us by making a tax-deductible donation.

145 West 24th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10011
tel: 646-230-6368, fax: 646-230-6388
info@artsengine.net