Working Films has partnered up with the Cucalorus Film Festival to provide a Works-In-Progress category, which gives filmmakers an opportunity to test their work before an audience – at many different stages of production. Working Films will be hosting free screenings of The Wounded Come Home, Cape Wind, and The Appropriate Genius. We will be facilitating a Q&A after each film with the filmmaker and community organizations. The Cucarolus Film Festival is November 12-15th 2008 in Wilmington, NC.

The Appropriate Genius
Thursday, November 13th 2008
10:45am – 12:45pm
@ Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street
910-343-5995 // http://www.cucalorus.org/blog

The Wounded Come Home
Saturday, November 15th 2008
10:15am – 11:45am
@ Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street

Cape Wind
Saturday, November 15th 2008
7:17pm – 8:45pm
@ Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street

Today is Blog Action Day and people all over are writing posts about issues of poverty. We immediately thought about a film that brought home the 2008 Full Frame / Working Films Award, Trouble the Water. The award winning documentary captures the story of a couple, Kim and Scott, who were trapped in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The film offers a first hand account of people living in the 9th ward with limited resources who are unable to evacuate the city and forced to survive the floods. After three years, New Orleans is still being renovated and many people who lost their homes can not afford to make repairs or build new ones.

Trouble the Water is currently playing in theaters. Check to see if it’s playing in a city near you!

Often times we hear on the news about the hundreds of thousands of people crossing into the United States every year, but seldom do we stop to think that among them are young children… 9, 12, 14 years old risking their lives in the desert. On September 27 I was honored to spend the bulk of the day strategizing with incredible activists and organizers about how Children in No Man’s Land can enhance their work to protect the lives and rights of children and other immigrants crossing our southern border.

An experience the day before the Summit reawakened in me the need to get this story out to folks across the U.S. My colleague and I stopped by the offices of the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos,a leading advocacy group in Tucson AZ whose work aims to save lives, educate immigrants about their rights and change the policy that is putting them in danger. A wonderful volunteer, Isabel, helped us with some logistics for the meeting and showed us around the offices. The cramped quarters were filled with posters, fliers, banners, and research documents, evidence of all of the amazing work that these folks are doing. As we were on our way back out Isabel took us to a small closet where she showed us these crosses: one for each person that Derechos Humanos knows has died crossing the desert.

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The Green Lifestyle Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for next year’s festival to be held March 13-15, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. The Green Lifestyle Film Festival is a unique festival that “focuses on sustainable life choices”. The deadline for submission is December 31st, 2008. To submit your film or find out more information, please visit their website.

“The Media That Matters Film Festival…is unlike most in its insistence on community screenings through the world. The stories are humane, emotionally rich and often humorous despite the heavy subject matter.” - The Indypendent

Media That Matters is the premier showcase for short films with big messages. 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!

Each year Working Films awards $1000 to a filmmaker who has created a short with potential to inspire activism. This award is funded with generous support from the Ettinger Foundation. This year Melissa Mummert was awarded the Changemaker Award at 2008′s Media That Matters Film Festival for her short film, Perversion of Justice.

Hundreds of thousands of people including educators, activists and nonprofits will watch and use the films selected for the Media That Matters Film Festival. Submit your short film to make a real impact. (more…)

Are you an excellent photographer, photojournalist, filmmaker, artist, or other creative professional? The Open Society Institute (OSI), is seeking professionals from around the world for the Open Society Fellowship who focus on one of the following four areas: National Security and the Open Society; Citizenship, Membership and Marginalization; Strategies and Tools for Advocacy and Citizen Engagement; and Understanding Authoritarianism. OSI is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that aims to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform.This fellowship enables innovative professionals-including journalists, activists, academics, and practitioners-to work on projects that inspire meaningful debate, shape public policy, and generate intellectual ferment within the Open Society Institute. Fellows’ projects may include books, articles, documentary films and photography, online media, multimedia exhibits, and efforts to seed new campaigns and organizations.

Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis. There are no application deadlines. The fellowship does not fund programs of study or dissertation research. More details are available at soros.org.