Full Frame Honors 2 Great Filmmakers

Working Films has played a part in the Full Frame Documentary Festival for the past five years by presenting an award to the film with the most potential for social change. In 2007, this award went to Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern for their film The Devil Came on Horseback. This year, Full Frame is recognizing these remarkable filmmakers with the 2011 Career Award. Annie and Ricki will also be presenting the US premiere of their latest film, Burma Soldier, at the festival. The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival takes…

February’s Reel Power Film: Dirty Business

February’s Reel Power featured film, Dirty Business: “Clean Coal” and the Battle for Our Energy Future, is an in-depth look at the coal industry, ‘clean coal’ technologies and the future of renewable technology. Produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting, and narrated by Rolling Stones reporter Jeff Goodell, the film takes audiences on a journey from MTR sites in Appalachia to the coal explosion in China. Dirty Business explores the true cost of our dependence on coal for electricity in the age of climate change. Politicians and corporate interests have…

Reel Power Films Take Center Stage

During last night’s State of the Union, President Obama called for a clean energy future, but then rattled off a list of our dirty energy past with clean coal and natural gas leading the pack. The films involved with Reel Power: Films Fueling the Energy Revolution uncover the truth behind these so-called “clean” technologies, showing the damaging effects of climate change on populations across the globe, and offering real energy solutions. And for their efforts and artistry the films are being recognized in big ways! It was announced on Tuesday…

PUMA.Creative Impact Award, Launched at Sundance Film Festival 2011

Queen Noor of Jordan and Documentary Director Morgan Spurlock Join First Jury Today PUMA.Creative and Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced the launch of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award, a major new annual award to honor the documentary film creating the most significant impact in the world. This 50,000 Euro award acknowledges the film’s makers and will help the continuation of the film’s campaign work. The PUMA.Creative Impact Award will be selected by a jury which includes Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award nominated Director of Super Size…

Good Pitch Call for Entries: NYC

The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, in partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, are delighted to announce that the touring funding and networking forum the Good Pitch – will be returning in 2011 with expanded plans, including a third forum in New York City hosted by the Ford Foundation at their midtown headquarters. The call for entries for the Good Pitch NY 2011 is now open and will close on February 18th. The call is aimed at filmmakers of any nationality working on feature-length or hour-long independent documentary film…

MacArthur Grant to Working Films Strengthens and Promotes Innovation & Impact of Social Justice Media

2011 has started with a bang, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary with a new grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The grant will support a new residency open to the field of filmmakers and non-fiction media makers, intended to support strategic collaborations between non-profit/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and story-driven documentaries. This one-year grant of $300,000 will enable us to research, design and facilitate a week-long residency built around one urgent theme. Following the residency, and supported by the grant, we will launch a high profile campaign…

ESoDoc 2011 Call for Applications

Dates and Venues 2011 Session 1: May 15-21, Romania Session 2: July 3-9, Italy Session 3: September/October, venue t.b.c. APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 4, 2011 ESoDoc (European Social Documentary) is now accepting applications for their 2011 trainings. ESoDoc is a training initiative that takes up the challenge of bringing together the demands of different players now involved in documentary film-production. Their focus is on a special genre of documentary production that is particularly suitable for the new multi-platform world: documentaries that draw attention to human rights, social justice and environmental protection.…

Split Estate: January’s Reel Power Film

The Reel Power Film series kicks off the New Year with the Emmy-award winning film, Split Estate – a film every American should see this year! Get Involved!: 1) Host a House Party of Emmy-award winning Split Estate in January.  You can purchase a DVD of Split Estate here. Note that bulk pricing is available if you’d like to use this film with your organization. 2) Take Action with Split Estate by contacting your state legislators to express your concern over oil and gas drilling. A list of resources to…

Meet Norm!

The I am Norm campaign was envisioned during a Spring 2009 summit Working Films co-hosted with Filmmaker Dan Habib and the National Education Association. Our goal for the meeting was to develop an advocacy campaign using the documentary Including Samuel to advance the full social and educational inclusion of people with disabilities. At the summit, we all agreed that youth have to be at the table in devising the strategies needed to engage their peers. The campaign was ‘born’ when twenty teenage leaders from across the country came together at…

The Fence (La Barda) Story Leads to Action: Activism and Art Working Together

On November 11th, Working Films, Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund screened The Fence (La Barda) for November’s Story Leads to Action. Natalie Difford of Chicken & Egg gives us some highlights on how activism and art are working together: A new HBO film by Rory Kennedy, The Fence (La Barda), was screened and followed by an invigorating discussion with guest panelists Andre Segura, Staff Attorney, Immigrants’ Rights Project, The American Civil Liberties Union and Christina Baal, LMSW, Immigration Advocacy Field Coordinator, The New York Immigration Coalition and…