LATEST NEWS

“The generation that fought hardest to come out is going back in to survive”

Gen Silent is a critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that explores the challenges of six LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, trans) seniors who face the difficult choice of hiding their friends, their spouses and their entire lives in order to survive in the health care system. For Family Fest 2011 the Frank Harr Foundation will open the event with a meet & greet reception for Gen Silent director, Stu Maddux, on Thursday, September 29, 2011, at 7 pm. Local film organization Working Films will host the meet & greet at the firehouse at 602 S. 5th Avenue, Wilmington, N.C. on the corner of Castle St. The reception is free and open to the public with catering provided by Front Street Brewery. Filmmakers and media creators interested in learning how to use their projects to promote social change are encouraged to attend. Stu will discuss how he is using his film to encourage more hospices and service agencies to address the specific needs of LGBT elders. The 63-minute film will screen for free the following day, Friday, September 30, 2011, at 3 pm at UNCW’s Warwick Center. There will be a Health Fair starting at 12:30 pm that will include vendors serving the LGBT community, seminars focusing on legal issues facing LGBT individuals and couples, and LGBT sensitivity training for healthcare providers. The South East Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC) will sponsor four hours of continuing-education credits for nursing professionals for $15, payable at the door. Following the screening will be a panel discussion about the movie and the realities faced today by LGBT individuals and couples in the healthcare system. Panelists include Stu Maddux, Gillian O'Reilly (MSW from Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center), Rev. John McLaughlin (St. Jude's Metropolitan Community Church), Connie Vetter (attorney), Eleanor Covan, Ph.D. (UNCW Gerontology) and Scott French (SAGE: Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders). This is a free event. Major sponsors of Family Fest 2011 include Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center; UNCW LGBTQIA Resource Office; SEAHEC; Virginia Hager, attorney at law; Connie Vetter, attorney at law; St. Jude's Metropolitan Community Church; Level 5 at City Stage; Hampton Inns of Wilmington; and the Frank Harr Foundation.

"Detroit has been deteriorating for over 40 years because of disinvestment," said Ponsella Hardaway, Executive Director of Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength (MOSES), one of the sponsors of “Reimagining the Region: Building a New Metropolis”. A screening of The New Metropolis and a community dialogue about the film and its relevance to the region will take place at the Emagine Royal Oak Theater on Thursday, Sept. 15 from 7 – 9 p.m. A light dinner precedes the event at 6:00. The forum is free and open to the public. The event will be streamed live on The New Metropolis website. “Reimagining the Region: Building a New Metropolis” will bring together policy makers and community members to discuss strategies for urban and suburban revitalization in the Detroit area. The event will be moderated by Stephen Henderson, Editorial Page Editor of the Detroit Free Press and Host of WTVS’ American Black Journal. Joining Henderson will be a panel of state and local public officials, community leaders, and John Powell, Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. It is co-sponsored by Detroit Public Television, Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength (MOSES), Michigan Suburbs Alliance, Michigan Department of Civil Rights, Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, Model D Media, Working Films, and Torrice Productions. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Andrea Torrice will present the film and join the community discussion. "I hope The New Metropolis helps inspire people to move beyond talking to taking concrete action in the Detroit region,” said Torrice. This event is part of The New Metropolis civic engagement dialogue series taking place across the country on revitalizing America's older communities and is made possible through the support of the Ford and Surdna Foundations. Working Films co-organized two strategy summits for this Detroit event, bringing together local community stakeholders to secure their input and commitment.

When I was in Detroit over the summer for the Allied Media Conference, I attended a workshop presented by Evan Casper-Futterman, Co-Producer of the film Land of Opportunity. He explained how the film is using Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create an interactive web campaign. Afterwards, I caught up with Evan to find out a bit more about how the interactive videos work and supplement the film. Here’s what he had to say: A key component of the Land of Opportunity documentary project is the production and distribution of interactive web-based videos designed to engage and educate viewers on core urban issues of affordable housing, urban redevelopment/planning, (im)migration and economic displacement. We are building an open-source interactive web player for our video content that provides access to an ever-expanding content-rich environment that amplifies and contextualizes the storylines and issues we explore. The goal is to create a multi-dimensional story space that will increase engagement and inspire action. The interactive nature of these webisodes will allow users to relate the stories of post-Katrina New Orleans to what is happening in their own backyards. We have partnered with the prestigious Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create the Land of Opportunity interactive web player. As they watch a video, users will be presented with "triggers" that appear during key moments. These triggers will enable users to access additional content drawn from a curated “knowledge-base” organized by the filmmakers in conjunction with educational, community and data partners. This additional content will feature video, audio, data, stills, articles, maps, diagrams, scholarly essays, online action campaigns and so forth. While watching the webisodes, users will also be prompted to provide information about themselves (i.e. zip code, age-range, income range etc.) and will then access targeted data that relates the themes and issues in the video content to what’s happening in their own towns and cities (i.e. number of blighted homes in their neighborhood, immigrants rights campaigns in their community, urban planning initiatives in their city etc). In addition, the triggers will allow users to see the latest news and what people are saying in real time about the issues on Google, Facebook and Twitter, etc. Eventually users will also be able to record and upload their own content and triggers. This interface creates a holistic viewing experience that transcends the current limitations of viewing video on the web. It also furthers our goal of inspiring dialogue and analysis that connects the dots between the interrelated core urban issues presented in Land of Opportunity. For students and researchers, the player will be akin to having a dynamic streaming bibliography—video and text can now be used in tandem, rather than as separate resources. All our additional content will be created and organized in collaboration with community, educational and data partners to maximize engagement and impact around our core urban issues. We are currently building a robust demo of the player, which we will use to attract additional funding and strategic partners. The demo will be completed in late September. We then plan to build and launch the player in three phases in 2012 in conjunction with three webisodes each highlighting a core urban issue covered in the feature film: affordable housing, urban planning/redevelopment, and immigration. Each webisode will be launched with an additional level of functionality, which will initially be piloted in six target cities, including New Orleans, Detroit and Atlanta. Our first websiode--a two part piece on affordable housing in New Orleans, Atlanta, and DC, will utilize a prototype of the player and will be released in conjunction with the National Black Programming Consortium and our strategic local and national partners in early 2012 . While developing this player, we will continue to schedule screenings of the feature film Land of Opportunity. Anyone interested in any aspect of our project should check out our website, Facebook page, and Twitter.

When I was in Detroit over the summer for the Allied Media Conference, I attended a workshop presented by Evan Casper-Futterman, Co-Producer of the film Land of Opportunity. He explained how the film is using Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create an interactive web campaign. Afterwards, I caught up with Evan to find out a bit more about how the interactive videos work and supplement the film. Here’s what he had to say: A key component of the Land of Opportunity documentary project is the production and distribution of interactive web-based videos designed to engage and educate viewers on core urban issues of affordable housing, urban redevelopment/planning, (im)migration and economic displacement. We are building an open-source interactive web player for our video content that provides access to an ever-expanding content-rich environment that amplifies and contextualizes the storylines and issues we explore. The goal is to create a multi-dimensional story space that will increase engagement and inspire action. The interactive nature of these webisodes will allow users to relate the stories of post-Katrina New Orleans to what is happening in their own backyards. We have partnered with the prestigious Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create the Land of Opportunity interactive web player. As they watch a video, users will be presented with "triggers" that appear during key moments. These triggers will enable users to access additional content drawn from a curated “knowledge-base” organized by the filmmakers in conjunction with educational, community and data partners. This additional content will feature video, audio, data, stills, articles, maps, diagrams, scholarly essays, online action campaigns and so forth. While watching the webisodes, users will also be prompted to provide information about themselves (i.e. zip code, age-range, income range etc.) and will then access targeted data that relates the themes and issues in the video content to what’s happening in their own towns and cities (i.e. number of blighted homes in their neighborhood, immigrants rights campaigns in their community, urban planning initiatives in their city etc). In addition, the triggers will allow users to see the latest news and what people are saying in real time about the issues on Google, Facebook and Twitter, etc. Eventually users will also be able to record and upload their own content and triggers. This interface creates a holistic viewing experience that transcends the current limitations of viewing video on the web. It also furthers our goal of inspiring dialogue and analysis that connects the dots between the interrelated core urban issues presented in Land of Opportunity. For students and researchers, the player will be akin to having a dynamic streaming bibliography—video and text can now be used in tandem, rather than as separate resources. All our additional content will be created and organized in collaboration with community, educational and data partners to maximize engagement and impact around our core urban issues. We are currently building a robust demo of the player, which we will use to attract additional funding and strategic partners. The demo will be completed in late September. We then plan to build and launch the player in three phases in 2012 in conjunction with three webisodes each highlighting a core urban issue covered in the feature film: affordable housing, urban planning/redevelopment, and immigration. Each webisode will be launched with an additional level of functionality, which will initially be piloted in six target cities, including New Orleans, Detroit and Atlanta. Our first websiode--a two part piece on affordable housing in New Orleans, Atlanta, and DC, will utilize a prototype of the player and will be released in conjunction with the National Black Programming Consortium and our strategic local and national partners in early 2012 . While developing this player, we will continue to schedule screenings of the feature film Land of Opportunity. Anyone interested in any aspect of our project should check out our website, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Tribeca Film Institute has opened submissions for four of their programs: TFI Documentary Fund, TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund, Tribeca All Access and TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund. Beyond providing grants for non-fiction, narrative and new media filmmakers, these programs also include year-round support like resources and industry connections for the grantees who will participate in events during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. For more information, visit their website. The deadline is October 10th, 2011. Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is now accepting submissions. The festival will be held April 12-15th, 2012 in Durham, NC. Full Frame serves the documentary form and its community by showcasing the contemporary work of established and emerging filmmakers. The festival provides a space that nurtures conversation between artists, students, and the Full Frame audience. Full Frame is committed to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the art form and its significance, while making films more accessible to a wider audience. The Fledgling Fund supports innovative media projects that can play critical roles in igniting social change. The primary focus of The Fledgling Fund's creative media initiative is outreach and audience engagement. Applicants are encouraged to review their written resources on assessing impact and understanding distribution, outreach/strategic communications and audience engagement prior to applying. The next deadline to apply is September 30th at midnight (EST). Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Mother Wit Human Rights Fund is now accepting applications. Check out their mandate to make sure you qualify before applying. The deadline is September 30th at midnight Pacific Time.

Earlier this year, we posted an opportunity for the konsonant/ Sounding Together Initiative (STi) Fellowship. The fellowship gives free music licenses to independent filmmakers working on socially conscious films. The recipients were announced last month and we are excited to hear that two of the winning filmmakers found out about this opportunity from Working Films! Check out the video below to see the selected film projects.   The 2011 konsonant Fellowship Winners 1st Prize: Singers in the Band by David Goodman 2nd Prize: Unlikely Friends by Leslie Neale 3rd Prize: La Toma by Paola Mendoza 4th Prize: Internal Exposure by Fivel Rothberg 5th Prize: My Brooklyn by Kelly Anderson

Things are heating up at the Working Films’ firehouse this summer – literally, the heat index has hovered around 100 degrees the past month. I recently arrived to Wilmington in June as a 2011 George Stoney Fellow from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. I’m really excited and passionate about my work so far to help racial justice advocates across the country use the new Two Towns of Jasper Education and Outreach DVD. We’ve started partnering with an array of organizations so far, each one looking to host their own distinct event to inspire discussion and action that combats racial bias that continues to appear in our communities today. Early last week, we were invited to brainstorm with chapters of the National Federation for Just Communities (NFCJ), a grassroots social justice organization whose former chapter memberships were known as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). The former NCCJ was a key partner around the original launch of Two Towns of Jasper in 2003 so it was great to reconnect these allies with the project. In our conversation, representatives from eight current NFJC groups in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska and New York each saw potential in either screening the entire film or presenting selected clips from the film to youth and adults in their respective communities. Lana Benatovich, from NFJC of Western New York, brought major energy to the call, reflecting on the powerful impact Two Towns of Jasper had on her region in Buffalo, NY when they used the film for when it was first released. In the special DVD feature Two Towns of Jasper: Move Hearts, Minds and Policy (below), you can see firsthand how the film had the ability to push the Western New York citizens and government officials to consider the visible and all too dangerous “invisible” racial divisions in their area. Proving that Two Towns of Jasper is timeless tool for activists, Lana told us last week that she is eager to host another screening event with the new education and outreach DVD of Two Towns of Jasper. She noted that there is still much work to be done as her city of Buffalo was just named the 6th most segregated city in the U.S. I couldn’t agree more with Lana and everyone on the NFCJ call that the issues the film brings up are just as relevant today as ever. That’s why we are working so hard to get the Two Towns of Jasper DVD into the hands of educators, community organizers and racial justice activists across the country. If you're interested in hosting a screening, you can buy the DVD here. This Education and Outreach DVD includes a host of resources that will help facilitators and audiences work through the essential but often difficult conversations that the film brings up. Two Towns of Jasper covers a city’s reaction to a horrible hate crime. At the same time, it uncovers the racism that can lead to this kind of tragedy. I found it difficult to get my head around. I thought to myself, “Why?”, “How?”, “And could this happen again?” The new resources on this DVD, including the educators guide written by Facing History and Ourselves and the interactive community discussion guide helped me process those questions, and I know they will provide screening hosts which a starting point for individual or group reflection and action. Two Towns of Jasper truly does have limitless audience reach. Once only available on VHS and at film festival screenings, now you can feature Two Towns in:

• local leadership development institutes
• public forums on racial reconciliation
• college campus discussions
• civic response team workshops
• educational film series
• grassroots training sessions
• youth leadership programs
• town hall meetings
• high school classrooms
• diversity and inclusion training sessions

There is no better time than right now to bring Two Towns of Jasper to a community near you. Purchase the DVD and organize a screening today! Christina Bryant is a George Stoney Fellow at Working Films for Summer 2011.

"Being part of this collaboration is saying we can work together to affect a larger issue; to affect change." - Peter Bull, filmmaker of Dirty Business As Judith Helfand states in the video, "There’s no silver bullet that is going to fix climate change." If that was true, An Inconvenient Truth would have stopped climate change. We need many compelling stories from lots of different places to convey a comprehensive picture of the problem and solutions we can pursue. Reel Power films weave together the narratives of the different communities they feature to show the interconnectedness of the issues. Together they give the environmental movement a full picture of our opportunities for a just future. “What the natural gas industry would like to do is split this movement. The natural gas industry would like to drive a wedge straight through environmentalism. Don’t let them fool you! As filmmakers, we have to make sure that we’re working together as one force because the whole point is to move to renewable energy.” - Josh Fox, filmmaker of Gasland This spring Reel Power participated in Power Shift, the nation’s largest youth climate conference, where the films were screened throughout the weekend culminating in a filmmaker panel. A discussion on the ways film screenings can be used to generate action at the grassroots level energized both the crowd and the directors. The Reel Power team left inspired by commitments from some of our country’s brightest youth leaders and are now working with college campus organizers to bring screenings and actions that support the movement for a sustainable and just energy future. Working Films is continuing to build alliances among related issue filmmakers and NGO’s . We are opening up new opportunities and foster stronger communities. Learn more about our thematic field building or connect with Reel Power and learn how to set up screenings on your campus or in your community: https://www.workingfilms.org/reelpower. “What an amazing thing to join forces, and to share our ideas and to share resources and get that message out there.” Jennifer Redfearn, Sun Come Up