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Well, sometimes opportunities are so unique and exotic that you can’t turn them down. The Global Social Change Film Festival and Institute invited me, through the kind recommendation of filmmaker Lexi Leban, to present at their upcoming gig. Located in lush Ubad, regarded as the cultural center of Bali, and opening on April 13, the Festival features four days of films, panels, workshops, selected shorts and special events to inspire and build a global community focused on expanding the reach of conscious social change film and media. I will be on a panel called Bringing It All Together: Film, Audience Building & Social Action. Finalist films include: Climate Refugees, Deep Down, Dog Sweat, Fambul Tok, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, Nothing Rhymes with Ngaparjti, There Once Was an Island and A Village Called Versailles. Cash in your frequent flier miles and join us!

In honor of International Women's Month, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, in collaboration with Just Vision, present a Story Leads to Action screening of Budrus.

Thursday, March 17th at 7:30pm 92Y Tribeca 200 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 Tickets are $12 Click here to purchase tickets

Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. Budrus is the latest production by Just Vision, a nonprofit organization led by a team of Israelis, Palestinians, North and South Americans committed to increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis pursuing nonviolent solutions to the conflict. The film has won numerous awards at top international festivals, including Berlin, Tribeca and San Francisco, and has been featured in major press outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, Newsweek, Charlie Rose, MSNBC, and others. It is now playing before a variety of Israeli and Palestinian audiences in the region and is showing in theaters, campuses and communities across the US. Watch the trailer below:

In honor of International Women's Month, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, in collaboration with Just Vision, present a Story Leads to Action screening of Budrus.

Thursday, March 17th at 7:30pm 92Y Tribeca 200 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 Tickets are $12 Click here to purchase tickets

Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. Budrus is the latest production by Just Vision, a nonprofit organization led by a team of Israelis, Palestinians, North and South Americans committed to increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis pursuing nonviolent solutions to the conflict. The film has won numerous awards at top international festivals, including Berlin, Tribeca and San Francisco, and has been featured in major press outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, Newsweek, Charlie Rose, MSNBC, and others. It is now playing before a variety of Israeli and Palestinian audiences in the region and is showing in theaters, campuses and communities across the US. Watch the trailer below:

Open City Documentary Film Festival London’s newest film festival is a 4 day celebration of documentary filmmaking brought together by University College London (UCL). Open City runs June 16-19, 2011. They have extended their submission deadline to March 10th. Find out more about submission guidelines on their website and submit your film today! Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund The Tribeca Film Institute has partnered with the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms Initiative to create the Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund (TFI Media). $750,000 in funds will provide support to film projects that go beyond traditional screens by integrating film with content across newer media platforms, from video games and mobile apps to social networks and micro-blogging. All projects will activate audiences around issues of contemporary social justice and equality. Submissions will open on April 4th and run through May 25th. Mark it on your calendars now and start preparing! Media That Matters The eleventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival is now accepting entries for short films 8-10 minutes long. If selected, your film will become a part of Media That Matters™ — an international, multi-platform campaign streaming and playing to thousands of people at screenings across the globe. Check out the criteria and fill in the online submission form. George Stoney Fellowship Working Films is seeking candidates with a demonstrated commitment to social justice and an interest in documentary film and social media for the 2011 George Stoney Fellowship. The fellowship will last 8-10 weeks starting in May/June 2011 at our main office in Wilmington, North Carolina. The deadline is May 1st. Please click here for information on how to apply. Chicken & Egg Pictures Are you a woman filmmaker? Do you have a unique story and great characters that will transform conversations and inspire the world? If so then submit a funding proposal to Chicken & Egg Pictures. C&E funds female filmmakers and offers them mentorship, collaboration, community building and strategic feedback. The deadline to apply is March 30th. Visit Chicken & Egg’s website for more information. Games for Changes Submissions are now open for the 2nd Annual Games for Change Awards, leading global advocate for supporting and making games for social impact. The Games for Change Festival is the largest gaming event in New York City and the only international event uniting "games for change" creators, the public, civil society, academia, the gaming industry and media. Deadline is March 31 and the awards ceremony will be presented in NYC on June 22. Please click here to read the full criteria and entry form. konsonant/ Sounding Together initiative (STi) | Indie Fellowship This fellowship will give free music licenses to indie filmmakers working on socially conscious films. This is the first part of the konsonant/ STi which seeks to help projects aiming to make a difference. konsonant/ will choose a handful of filmmakers to work with throughout the year, providing them with the music their causes deserve. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2011. Apply now! PUMA.Creative Impact Award The PUMA.Creative Impact Award is 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 filmmakers and will help the continuation of the film’s campaign work. Deadline to apply is April 1st. Find out more on their website. Pink Sheep Film Festival Wilmington, North Carolina's first annual LGBTQ film festival will be one of the main events  during Wilmington's Pride Week on June 10th, 2011. The festival is dedicated to showcasing positive LGBTQ themed films. Deadline for submissions is May 3rd. Click here to apply.

On Wednesday, March 9th at 6:00pm, the Center for Food Safety in collaboration with Congressman Dennis Kucinich will present a special screening of Pig Business at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center’s North Orientation Theater in Washington, DC. The film explores the impact of factory pig farms on the environment, workers, human health, rural communities and animal welfare. Introductory remarks will be made by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr and the director of Pig Business, Tracy Worcester. Following the film will be a panel of expert speakers: • Michael Greger, M.D., Humane Society of the United States • Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Waterkeeper Alliance • Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety • Kathy Ozer, National Family Farm Coalition Please encourage your Members of Congress to attend this event by signing this campaign letter, or better yet, contact them directly. Please also share this campaign with your NGO members by asking them to write to their Members of Congress urging them to attend this event. By inviting your legislators they will understand how the factory farming system: • abuses animals by keeping pregnant sows in narrow steel cages on bare concrete floors • sickens neighboring residents with toxic fumes • pollutes rivers and the coast with untreated waste causing massive fish kills • endangers human health by overusing antibiotics • destroys rural communities by driving local family farmers out of business For more information about Pig Business, please visit: www.pigbusiness.co.uk.

Are you an independent filmmaker who needs free music for your film? konsonant/ Sounding Together initiative (STi) | Indie Fellowship will give free music licenses to indie filmmakers working on socially conscious films. This is the first part of the konsonant/ STi which seeks to help projects aiming to make a difference. konsonant/ will choose a handful of filmmakers to work with throughout the year, providing them with the music their causes deserve. If your project is not ready yet, don't fret; they will be announcing other opportunities for fellowships as the year progresses.  You will need to provide links to your website and trailer, and a concise synopsis of your film. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2011. Apply now!

Two films involved with the Reel Power film series are nominated for Oscars this year! Gasland, a film by Josh Fox about the dangers of the natural gas industry, is up for Best Documentary. And Sun Come Up, by Jennifer Redfearn about the exodus of some of the world’s first Climate Refugees, is nominated for Best Short Documentary. Make this Oscar broadcast a meaningful experience with actions that will help stop climate change, protect our country’s drinking water and produce a clean, safe energy future.

GASLAND

SUN COME UP Tune into the Academy Awards on ABC on February 27, 2011 at 8p.m. EST and cheer on these great films. You can take these steps to ensure your Oscar night is focused on more than just the red carpet’s best dressed list: 1. Get Reel! Have a computer accessible so your guests can immediately watch the Reel Power film trailer at commercial time and sign up to join our email list. Joining Reel Power: Films Fueling the Energy Revolution will help you stay up to date with more world-changing documentary films like Gasland and Sun Come Up. 2. Stop Fracking! Ask your guests to email the President or you can pre-print the letter supplied by Gasland for your guests to sign. 4. Raise the Roof! Let your Oscar Party double as a House Raiser for the Carteret Islanders by taking donations to help build a new home for a family forced to relocate because of Climate Change. Learn more about how you can be an official House Raiser at the Sun Come Up website and email Stephanie Bleyer at bleyer [at] gmail.com to sign up. 5. Keep the party going! Host a screening of Gasland in March and Sun Come Up in April so your family and friends can see the full versions of the films. To learn more about hosting screenings sign up for the Reel Power email list.

"One of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years." - Variety "On the want-to-see- scale, GASLAND tops the list" - Washington Post "Riveting" - LA Weekly "GASLAND just might be the best film of the year." - The Huffington Post

The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. The Reel Power film for March, Gasland, asks the important question- Is fracking safe?

Gasland started as a personal journey when filmmaker Josh Fox was asked to lease his family land in Pennsylvania for drilling. Determined to find the truth, Josh embarked on a cross-country odyssey with a camera and his trusty banjo, uncovering a trail of secrets and contamination. It was an odyssey that would change his life and culminated in a critically acclaimed and now Oscar-nominated documentary. Since it’s premier on HBO, Fox has been tireless in his campaign to raise awareness about the dangers posed by the natural gas industry. Recently he and Oscar-nominated actor and Gasland fan Mark Ruffallo held a press conference in Washington D.C. and spoke with members of Congress about the need for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing to protect our nation’s drinking water. Get Involved!: 1) Tune In to the Academy Awards on February 27th on ABC at 8p.m. EST to cheer Gasland on and Take Action during the broadcast with your friends by writing President Obama a letter asking for his support of the FRAC Act and for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. 2) Spread the word by Hosting a House Party of Oscar-nominated Gasland in March. A house party is a great way to engage your community with the issue of hydraulic fracturing while providing important information about the recent boom in gas drilling across the nation. Use the home screening toolkit to help plan your party. 3) Stay Connected to the Reel Power Film series and plan ahead. Our April featured film will be Sun Come Up. And the Oscar goes to.... The Gasland team has put together a great how-to guide to help you plan and execute a stellar Oscar party that will lead to meaningful actions by your friends and community: At 8:00 P.M. EDT on February 27, 2011 Gasland will be among the nominees for Best Documentary Feature at the 83rd Academy Awards™ in Los Angeles. We want you to invite your friends and family over to watch the ceremony together and to take immediate action to urge Congress and President Obama to support the FRAC Act and a national moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. Here are some ways to get started: 1) Invite your guests via email, phone or listserv. Tweet about it (our hashtag is #gaslandmovie) create a Facebook Event (& join our Facebook fan page). 2) The better the snacks, the better the party. In the spirit of supporting environmental sustainability, purchase ingredients from your local farmer’s market or plan a group potluck made up of dishes with local ingredients.  To cut down on waste, do not use disposable cutlery or plates and have a recycling bin visibly placed in your home. 3) At 8PM EST tune into the show on ABC and cheer on Gasland! 4) Have a computer accessible so your guests can immediately email the President, join the Gasland fan page on Facebook and sign up for our e-mail list. Hand out the pre-printed letter to President Obama to your guests, collect the completed letters and mail them right away. 5) The day after, send a thank you e-mails to your guests with links to our partner organizations.