You know how much we love watching and reading about new films, so please don’t deny us the opportunity to learn about yours. Send in your application today for the 2009 Content + Intent Documentary Institute, Working Films’ residency at MASS MoCA. If we have your application in our inbox by January 28, and your project is selected you will spend 5 jam packed days with the Working Films team in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. From March 11-15, 2009 we will guide you through the creation of an…
What is your favorite food? If you are like me, that’s an easy question to answer. Let’s try some more difficult questions: Where does your favorite food come from, and what steps does it go through to get to your plate? Does it originate in many different large-scale farms in far away countries? With the average vegetable traveling 1500 miles from farm to table, that is a very likely answer. I hope it’s not too much of an assumption that there is some form of vegetable involved in your choice.…
Filmmaker Selena Burks left the 2006 Working Films Content + Intent Documentary Institute at MASS MoCA feeling charged and armed with the know-how to develop the community engagement campaign for her documentary Saving Jackie. Saving Jackie is a snapshot of a recovering addict’s attempt to strengthen her damaged relationships with her two estranged daughters. Over the course of the documentary, daughter/director Selena Burks revisits life changing events and examines the long-term side effects of abusive behaviors on family relationships. Selena recently shared with me, her thoughts on the residency: I…
I just got back from the LGBT Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative Summit in Washington, DC which was sponsored by Jonathan Lewis, Human Rights Campaign, Bolthouse Farms, Victory Fund, Center for American Progress Action Fund, National Organizing Institute, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and many others. I met many different kinds of bloggers and writers. Some were personal bloggers who did not consider themselves activists while others were hard core activists and politicos. We all shared one thing in common: We all identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or…
Working Films offers a range of services specifically for filmmakers. Among those services are resource documents, residencies, summit meetings and free consultations to name a few. Over the years, we have provided one-on-one consultations to over 450 filmmakers at many different stages of their film. Many filmmakers are full of questions while some aren’t really quite sure where to begin. Prior to the actual conversation, filmmakers fill out a short, four question form about their film which helps prepare us in finding the best possible strategies and suggestions for their…
As we gear up for the Content + Intent Documentary Institute, Working Films Residency at MASS MoCA for 2009 I have been in touch with alumni of the residency to see what they are up to and find out about ways the residency has influenced their audience engagement efforts. I was very excited when I received an email from ’06 Mass MoCA alum Paula Consolini sharing with me a new educational website that she has built using clips from her film Breaking the Mold. When Paula was at the MASS…
As we begin taking applications for the 2009 Content + Intent Documentary Institute, Working Films’ Residency at MASS MoCA we wanted to give you a sense of what the experience was like for other filmmakers. In March of 2008 Sean Flynn joined 10 other documentarians for our 5 day workshop in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. The following are reflections on the residency that Sean so graciously agreed to share with us. If Sean’s experience sparks your interest in the Institute click here for more info and download the…
One of our newest projects is Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a film by Abigail Disney and Gini Reticker. This award winning film chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together across faith to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. We are so excited to be part of the efforts to engage audiences in the issues of women’s power and the potential of nonviolent action, and we are thrilled that the film is receiving stellar reviews. Pray the Devil…
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…
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…
Recent Comments