SilverDocs now accepting submissions for 2010

SILVERDOCS supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and fosters the power of documentary to enhance our understanding of the world. Important Deadlines to remember when submitting your film(s): Early Deadline for Submissions is January 15, 2010 Regular Deadline for Submissions is March 12, 2010 Late Deadline for Submissions is March 19, 2010 They prefer you submit your film through Withoutabox. It’s easy: fill out one master entry form and take advantage of quick entry, extended deadlines, and powerful submission management tools. There’s no extra cost to…

Talking Pictures Festival accepting submissions

The 2010 Talking Pictures Festival invites independent filmmakers to submit their films to its second annual festival competition. Now in its second year, The 2010 Talking Pictures Festival draws audience members from the northern Chicago metro-area to this annual celebration of independent film from around the world. True to its name, screenings at The Talking Pictures Festival are often accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, guest speakers or community groups. They are seeking films that are thought-provoking, moving, vibrant, authentic, artful and informative… and that have an independent point-of-view that stands…

Garbage Dreams Wins the IDA/Humanitas Award

The IDA/Humanitas Award, a new prize for 2009, went to Mai Iskander’s Garbage Dreams.  The IDA/ Humanitas Award is given to a documentarian whose film strives to unify the human family by exploring the stories of human beings who are different in culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs in order to break down the wall of ignorance and fear that separates us. As you may know Working Films is directing the Garbage Dreams Tour, a community-based screening campaign aimed at demonstrating the true value of trash and the…

Chicken and Egg gives wings to female filmmakers' projects

by: Lindsay Gibb, Reelscreen This past week the women behind Chicken and Egg Pictures, a New York-based hybrid film fund and mentoring production company for female filmmakers, were given the Loreen Arbus Award at the New York Women in Film and Television’s (NY-WIFT) Muse Awards. Realscreen spoke with Judith Helfand, Julie Parker Benello and Wendy Ettinger (pictured, left to right) about the meaning of Chicken and Egg, what they’re looking for in the projects they support and what plans they’re hatching for the future. Last year the Loreen Arbus Award…

Live from Copenhagen: The Stupid Show

The Age of Stupid hasn’t called it quits now that their film is finished and out in the world. They are broadcasting live from the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen with the aim to make “the most important meeting in human history comprehensible to people without degrees in hot air”. The filmmakers are working in close collaboration with NGOs to distribute the Stupid Show via the internet to a number of audiences and engage a number of global citizens in Copenhagen. You can watch it live on the ageofstupid.net or…

Social Media Special Guest Blog: What’s On Your Plate?

Filmmakers and organizations are coming up with creative ways to incorporate a spectrum of social media into film campaigns, including interactive websites and games, issue-based social networking communities, podcasts and web TV shows. The team at What’s On Your Plate? join us as guest bloggers to share how they’re using gaming to engage young people in the campaign. The What’s On Your Plate? games were designed to engage a broad audience, particularly visitors interested in having fun and exploring more themes of the film. We saw this as an opportunity…

Social Media Special Guest Blog: Going on 13

Filmmakers and organizations are coming up with creative ways to incorporate a spectrum of social media into film campaigns, including interactive websites and games, issue-based social networking communities, podcasts and web TV shows. Filmmaker Dawn Valadez joins us as a guest blogger to share how she and her partners created their own social networking community just for girls. Going on 13 began in 2000 and was an ambitious journey to capture the transformation of 4 pre-teen girls as they became young women. We shot the film for four years and edited for…

Social Media Special Guest Blog: No Impact Project

Filmmakers and organizations are coming up with creative ways to incorporate a spectrum of social media into film campaigns, including interactive websites and games, issue-based social networking communities, podcasts and web TV shows. Associate Director of the No Impact Project, Stephanie Bleyer, joins us as a guest blogger to share how she’s using a widget as part of the No Impact Project’s campaign. The No Impact Project and the Center for a New American Dream have joined together to help communities simplify the holidays this year. During the two-weeks of…

Social Media Special Guest Blog: The Line

Filmmakers and organizations are coming up with creative ways to incorporate a spectrum of social media into film campaigns, including interactive websites and games, issue-based social networking communities, podcasts and web TV shows. Filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman joins us as a guest blogger to share how she’s using popular social media tools to engage young people in her campaign. @thelinecampaign: Sex. Consent. Power. Pleasure. The Line is a film. The Line is a movement. The Line is up to you. “The Line is about building a world where people are free…

How Can My Movie Help the Movement? Forming Authentic Partnerships

In our consultations with filmmakers, at our strategic summits, in our workshops and residencies, and during informal conversations at film festivals we are always trying to hammer home for filmmakers the importance of forming solid, ongoing, mutually-beneficial partnerships with organizations working on the issues featured in their films. From the start of our work ten years ago, we found strategic partnerships – finding the right NGOs, funders, and even brands – to be the one key component for successful film campaigns. If we identified the right partners, the rest came…