LATEST NEWS

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 you, and by submitting, you’ll join Withoutabox’s global filmmaker community and stay in the loop about international exhibition opportunities. For the less technically saavy (and that's OK!), you may also download the paper application.

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 out in an era dominated by commercial media. All genres, styles and lengths welcome. Cash awards for winning film entries. "Early Bird" Deadline (lower entry fee): January 8, 2010 Regular Deadline: January 22, 2010 Entry form and more info at: www.talkingpicturesfestival.org The inaugural 2009 Talking Pictures Festival received much press coverage and attracted 1,100 filmgoers over the course of a long weekend. Check out the 2009 fest schedule and award-winners on the fest website: www.talkingpicturesfestival.org The Talking Pictures Festival is produced by Percolator Films, a non-profit film organization that also organizes the popular ten-year-old Reeltime film and discussion series. More info at: www.talkingpicturesfestival.org www.percolatorfilms.org

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 cost of throwing out the expertise of the Zaballeen, Egypt's "garbage people," who recycle 80% of everything they collect. The 2009 IDA Documentary Awards took place on Friday, Dec. 4 at 8 pm at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA.

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 for Those Who Take Action and Effect Change was given to Kodak for its support of female cinematographers. This year Wendy Ettinger, co-founder of Chicken and Egg Pictures, says she's thrilled the NY-WIFT acknowledged her organization because it meant the awards show, which usually focuses on women in fictional films and television, was giving a nod to women who work on documentaries. To Judith Helfand, who also co-founded the company along with Ettinger and Julie Parker Benello, the honor made her reflect on the road she traveled to get to where she is today. When Helfand was 27 and working on her first film, A Healthy Baby Girl (which went on to win a Peabody), she went to Terry Lawler, now the executive director of the NY-WIFT but then part of the staff for Women Make Movies, for help with financing. "I had this meeting with her and she essentially said, 'You can do this. This is great. I really believe in this. I believe in you,'" remembers Helfand. Now, 18 years later, Helfand is on the other side of the table telling new female filmmakers she believes in them. "The only other thing that's better than having someone say, 'I believe in you' is being able to say that to someone else and really feel like you have the ability to help them." The core grant given by Chicken and Egg to women working on film projects is aptly entitled I Believe in You, and each year the organization gives out grants and mentoring hours to women filmmakers who are looking for assistance. In the almost five years the organization has been together, it has awarded over one million dollars in grants and has provided more than 2,300 hours of mentoring to 52 films. Ettinger, Helfand and Parker Benello hope to replicate these numbers within the next three years. The "egg" of Chicken and Egg Pictures was laid when Ettinger and Parker Benello were board members at Helfand's Working Films (which she co-founded with Robert West), an organization which helps filmmakers to develop outreach programs for their projects. At one of the board meetings the three of them put their heads together and hatched the idea to raise some money and start giving grants to women filmmakers. "Judith had the [idea] that it's not just about the money. It's about the mentorship and being in a community and not [making films] in isolation," says Parker Benello. "We launched a month or two later, and that first year [we] gave about $50,000 in grants." Another way they give back to the community is through awards such as the Emergent Women Narrative Directing Award they gave for the first time this year at SXSW, and their third annual Chicken and Egg event at Sundance where they bring together a mix of filmmakers and documentary industry members to showcase a few of the filmmakers they've supported and honor a woman in the field. Currently, Monica and David, a doc by Ali Codina which follows an adult couple with Down's Syndrome during their first year of marriage, is making the festival rounds and is currently awaiting word on its television debut, while William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is currently in theaters and will be on 'POV' in the new year. Deep Down, a project by Sally Rubina and Jen Gilomen examines how the practice of mountain top removal in search of coal in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky is affecting a local community, and will be screening in Copenhagen at the UN Climate Change Conference and later on PBS. The funds for the grants given out by Chicken and Egg come mainly from women filmmakers of means and some smaller foundations that the team has brought on board, the largest of which they call "Nesters" who commit for $50,000 a year for three years. As far as what they are looking for from letters of inquiry, Ettinger says that not only is storytelling a huge factor in their decision, but also, a clear vision, passion and a willingness to be with the film over a long term are vital. Helfand adds that the inspiration behind the story is also important. "We look inside what's being offered to us and look at what this person is sharing with us, and at their background and what their interests are," she says. "It's a whole package. It's never just the reel they send us."

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 for Those Who Take Action and Effect Change was given to Kodak for its support of female cinematographers. This year Wendy Ettinger, co-founder of Chicken and Egg Pictures, says she's thrilled the NY-WIFT acknowledged her organization because it meant the awards show, which usually focuses on women in fictional films and television, was giving a nod to women who work on documentaries. To Judith Helfand, who also co-founded the company along with Ettinger and Julie Parker Benello, the honor made her reflect on the road she traveled to get to where she is today. When Helfand was 27 and working on her first film, A Healthy Baby Girl (which went on to win a Peabody), she went to Terry Lawler, now the executive director of the NY-WIFT but then part of the staff for Women Make Movies, for help with financing. "I had this meeting with her and she essentially said, 'You can do this. This is great. I really believe in this. I believe in you,'" remembers Helfand. Now, 18 years later, Helfand is on the other side of the table telling new female filmmakers she believes in them. "The only other thing that's better than having someone say, 'I believe in you' is being able to say that to someone else and really feel like you have the ability to help them." The core grant given by Chicken and Egg to women working on film projects is aptly entitled I Believe in You, and each year the organization gives out grants and mentoring hours to women filmmakers who are looking for assistance. In the almost five years the organization has been together, it has awarded over one million dollars in grants and has provided more than 2,300 hours of mentoring to 52 films. Ettinger, Helfand and Parker Benello hope to replicate these numbers within the next three years. The "egg" of Chicken and Egg Pictures was laid when Ettinger and Parker Benello were board members at Helfand's Working Films (which she co-founded with Robert West), an organization which helps filmmakers to develop outreach programs for their projects. At one of the board meetings the three of them put their heads together and hatched the idea to raise some money and start giving grants to women filmmakers. "Judith had the [idea] that it's not just about the money. It's about the mentorship and being in a community and not [making films] in isolation," says Parker Benello. "We launched a month or two later, and that first year [we] gave about $50,000 in grants." Another way they give back to the community is through awards such as the Emergent Women Narrative Directing Award they gave for the first time this year at SXSW, and their third annual Chicken and Egg event at Sundance where they bring together a mix of filmmakers and documentary industry members to showcase a few of the filmmakers they've supported and honor a woman in the field. Currently, Monica and David, a doc by Ali Codina which follows an adult couple with Down's Syndrome during their first year of marriage, is making the festival rounds and is currently awaiting word on its television debut, while William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is currently in theaters and will be on 'POV' in the new year. Deep Down, a project by Sally Rubina and Jen Gilomen examines how the practice of mountain top removal in search of coal in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky is affecting a local community, and will be screening in Copenhagen at the UN Climate Change Conference and later on PBS. The funds for the grants given out by Chicken and Egg come mainly from women filmmakers of means and some smaller foundations that the team has brought on board, the largest of which they call "Nesters" who commit for $50,000 a year for three years. As far as what they are looking for from letters of inquiry, Ettinger says that not only is storytelling a huge factor in their decision, but also, a clear vision, passion and a willingness to be with the film over a long term are vital. Helfand adds that the inspiration behind the story is also important. "We look inside what's being offered to us and look at what this person is sharing with us, and at their background and what their interests are," she says. "It's a whole package. It's never just the reel they send us."

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 view past shows. Tonight they will be talking to environmentalist, writer and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. The Stupid Show is hosted by oneclimate as part of their Copenhagen 24/7 webcast.

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 to put the message of local and healthy food into a new medium that has the ability to feel less didactic, and more elective. We hope that the games are fun to play and that they empower players to make more active food choices.

Media is a powerful tool for social change that is exemplified by both documentary film and the interactive web. In our outreach, we worked to diversify our methods of delivering the message so that even when playing a simple game, users realize that they have choices, and that they can play an active role in what food they eat, what means of production they encourage, etc. In this age of aggressive growth in technology, we strive to encourage positive choices.

From the beginning of production, our partners have contributed opinions and examples that became content. When we developed our outreach plan, which detailed the aims of the website, we engaged our partners such as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Stone Barns Center. By the time we began building the site with the web design team, Future Farmers, we were very well prepared with a creative brief, statistics, and structural outline. Future Farmers’ specialty is creating educational but fun webgames so they were a natural fit for this project. In addition to the website, we partnered with Solar One to produce a curriculum that correlates to the film’s major themes. There is a synergy between the style of the curriculum lessons and the webgames, which allows for a cohesive overall public image of the project.

Now with the website launched, we are constantly tweaking the fine details, but we are proud of its execution. We have been able to get the games to a wider and strategic audiences through our partners who are spreading the word about the site to their own constituents, e.g., by linking to our site through theirs, by mentioning it in their newsletters, etc.

In 2009, Working Films helped coordinate and facilitated our first partner summit in the office of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Based on the discussions at the summit, Working Films created a report with suggestions and action items which became part of the basis for our continuing strategies, including the webgames.

Visit our website and fan us on Facebook!

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 two and have spent the last two promoting the film and sharing the film with audiences all over the world! We have been blown away by the positive responses and how the themes of the film--puberty, relationships, culture, identity, self-love--have been universally received in so many communities across cultures, genders and age groups. Our website shares the specifics about the film: www.goingon13.com.

We wanted to create a girl community online that goes beyond the typical fashion and fan pages that currently exist. We were looking to create something that really allows girls to be themselves and share what is most important to them. We are still fine tuning the site and hope to fully launch it in the early spring of 2010. This site will take the film out of the DVD and into the lives of girls and the people who care for them. It will allow us to extend the themes and ideas of the film far beyond the film to the national and international communities of girls. We have to work out some of the challenges with it--safety for one--before we really launch it so keep your eyes open for the launch of the site.

We collaborated with Girls Inc of Alameda County, Missing Pixel, Lower East Side Girls Club, and others. The girls and staff from these organizations helped us design the interactive website, gurlstalkback.com, and informed us about the content and design. We worked with a team of 15 middle school girls to see what they were interested in and what would make the site exciting to them. They loved the cell phone polls and the ability to post their stories and photos. We also have two high school girls from Girls Inc of Alameda County who are the moderators for the site -- making sure girls aren't bullying each other and making sure no creepy predatory adults are seeping in. They are awesome and have posted on our blog last summer.

Working Films has been a partner on this project since nearly its inception. Kristy and I attended a workshop that Robert West hosted at the now defunct Films Arts Foundation (RIP). He inspired us to partner with youth organizations and to think about community engagement all throughout production. Later I went to the Working Films' MASS MoCA filmmaker residency in 2005 (for my 40th birthday!) and really benefited from the training, support and analysis he, Judith Helfand and the other participants gave me on our film and our plan. We have utilized the contacts and relationships and ideas generated there and throughout the process of creating the film. We are truly honored to be part of and indebted to Working Films -- all of the staff have been great!