Women's Philanthropy--Women's Issues

SUN COME UP nominated for an Oscar! | WMM Production Assistance Program

News You Can Use Published regularly by Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program, News You Can Use serves as a resource for independent filmmakers and film enthusiasts.   Subscribe to News You Can Use here. Learn more: Production Assistance Fiscal Sponsorship Filmmaker Workshop Series Filmmaker of SUN COME UP, Jennifer Redfearn NYSCA Electronic Media and Film Program Distribution for New York State Artists Administered by free103point9 For more information on the Production Assistance Program  please visit our website   Apply to NYSCA through WMM, January 26-February 18. Click here. SUN COME UP is one of many Production Assistance films that have been nominated for top honors! Be a part of the WMM PA Program - the next deadline to apply is February 15.  Hillman Prize in Broadcast Journalism: honors journalism that fosters social and economic justice. Postmark Deadline January 31 - click here. Women Make Movies 462 Broadway, Suite 500 New York, NY 10013 P/212-925-0606 x300 F/212-925-2052 fsprogram@wmm.com www.wmm.com January 25, 2011 SPECIAL EDITION: WMM CONGRATULATES SUN COME UP AND OTHER OSCAR NOMINEES 2011 Academy Award Nominee SUN COME UP, a WMM Production Assistance film     WMM congratulates Jennifer Redfearn on her Academy Award© nomination for Best Documentary, Short Subject film, with SUN COME UP, which was produced through WMM's Production Assistance (PA) Program. Kudos also to Tracie Holder, WMM Production Assistance Program Consultant, who served as a Consulting Producer for the film.   For the past four years, films from the WMM PA Program have been part of the Academy Awards in Best Documentary categories: FREEHELD, 2008 winner in Short Subject; NERAKHOON, 2009 nominee in Feature; WHICH WAY HOME, 2010 nominee in Feature; and now 2011 nominee SUN COME UP in Short Subject.   SUN COME UP is a lyrical documentary that follows the relocation of the first indigenous culture to lose their ancestral land to climate change – the Carteret Islanders, a community of 3,000 people living on a chain of low-lying islands in the South Pacific Ocean. This is a story about the human face of climate change and a people faced with the loss of a land in which their identity rests.   The film has already received accolades at several festivals, including a world premiere at Full Frame, winner of the Golden Cine at the Montana Cine International Film Festival, and a theatrical run at IFC Center, during IDA DocuWeeks.   SUN COME UP will also be screening on February 10 at 92Y Tribeca as part of the "Story Leads to Action" monthly series.   Congratulations also go to other women who have been nominated:   Lisa Cholodenko (former WMM staff!), Best Screenplay, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Anne Rosellini, Best Adapted Screenplay, WINTER'S BONE Sara Nesson, Best Documentary, Short Subject, POSTER GIRL Karen Goodman, Best Documentary, Short Subject, STRANGERS NO MORE Ruby Yang, Best Documentary, Short Subject, THE WARRIORS OF QUIGANG Trish Adlesic, Best Documentary, GASLAND Audrey Marrs, Best Documentary, INSIDE JOB Lucy Walker, Best Documentary, WASTE LAND Emma Thomas (Producer), Best Picture, INCEPTION Celine Rattray (Producer), Best Picture, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Darla K. Anderson (Producer), Best Picture, TOY STORY 3 Alix Madigan-Yorkin and Anne Rosellini (Producers), Best Picture, WINTER'S BONE   PA Program   |   Workshops   |   WMM Catalog About WMM: Women Make Movies is the world's leading distributor of independent films by and about women. For three years in a row, films from WMM have taken home top prizes at Sundance. In 2009, ROUGH AUNTIES by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Longinotto won the World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize; and in 2008 THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO received the Special Jury Prize in Documentary. Additionally, WMM's well-established Production Assistance (PA) Program helps American women directors get their stories to the screen. Recent films of note from the Production Assistance Program include Oscar-nominated NERAKHOON (THE BETRAYAL) by Ellen Kuras and EL GENERAL, by Natalia Almada, winner of the Sundance Directing Award in U.S. Documentary. For more, visit our website at www.wmm.com.

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Join Gloria Steinem, Gloria Feldt, Loretta Ross, Julie Burton for Choice

Today marks the 38th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman’s right to choose. Last month, Gloria Steinem, Gloria Feldt, Loretta Ross and I emailed you asking for your support of Not Under The Bus, the Women’s Media Center’s rapid-response communications hub and multimedia campaign to keep women’s health care fair, safe, and covered.  We received a wonderful response from our supporters, and sincerely thank those of you who gave generously to support this important project. But the reality is that this year’s Roe anniversary is one of the darkest ones, and we still need your support.  This week, the U.S. House of Representatives – now controlled by an anti-choice majority – introduced legislation that would raise taxes for recipients of health plans that cover abortion, tighten restrictions on abortion for rape and incest victims, and ban abortion access for women serving in the military. I know you and I did not fight (for decades!) to be faced with this kind of unbelievable threat to our reproductive lives. Please help the Women’s Media Center continue to build a megaphone and get our pro-choice messages across: https://donate.womensmediacenter.com/page/contribute/wmc. In solidarity, Julie Burton, President Women’s Media Center PS: Be sure to check out Friday's exclusive Women’s Media Center commentary Violent Rhetoric Has Consequences – Just Ask Abortion Providers by Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation. ------- From: Women's Media Center <info@womensmediacenter.com> To: Stephanie Doty Date: Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 1:01 PM Subject: Join Gloria Steinem, Gloria Feldt, Loretta Ross, Julie Burton for Choice Dear Stephanie, Did you know…. … that Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, is blocking funds for the first National Museum of Women’s History because he objects to its inclusion of Margaret Sanger? … that Rush Limbaugh brought abortion even into his agenda on TSA on screenings by asking (seriously), “Will these scans be able to tell whether or not a woman has had an abortion?” … that Glenn Beck fronts for the right wing strategy to claim a civil rights mantle for the corporate-backed, anti-environment, anti-choice rightwing, and to divide the overwhelmingly progressive and pro-Obama Black community?  They have turned the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washingtoninto a Tea Party rally, used Fox News to attack longtime civil rights activist Shirley Sherrod, presented Priests for Life as Freedom Riders protesting the (false) idea that abortion is “Black genocide,” and mounted rallies and billboards in Atlanta – also soon to appear in more communities -- that declare “African-American children are an endangered species." …that the US House of Representatives will be led by obsessively anti-choice John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, whose anti-choice majority took an on extra 43 anti-choice members in the midterms, aided by a Senate with 6 additional anti-choice votes -- all with the sworn agenda of throwing women in this and other countries under the bus by de-funding and then reversing domestic and global reproductive freedom. There is only thing more dangerous than all of the above – not knowing all of the above. And there will be much more.  That's why it's the job of the Women’s Me di a C en ter to use new and old media to get the facts out, correct biased framing by the media, and to identify and train diverse, trustworthy, popular spokeswomen who alert the country to threats to the human right to reproductive freedom – and what you and we can do together to protect it.   During the healthcare debates, for instance, when Congressman Bart Stupak was posing the maximum danger, the Women’s Media Center launched  Not Under The Bus -- the only site that brings the whole pro-choice community together, aggregating critical campaigns, commentary and video from the WMC’s leadership and our pro-choice allies. Our strong voice amplified those who were fighting against the Stupak Amendment.  And we clarified the many media misconceptions about what Stupak meant for women’s health and rights.  Frankly, we think we also gave courage and leverage to many of you who felt women’s voices needed to be more prominent and less equivocal in that debate.   Not Under The Bus is again ready to roll out as a basic part of the media landscape and the public consciousness.    Not Under The Bus is a unique and critical project fighting biased media coverage through a rapid-response communications hub and multimedia campaign to protect women’s right to reproductive health. We’ve done the groundwork, and now all we need is your help to rally and amplify pro-choice voices across the country. Can you help?  Only your support will win the fight for women’s reproductive choice. Donate, say, the cost of one dinner or a few months of movies or anything else in your life that won’t give you nearly as much pleasure as watching women be trusted to decide their own reproductive lives. Please give $50, $250, $500, or more today! womensmediacenter.com/donate Do you remember last year when the mainstream media amplified anti-choice Democrat Bart Stupak’s voice loud and clear – but not the majority views of women?  With fewer than 20 percent of all managerial positions at media outlets held by women, and only 25 percent of op-eds in major newspapers written by women, it’s no wonder that our media often fails us when it comes to reality-based discussion of our reproductive rights. Remember: A woman’s ability to decide when and whether to have children – including comprehensive sex education and affordable birth control in order to avoid abortion as well as to choose safe childbirth – is the single greatest determinant of her health, ability to go to school, economic status and even her longevity. This is not a single issue.   Like freedom of speech and assembly, this is a basic human right.  But it’s up to us to keep the media from trivializing it.  womensmediacenter.com/donate With your help, women’s lives will not be thrown under the bus. With friendship, Gloria Steinem Co-Founder, Women’s Media Center Gloria Feldt Board, Women’s Media Center Loretta Ross National Coordinator of SisterSong Julie Burton Interim President, Women’s Media Center PS: Longtime activist and author, Gloria Steinem, has joined with Gloria Feldt (activist, author, and former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America), Loretta Ross (National Coordinator of SisterSong, whose Trust Black Women Campaign is countering rightwing propaganda about abortion), and Julie Burton (former Executive Director of Voters For Choice and Founding Executive Director of Choice USA) to lead the WMC’s Not Under the Bus campaign. You did not vote for and don’t deserve this threat to our reproductive lives.  Help us amplify your majority voice with Not Under the Bus: womensmediacenter.com/donate. Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

Gifford’s Tragedy: What’s the Message to Young Women?

Gifford’s Tragedy: What’s the Message to Young Women? by Gloria Feldt Leaders like Gabrielle Giffords, and the young women she inspires, must take the lead to restore our democracy. When an angry young man aimed his semiautomatic handgun at Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a Tucson Safeway store on Saturday, he didn’t just critically wound her and kill or wound 19 others. He fired a shot through the heart of American democracy. It will fall to rising leaders like Giffords—and girls like nine-year-old Christina Green, killed by the assailant’s gunfire just days after she was elected to her school’s student council—to transform our political community to one where differences can be debated safely and policies decided without fear for anything but re-election prospects. Click here to read full article. To read other WMC Exclusives, click here. Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

EXCLUSIVE: In Chile, a Spiritual Space for Activism

In Chile, a Spiritual Place for Activism by Maxine Lowy Women who formed the backbone of the antipoverty and human rights work of liberation theology in Latin America have organized for women's empowerment for decades. Twenty years since Chile emerged from dictatorship, the legacy of faith-based activism against authoritarianism lives on among women who challenge traditional patriarchal notions of Christian religion. The fertile ground that in these two decades has nurtured women who seek full participation in their churches and society at large is the annual Women’s Theological Week, which convened most recently November 17 to 19 in Santiago, Chile. Click here to read full article. To read other WMC Exclusives, click here. Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

Happy Holidays from the Women's Media Center's New President, Julie Burton!

Happy Holidays from the Women’s Media Center’s New President, Julie Burton! Join us for a recap of 2010 as we look forward to a prosperous 2011 From our family to yours, the board and staff of the Women’s Media Center wishes you a beautiful and healthy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year, full of hope, progress, and happiness.  We’re delighted to announce some exciting news, recap our victories and highlights of 2010, and share our first project of 2011 with you! First, we’re delighted to announce that Julie Burton is joining the WMC family as President! Founder and Board Member Gloria Steinem says, "It's a personal reward for me to be working again with Julie Burton. She has always been unique in her ability to be on the cutting edge of new media and get accurate information to the public through popular culture, from radio to rock concerts.  The Women's Media Center is lucky to have a President who combines the ethics of the best journalism with the speed and reach of electronic messengers." Jane Fonda, another Founder and Board Member says “I’m thrilled to work with Julie again, whom I first met many years ago as an leading pro-choice activist. We are lucky to have her permanently at the helm, and look forward to the mobilization of her newest ideas!” In addition to 2010 marking our 5 year anniversary, 2010 was a banner year for our programming and campaigns. We’d love to share our highlights with you here: Trained two spectacular 2010 classes of Progressive Women’s Voices Launched the Not Under The Bus campaign, fighting for reproductive justice in the health care reform bill Mobilized thousands during the Superbowl to address CBS’s airing of Focus on the Family’s anti-choice ad Partnered with WCF Foundation to launch the Name It. Change It. campaign, holding media accountable for sexist coverage of women candidates & leaders in the 2010 midterm elections Hosted Watch-Ins for Christiane Amanpour’s ‘This Week’, and MTV’s ‘16 & Loved’ coverage of teen abortions Partnered to host the SPARK summit and movement, addressing the sexualization of girls in the media, featuring Geena Davis Joined Prudential for the release of their 10th anniversary study on women’s financial behaviors, and hosted a SheSource luncheon celebrating our online database of women experts Stay tuned as we expand our girls programming and training at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January, and follow our live coverage as we train a team of girl activists to cover women in filmmaking, and celebrate the premiere of Miss Representation! We couldn’t do our work without you so above all, we thank you for your passion and dedication – For which we’re extremely grateful this holiday season. Wishing you a happy holiday, and brightest hopes in the New Year. Warmest,   The Board & Staff of the Women’s Media Center Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

Watch-in for MTV's 16 & Loved - Let MTV Know You Expect Continued Coverage of Teens Sharing Abortion Stories

Set your DVRs and TiVos for Dec 28th at 11:30p EST to show support for the first abortion coverage for MTV’s popular series “16 & Pregnant!” The Women's Media Center is hosting a virtual Watch-In on Facebook, and we’re asking you to join AND invite your friends. Why? Because this the first time in three seasons of MTV’s popular series “16 & Pregnant,” and one season of “Teen Mom” that MTV is airing stories of teens who choose to have abortions, called “No Easy Decision.”  Each episode reaches about 2 million viewers, so we need to ensure 'reality' television will continue to share stories of teens who choose abortions, as well as other options - Despite the backlash. Women’s Media Center urges you to show solidarity with MTV's partner Exhale, and to RSVP here to LET MTV THAT KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING AND EXPECTING CONTINUED, BALANCED COVERAGE ABOUT ALL OF THE OPTIONS AND SUPPORT TEENS HAVE WHEN FACING UNINTENDED PREGNANCY – And to show support for the brave teens who shared their stories for the show. WMC’s VP of Programs Jamia Wilson will be live-blogging and tweeting the “16 and Loved” special along with a team of bloggers including Jessica Valenti, Steph Herold, and Lynn Harris. Join our conversation live on December 28th at 11:30PM EST. Follow the conversation live on Twitter with the hashtags #16andloved, #WMCwatchin, and #provoice. Will you take a second to RSVP to our WMC Watch-in Facebook event, and then invite your friends? Thank you for your continued action! The entire WMC team Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

Join Gloria Steinem, Gloria Feldt, Loretta Ross, Julie Burton for Choice

Did you know…. … that Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, is blocking funds for the first National Museum of Women’s History because he objects to its inclusion of Margaret Sanger? … that Rush Limbaugh brought abortion even into his agenda on TSA on screenings by asking (seriously), “Will these scans be able to tell whether or not a woman has had an abortion?” … that Glenn Beck fronts for the right wing strategy to claim a civil rights mantle for the corporate-backed, anti-environment, anti-choice rightwing, and to divide the overwhelmingly progressive and pro-Obama Black community?  They have turned the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washingtoninto a Tea Party rally, used Fox News to attack longtime civil rights activist Shirley Sherrod, presented Priests for Life as Freedom Riders protesting the (false) idea that abortion is “Black genocide,” and mounted rallies and billboards in Atlanta – also soon to appear in more communities -- that declare “African-American children are an endangered species." …that the US House of Representatives will be led by obsessively anti-choice John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, whose anti-choice majority took an on extra 43 anti-choice members in the midterms, aided by a Senate with 6 additional anti-choice votes -- all with the sworn agenda of throwing women in this and other countries under the bus by de-funding and then reversing domestic and global reproductive freedom. There is only thing more dangerous than all of the above – not knowing all of the above. And there will be much more.  That's why it's the job of the Women’s Me di a C en ter to use new and old media to get the facts out, correct biased framing by the media, and to identify and train diverse, trustworthy, popular spokeswomen who alert the country to threats to the human right to reproductive freedom – and what you and we can do together to protect it.   During the healthcare debates, for instance, when Congressman Bart Stupak was posing the maximum danger, the Women’s Media Center launched  Not Under The Bus -- the only site that brings the whole pro-choice community together, aggregating critical campaigns, commentary and video from the WMC’s leadership and our pro-choice allies. Our strong voice amplified those who were fighting against the Stupak Amendment.  And we clarified the many media misconceptions about what Stupak meant for women’s health and rights.  Frankly, we think we also gave courage and leverage to many of you who felt women’s voices needed to be more prominent and less equivocal in that debate.   Not Under The Bus is again ready to roll out as a basic part of the media landscape and the public consciousness.    Not Under The Bus is a unique and critical project fighting biased media coverage through a rapid-response communications hub and multimedia campaign to protect women’s right to reproductive health. We’ve done the groundwork, and now all we need is your help to rally and amplify pro-choice voices across the country. Can you help?  Only your support will win the fight for women’s reproductive choice. Donate, say, the cost of one dinner or a few months of movies or anything else in your life that won’t give you nearly as much pleasure as watching women be trusted to decide their own reproductive lives. Please give $50, $250, $500, or more today! womensmediacenter.com/donate Do you remember last year when the mainstream media amplified anti-choice Democrat Bart Stupak’s voice loud and clear – but not the majority views of women?  With fewer than 20 percent of all managerial positions at media outlets held by women, and only 25 percent of op-eds in major newspapers written by women, it’s no wonder that our media often fails us when it comes to reality-based discussion of our reproductive rights. Remember: A woman’s ability to decide when and whether to have children – including comprehensive sex education and affordable birth control in order to avoid abortion as well as to choose safe childbirth – is the single greatest determinant of her health, ability to go to school, economic status and even her longevity. This is not a single issue.   Like freedom of speech and assembly, this is a basic human right.  But it’s up to us to keep the media from trivializing it.  womensmediacenter.com/donate With your help, women’s lives will not be thrown under the bus. With friendship, Gloria Steinem Co-Founder, Women’s Media Center Gloria Feldt Board, Women’s Media Center Loretta Ross National Coordinator of SisterSong Julie Burton Interim President, Women’s Media Center PS: Longtime activist and author, Gloria Steinem, has joined with Gloria Feldt (activist, author, and former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America), Loretta Ross (National Coordinator of SisterSong, whose Trust Black Women Campaign is countering rightwing propaganda about abortion), and Julie Burton (former Executive Director of Voters For Choice and Founding Executive Director of Choice USA) to lead the WMC’s Not Under the Bus campaign. You did not vote for and don’t deserve this threat to our reproductive lives.  Help us amplify your majority voice with Not Under the Bus: womensmediacenter.com/donate. Women's Media Center was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to positively impact the visibility of women in the media, amplify women's voices on key issues in the national dialogue, fight sexism and bias against women in the media, and increase professional opportunities for women across all forms of media. Through training, advocacy, and the development of original content, WMC is changing the conversation in the media so that media more accurately represents the perspectives, positions, and priorities of women.

Global Press Institute

Global Press Institute.

ABOUT: 

My name is Cristi Hegranes. I am the executive director and founder of The Press Institute -- we are an international nonprofit news organization that trains women from underprivileged, underrepresented communities to become powerful, conscientious journalists, reporting on the social, economic, political, and environmental issues that directly affect their countries and communities. Our training-to-employment model not only provides PI reporters with the highest quality investigative journalism skills, it also ensures the economic self-sustainability of our journalists, a dual component of our mission. Since 2006, The Press Institute has trained over 100 women in 23 countries across the world to be award-winning reporters. We currently have 91 reporters publishing daily and monthly via the Press Institute’s online Newswire and over 30 community partner radio and print outlets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Do take a look at our website to get a sense of the incredible news coverage these women are providing: www.globalpressinstitute.org

Friends...We Need Your Support!

We need your help! From one mom to another, we all stand united on one goal:  to protect our children from sexual predators.

The Altruist is a documentary film depicting the current situation of street children in Cambodia who face unimaginable struggles of violence, poverty and the most heinous of all, child-sex market.

In conjunction with the charity M’Lop Tapang, the producers of The Altruist have created an online fundraiser on Kickstarter.com in an effort to gather funds for the completion of this important film. Award winning photographers worldwide have also contributed signed prints to the campaign, and the band Little Dragon (currently featured on the Gorillaz worldwide tour) donated the use of their song “Twice” (as heard on Grey’s Anatomy) for the trailer and film. The online campaign has commenced and will continue until Dec. 12^th. We need to share our story and create awareness on targeted blogs and websites, so we can reach our funding goal and complete this film.

Please help us by visiting our fundraiser page and the Kickstarter Campaign Page to learn more about our project, purchase photos, make a pledge, or help us simply by sharing The Altruist trailer with everyone in your network.   Your contribution to this cause is a significant component to this project, without it, its completion will not be possible.

More information and synopsis of the film can be seen below.

Please contact Camille Hardman at Camille@barkingcat.tv or 310 855 3758.

We would like to thank you for your generous consideration and support.

Sincerely,

Lennie Mora

(For Camille Hardman)

Campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1135313414/the-altruist-cambodian-streetchildren-documentary

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thealtruistfilm

Twitter: http://twitter.com/thealtruistfilm

Website: http://thealtruist.net

Blog: http://thealtruist.net/blog/

Fundraiser Photo Gallery: http://thealtruist.net/blog/fundraiser/

Synopsis of The Altruist

The Altruist was created as a result of an experience that changed a man’s life forever. That man is John McGinley. In 2003, while vacationing on the beaches of Sihanoukville, John witnessed a pedophile incident that moved him to take action on the matter. The beach cities of Cambodia have for long been a haven for sexual predators, a place known by many as ‘the pedophilia capital of the world’.

Disturbed by this experience, John renounced his career and moved from his established home away from home in Europe to return to Cambodia on a mission to keep children away from the streets and from its predators.

John and concerned members of the area formed M’Lop Tapang, an organization committed to helping street children. John McGinley & M’Lop Tapang and the work they do in Cambodia have helped thousands of children receive needed assistance such as education, training, resources to attain a better life to keep them away from the streets. The benefits provided by their work are now reaching to as many as 2900 children in and around the city of Sihanoukville. The organization is now working on increasing awareness of abuse these children currently undergo and stop this depraved social issue from dispersion.

Soon after hearing the stories unfolded and stricken by John McGinley’s passion and devotion to make a change, Camille Hardman, was moved to tell John’s story in the form of a TV documentary. Camille is a director and producer who received the Award of Excellence in Cinematography from The Accolade Awards and with 15 years experience in producing documentaries she made, The Altruist, her mission for the children of Cambodia.

The film exposes the living situation of Cambodian children who are suffering from disease, poverty, and pedophilia, and it covers over 80 hours of footage, shot over a five year period and has now been condensed to a three hour version. Its use of animation with voice over to protect the children’s identities will reveal their unique stories of struggle and abuse undoubtedly will touch the hearts of audiences worldwide.

 

 

Special Edition: PINK SARIS and WMM at IDFA; PINK SARIS continues to wow festivals; December workshops!

November 18, 2010 Women Make Movies at IDFA, Amsterdam! PINK SARIS continues wowing audiences with two more festival wins! Only three Fall Workshops left! Women Make Movies at IDFA, Amsterdam!   WMM is thrilled to be part of the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam, now through November 28.   This year, we have a number of films, from both our distribution and Production Assistance programs, screening at the festival in a variety of sections:     Reflecting Images: Masters Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto’s PINK SARIS is an unflinching and often amusing look at Sampat Pal, the charismatic leader of the all-women vigilante Gulabi Gang in Northern India. Distributed by WMM.     Reflecting Images: Panorama In PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, a film by Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel, Rose Mapendo lost her home to the violence that engulfed the Congo, yet she emerged from the suffering advocating peace and reconciliation. But there is one person Rose must still teach to forgive - her daughter Nangabire. Newly acquired and distributed by WMM.   Reflecting Images: Best of Fests Laura Poitras' THE OATH tells the story of Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals. Part of WMM's Production Assistance Program   IDFA Competition for First Appearance  What response does seeing suffering and injustice demand of us? Filmmaker Julia Haslett seeks an answer in the French thinker and activist Simone Weil (1909-1943) a young woman willing to die for her convictions, in AN ENCOUNTER WITH SIMONE WEIL. Part of WMM's Production Assistance Program.       In addition, two films from WMM's Production Assistance Program have been selected for the IDFA Forum. In Forum: Central Pitch, Natalia Almada's new film EL JARDIN will be seen, while from Lisa Immordino Vreeland, DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL is in Forum: Round Table. PINK SARIS continues wowing audiences with two more festival wins! PINK SARIS has won again - first at Sheffield Doc/Fest, where the film was in competition with a number of documentaries and was awarded the Special Jury Prize by a distinguished jury of documentary specialists from the UK and around the world.   From there, PINK SARIS was seen at Denmark's CPH:DOX, where the film was given the prestigious Amnesty Award. The jury highlighted the fact that all the films in this competition had an incredibly high level of quality, integrity and importance; however, they felt that PINK SARIS was the clear winner due to its "complex treatment of gender and caste crimes in India."    Stay tuned for more exciting news about PINK SARIS and when the film will be coming to your town! Only three Fall Workshops left!   The Secrets of Successful Proposals Wednesday, December 1 | 6:30-9:30 pm Presented by Debra Zimmerman, WMM Executive Director Learn more and register here!       Your Fundraising Blueprint: Designing a Strategy That's Right for Your Project Wednesday, December 8 | 6:30-8:30 pm Presented by Tracie Holder, WMM Production Assistance Program Consultant Learn more and register here!     Navigating the International Film Festival Circuit Wednesday, December 15 | 6:30-8:30 pm Presented by Debra Zimmerman, WMM Executive Director Learn more and register here!       SEASON PASS AVAILABLE Three workshops with a big discount! - $120 / $80 discount rate   About Women Make Movies   Women Make Movies is the world's leading distributor of independent films by and about women. We are proud that for the last three years films from WMM have won top prizes at Sundance, including last year's Best Documentary in World Cinema, ROUGH AUNTIES by Kim Longinotto and EL GENERAL which garnered Best Director, US Documentary for Natalia Almada.  WMM’s Production Assistance (PA) program helps American women directors get their stories on the screen and this summer, POV featured five films from the WMM Production Assistance Program, including award winners EL GENERAL and THE OATH. For more information, visit www.wmm.com. Catalog  |  New Releases  |  Special Collections  |  Production Assistance Program