Story Leads to Action KICKS OFF TONIGHT with Semper Fi!

Story Leads to Action KICKS OFF! TONIGHT!! with Semper Fi!



SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL by Rachel Libert & Tony Hardmon
Thursday October 27th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

Best Editing Award - Tribeca Film Festival
Best Documentary and Audience Award - Woodstock Film Festival

Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger devoted 25 years of service to the U.S. Marines, whose motto, “Semper Fidelis,” means “Always Faithful.” When his 9-year-old daughter dies from a rare form of leukemia Ensminger wants to know why. His exhaustive search for answers leads him to a shocking discovery: the very organization that was supposed to protect its own – the Marine Corps – has been covering up one of the worst cases of toxic water contamination in US history. Demonstrating remarkable dedication and perseverance, Ensminger spearheads a lengthy battle to hold the Marine Corps accountable for its actions and make this bombshell information public. Semper Fi: Always Faithful is both a searing look at the American military’s betrayal of its soldiers and an emotional story of one man’s transformation into the activist he never imagined he’d become.

“I want this situation here to live in history and in science so that it never happens to anybody again.” – Jerry Ensminger

After the screening, the filmmakers will be joined by organizers from Environmental Working Group, Blue Green Alliance and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. The discussion will be moderated by Peabody-winning filmmaker, educator, environmentalist and co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, Judith Helfand.

Tickets are $12 - Click here to purchase tickets.
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
92Y Tribeca's cafe has an array of food and refreshments for your pre-event delight.

Click here for a full line-up for the 2011 - 2012 series

Women & Girls Matter! A day of panels and workshops!

WOMEN & GIRLS MATTER

What: A day of panels and workshops!
When: Saturday, October 29, 2011, 9:30 am to 6:00 pm, reception to follow
Where: School of Visual Arts Theater, 333 W. 23rd St, NY, NY 10011.

Women & Girls Matter, a day of panels and workshops at the Media That Matters Film Festival, is designed to look at the obstacles and opportunities for women and girls in filmmaking and new media, highlight the values that we bring to our work, and open up a dialogue for ways to create new spaces for our voices in the field.

RSVP here for specific panels or the entire day. Can't make it to the panels, or want to see a panel that is already sold-out? Check out the live stream here

Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand will moderate Building a Community: A New Media Audience Engagement Workshop at 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Building a Community: A New Media Audience Engagement Workshop
New Media platforms have become essential for filmmakers to reach audiences and engender action. Technology has the power to transform human behavior, shift culture, and shape institutions. Join us as we watch Burning Barriers (Jasmine Fox, Matteo Mobilio, Laura Weisbord, and Brithney Williams), a youth-directed Media That Matters film about women firefighters. A facilitator will guide us through the New Media/Film landscape, sharing some extraordinary projects emerging at the intersection of these two worlds. Small facilitated groups will have the opportunity to brainstorm their own New Media projects based Burning Barriers, each group planning a website, a game, a social media plan, or an online distribution strategy. Each group will also come up with a list of actions (new media or conventionally based) to take following the workshop to help promote the roles of women and girls in film. No prior experience or technological skills are necessary.
Moderator: Judith Helfand, Chicken & Egg Pictures

Check out these fabulous panels and workshops supporting and encouraging the next generation of women filmmakers!

This Thursday Story Leads to Action KICKS OFF with Semper Fi!

THIS THURSDAY NIGHT!
SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL by Rachel Libert & Tony Hardmon
Thursday October 27th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

Best Editing Award - Tribeca Film Festival
Best Documentary and Audience Award - Woodstock Film Festival

Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger devoted 25 years of service to the U.S. Marines, whose motto, “Semper Fidelis,” means “Always Faithful.” When his 9-year-old daughter dies from a rare form of leukemia Ensminger wants to know why. His exhaustive search for answers leads him to a shocking discovery: the very organization that was supposed to protect its own – the Marine Corps – has been covering up one of the worst cases of toxic water contamination in US history. Demonstrating remarkable dedication and perseverance, Ensminger spearheads a lengthy battle to hold the Marine Corps accountable for its actions and make this bombshell information public. Semper Fi: Always Faithful is both a searing look at the American military’s betrayal of its soldiers and an emotional story of one man’s transformation into the activist he never imagined he’d become.

“I want this situation here to live in history and in science so that it never happens to anybody again.” – Jerry Ensminger

After the screening, the filmmakers will be joined by organizers from Environmental Working Group, Blue Green Alliance and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. The discussion will be moderated by Peabody-winning filmmaker, educator, environmentalist and co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, Judith Helfand.

Tickets are $12 - Click here to purchase tickets.
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
92Y Tribeca's cafe has an array of food and refreshments for your pre-event delight.

COMING UP on STORY LEADS TO ACTION:
NOV 17: Report back from REEL FOOD residency: From weekday dinners to holiday feasts, food brings people together. We gather around the table to enjoy a meal, often telling stories about our lives. It’s not often, though, that we discuss the food on our plates -- how what we eat and the methods we use to produce it affect people and the planet. Various filmmakers will be presenting their projects.

DEC 15: CALL ME KUCHU, following Human Rights Day, tells the story – at once tragic and hopeful – of a tight-knit community of gay and transgender Ugandans in a country where homosexuality is a crime punishable by life imprisonment. Work-in-progress screening.

Click here for a full line-up for the 2011 - 2012 series

Story Leads to Action, 2011-2012 Schedule Announced!

Join us for our fourth season of Story Leads to Action! Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films are excited to announce the new season line up! Click here for the full 2011-2012 line up.

Story Leads to Action is a monthly series featuring Chicken & Egg and Working Films' filmmakers coming together with strategic advocates, educators and YOU, the audience, to brainstorm and "design" on-the-spot community/audience engagement strategies for their films.

The new season launches October 27th with the fantastic documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful, the story of a retired Marine’s fight for justice on behalf of U.S. soldiers and their families exposed to toxic drinking water while stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. Directed by Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon, the film won the 2011 Best Documentary award at both the Woodstock Film Festival and the San Diego Film Festival!

After the screening, the filmmakers will be joined by organizers from Environmental Working Group, Blue Green Alliance and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. The discussion will be moderated by Peabody-winning filmmaker, educator, environmentalist and co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, Judith Helfand.

Each evening event begins at 7PM and is held at 92Y Tribeca (200 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013). Tickets are $12 and can be purchased here. Also note, 92Y Tribeca's cafe has an array of food and refreshments for your pre-event delight!

Chicken & Egg Supported Films Receive MacArthur Documentary Film Grants!

We're happy to announce two Chicken & Egg supported films, Oil & Water and Untitled Egyptian Project, have been recognized by the MacArthur Documentary Film Grants!

* Oil & Water, a documentary film exploring the contamination of Ecuador's Amazon region and efforts to protect the area and its people, by Francine Strickwerda and Laurel Spellman Smith. Stir It Up Productions LLC

* Untitled Egyptian Project, a documentary film about a young Egyptian journalist and her experiences as change takes place in Egypt in early 2011, by Mai Iskander. Iskander Films, Inc.

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, we work to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. - (More on MacArthur)

Great work!

CONNECTED Premieres in NYC on October 14th!

A recipient of Chicken & Egg's 2008 I Believe in You Grant, Tiffany Shlain's CONNECTED: An Autobiography about Love, Death, and Technology premieres at Angelika Film Center on October 14th at 7:15PM!

Purchase tickets to any of the screenings here!

Synoposis
Have you ever faked a restroom trip to check your email? Slept with your laptop? Or become so overwhelmed that you just unplugged from it all? In this funny, eye-opening, and inspiring film, director Tiffany Shlain takes audiences on an exhilarating rollercoaster ride to discover what it means to be connected in the 21st century. From founding The Webby Awards to being a passionate advocate for The National Day of Unplugging, Shlain's love/hate relationship with technology serves as the springboard for a thrilling exploration of modern life...and our interconnected future. Equal parts documentary and memoir, the film unfolds during a year in which technology and science literally become a matter of life and death for the director. As Shlain's father battles brain cancer and she confronts a high-risk pregnancy, her very understanding of connection is challenged. Using a brilliant mix of animation, archival footage, and home movies, Shlain reveals the surprising ties that link us not only to the people we love but also to the world at large. A personal film with universal relevance, Connected explores how, after centuries of declaring our independence, it may be time for us to declare our interdependence instead.

There will be great panel discussions taking place after special screenings, running from October 14th to October 20th.

Friday Oct 14, 7:15PM:
Designer Todd Oldham and Actress/Playwright/Professor Anna Deavere Smith will be joining Tiffany on stage for the Q&A / discussion after the screening.

Saturday Oct 15, 4:40PM:
Jennie Livingston, award-winning filmmaker of Paris is Burning and upcoming Chicken & Egg-supported film Earth Camp One, will discuss the role of autobiographical documentaries in film.

Saturday Oct 15, 7:15PM: Jewish-focused discussion with Tiffany, co-writer & partner Ken Goldberg, co-founder of National Day of Unplugging Dan Rollman, Reboot, Jumpstart, Natan, and Heeb Magazine

Sunday Oct 16, 7:15PM: Social media maven and Change The Ratio founder Rachel Sklar will talk about connectedness in the 21st century in terms of how it's changing women's lives around the world.

Monday Oct 17, 4:40PM: Peter S. Crosby, director of dotSUB, will lead a conversation about crowd-sourcing, multi-culturalism & interdependence based on both Connected and their new short film A Declaration of Interdependence as demonstrated by how volunteer translators from all over the world have added 54 language subtitles in just 20 days.

Monday Oct 17, 7:15PM: Scott Heiferman, founder of Meetup, will talk about how technology is bringing people together in the world -- connecting online to connect offline.

Wednesday Oct 19, 4:40PM: Independent Film Producer Ted Hope (21 Grams, Ice Storm, American Splendor) will discuss how all these technologies are changing the landscape for independent filmmaking.

Wednesday Oct 19, 7:15PM: Media Theorist and Fordham University Professor Paul Levinson will discuss how the current evolution of media has led to a revitalization of direct democracy, ranging from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street protests. He wrote Review of Connected: A Triple Threat Movie.

Thursday Oct 20, 7:15PM: Professor Benjamin Barber will talk about interdependence in terms of the civic and policy work he has done through The Interdependence Movement and Interdependence Day. Benjamin Barber is an internationally-renowned democratic theorist and author of 17 books, including Strong Democracy and Jihad vs. McWorld. Dr. Barber is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Dēmos and Founder & President of the Interdependence Movement.

Be sure to check out this fantastic film and spread the word!

Chicken & Egg at DOC NYC, Nov 2nd to 10th!

Chicken & Egg Pictures goes to New York's Documentary Festival, (Nov 2nd-10th)!

Chicken & Egg Participates in Panels!
Do you have a project idea that involves a difficult or taboo topic, but you're unsure how to move forward with your storytelling? Chicken & Egg Pictures will co-present the panel "Turning Tough Topics into Great Stories," as part of panel series STATE OF THE INDIE DOC.

Panelists will include filmmakers from Chicken & Egg-funded films Fambul Tok, Hungry in America, Oscar's Comeback, and Silent Inquisition, as well as Chicken & Egg's own Judith Helfand & Wendy Ettinger!

The panel takes place Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 at 12:45PM at IFC Center. To purchase tickets and find more information, click here!

Chicken & Egg-Funded Fambul Tok Hit the DOCNYC Screens!
Fambul Tok tells the story of healing in post-conflict Sierra Leone through the intimate stories of perpetrators and victims.

Sunday, November 6, 1:45PM -- buy tickets!
Tuesday, November 8, 11:30AM -- buy tickets!

Check out all these and all the other fantastic films and panels at New York's Documentary Festival!

STORY LEADS TO ACTION's Panelist Profile 2009-201

STORY LEADS TO ACTION's Panelist Profile
2009-2012



Story Leads to Action is a monthly series featuring Chicken & Egg/Working Films' filmmakers coming together with strategic advocates, educators and YOU, the audience, to brainstorm and "design" on-the-spot community/audience engagement strategies for their films.

We bring Chicken & Egg-funded filmmakers together with strategic cohorts of New York-based activists, educators and community organizers to field-test, "design" and brainstorm on-the-spot community/audience engagement strategies for films in the series.

Following each screening, filmmaker Judith Helfand leads a lively, engaged, interactive discussion with the directors, guest educators/activists and, most importantly, the audience, all together focused on how to balance the needs of these character-driven films with the needs of local, regional and global advocacy campaigns. Together we "test" engagement strategy ideas tied to local efforts in New York City. You can be part of a work-in-progress engagement strategy tied to the issues you care about the most.

Take a look at all the fantastic panelist participants from our previous three seasons of Story Leads to Action! Interested in participating on an upcoming Story Leads to Action panel? Send an email to our Story Leads to Action producer, Gloria!

Past Panelists Information, 2009-2012

December 15th, 2011
Call Me Kuchu

Panelists
Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Wright Fairfax, filmmakers
Pierre Bairin, Media Director at Human Rights Watch
Andre Banks Director of Strategy at Purpose, co-founder of All Out
Wade McMullen the Donald M. Wilson fellow at Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
Spectra Speaks, writer, founder of QWOC+ Boston
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November 17th, 2011
What's On Your Plate?
Pipe Fire, work-in-progress screening

Panelists:
Deborah Lewison-Grant, Food Fight
Stephanie Mack, Harlem Seeds
Maritza Owens, Harvest Home Farmers Market.

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October, 27th, 2011
Semper Fi: Always Faithful

Panelists:
Rachel Libert & Tony Hardmon, filmmakers
Jerry Ensminger, retired Master Sgt, Marine Corps
Alex Rindler, Environmental Working Group
Charlotte Brody, Blue Green Alliance
Lindsay Dahl, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

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June 22nd, 2011:
The Barber of Birmingham, by Gail Dolgin & Robin Fryday
Semper Fi: Always Faithful, by Rachel Libert & Tony Hardmon

Panelists:
The Barber of Birmingham:
Robin Fryday, The Barber of Birmingham, co-director/producer
Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote
Carey Jenkins, Deputy Director, The League of Young Voters
Whitney Olson, Director, Sonoma County, CA, National History Day
Pete Stone, Foot Soldier, Barber Legacy Keeper, Birmingham AL
Amelia Boynton, “Foot Solider & Matriarch of the Voting Rights Movement”
Semper Fi: Always Faithful:
Heather White, Chief of Staff & General Counsel, Environmental Working Group (EWG)
Melissa Waage, Campaign Director, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Charlotte Brody, Director of Chemicals, Public Health & Green Chemistry, BlueGreen Alliance
Rachel Kriegsman, Campaign Associate, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF)

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May 23rd, 2011:
Monica & David, by Ali Codina

Panelists:
Andrea N. LaVant, Youth Development Specialist at National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth
Faye Ginsburg, the David B. Kriser, Professor of Anthropology, Director of Graduate Program in Culture & Media, Director of Center for Media, Culture & History, Co-Director, Center for Religion & Media
Logan Levkoff, PhD Sexologist, Sexuality Educator, Author
____

February 10th, 2011:
Sun Come Up, by Jennifer Redfearn

Panelists:
Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist at NASA and co-chair of the New York City Panel on Climate Change
Roy Arezzo, works in the Science Department at U. A. New York Harbor School, Governor’s Island
Daria Ng, The Online Leadership Program Associate at Global Kids
Tracy Mann, the Founder of Climate Wise Women
____

November 11th, 2010:
The Fence, by Rory Kennedy

Panelists:
Andre Segura, Staff Attorney, The American Civil Liberties Union & Immigrants’ Rights Project
Christian Baal, LMSW, Immigration Advocacy Filed Coordinator, The New York Immigration Coalition
____

October 22nd, 2010:
Works-in-Progress, Back to School
Brooklyn Castle (formerly Chess Movie), by Katie Dellamaggiore
Mariachi High, by Kelly Sheenan
Our School, by Mona Nicoara
Speaking in Tongues, by Marcia Jarmel & Ken Schneider

Panelists:
Carol Oschs, 52nd Street Project
Angela Jackson, The Global Language Project, representing Speaking in Tongues
Maya Wiley, founder of The Center for Social Inclusion
____

April 15th, 2010:
The Line, by Nancy Schwartzman
“Where is Your Line?”

Panelists:
Michelle J. Anderson, Dean of Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law
Neil Irvin, Executive Director, Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR)
Don McPherson, former NFL football player, current sports announcer, activist
Meghan O’Connor, New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
____

March 18th, 2010:
Pushing the Elephant (formerly Rose & Nangabire), by Beth Davenport & Elizabeth Mandel

Panelists:
Matthew Edmundson, Operations Officer, Mapendo International
Desiree Younge, Senior Manager, Global Philanthropists Circle, Synergos
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February 18th, 2010:
Made in India, by Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinhais

Panelists:
Carole S. Vance, PhD & MPH, Departments of Sociomedical Sciences (Public Health) & Anthropology, Columbia University
Rebecca Jordan-Young, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University, Board of Directors, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the CUNY Graduate Center
Caroline Earle Cotter, Program Coordinator, Creating Resources for Empowerment & Action (CREA), NY
____

February 4th, 2010:
Good Fortune, by Landon Van Soest & Jeremy Levine

Panelists:
Dr. Mojubaobolu Olufunke Okome, Professor of Political Science
Eliza Licht, Director, Community Engagement & Education, POV
David Gerwin, Queens College, Associate Professor, Coordinator, Program in Social Studies
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October 15th, 2009:
Freeheld, by Cynthia Wade
Academy Award Winner

Panelists:
Robin Honan, co-producer, Freeheld
Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality
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March 3rd, 2009:
Work-in-Progress screening:
For the Next 7 Generations, by Carole Hart
in honor of International Women’s Month
discussion with filmmaker Carole Hart
moderated by Judith Helfand, co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, & Molly Murphy, Deputy Director at Working Films
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Were you a panelist who took part in a STORY LEADS TO ACTION but aren't featured on our panelist profile page? We want to include you! Please send a bio and/or a link to our Communications department!

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