Chicken and Egg Pictures

In honor of the 2012 Oscar Season STORY LEADS TO ACTION Presents the 1993 Academy Award-nominated THE WAR ROOM on February 16th!

2012-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

This February:
In honor of the 2012 Oscar Season:
THE WAR ROOM (1993)
directed by Chris Hegedus & D. A. Pennebaker
produced by Chicken & Egg Co-Founder Wendy Ettinger, R. J. Cutler, & Frazer Pennebaker
Thursday, February 16th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

In honor of the 2012 Oscar season - just in time for Super Tuesday and in celebration of the Criterion Collection DVD release of the now classic documentary, STORY LEADS TO ACTION presents the 1993 Academy Award-nominated THE WAR ROOM, directed by Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. There will be a post-screening discussion with director Chris Hedgedus and a special guest from the 1992 presidental campaign.

With the 2012 general election essentially "tomorrow," what better time to explore the social, political, game-changing impact of THE WAR ROOM—behind and in front of the camera, and in current war rooms today.

The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House—and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verité filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker captured the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton’s crack team of consultants—especially James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right as they injected a savvy, youthful spirit and spontaneity into the process of campaigning. Fleet-footed and entertaining, THE WAR ROOM is a vivid document of a political moment whose truths (“It’s the economy, stupid!”) still ring in our ears.

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.

Can Documentaries Change the World? Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand participates in upcoming UnionDocs Panel!

2012-01-31T08:04:00.001-08:00

On February 12th, Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand will appear as part of the Union Docs panel, Can Documentaries Change the World? Assessing, Funding, and Harnessing the Social Impact of Nonfiction Film. Check out what is sure to be fabulous and engaging conversation about the significance of nonfiction film

Sunday, February 12th at 4:00pm, $15.

Filmmaker and activist Judith Helfand (Blue Vinyl; Everything's Cool), philanthropist and filmmaker Abigail Disney (Pray the Devil Back to Hell), and Debika Shome (The Harmony Institute), in conversation with distributor Caitlin Boyle (Film Sprout), as they explore the promise and potential of documentary to effect social change.

Purchase tickets here!

Chicken & Egg funded films nominated for Best Short Documentary Oscar!

2012-01-24T09:33:00.001-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Oscar Nominees The Barber of Birmingham & Saving Face!

What a way to kick off 2012! Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to congratulate The Barber of Birmingham directed by Gail Dolgin & Robin Fryday and Saving Face directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy & Daniel Junge, Academy Award nominees in the Short Documentary category!

The Barber of Birmingham, executive produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures and produced by Gail Dolgin, Robin Fryday, and Judith Helfand, features 85-year-old Mr. James Armstrong, an African American barber in Birmingham, Alabama, as he experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president. The Barber of Birmingham is slated for broadcast on POV later this year.

Saving Face, a Mother Wit: Liberty grantee, follows British-Pakistani plastic surgeon Dr. Jawad, treating Pakistani women victims of heinous acid attacks. The film follows several of these women as they deal with the aftermath of these horrific attacks. Saving Face will have its broadcast debut in the spring of 2012 on HBO and on More4 in the UK.

Chicken & Egg Pictures congratulates all who worked on these documentaries!

CE Grantee Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Goes to Sundance!

2012-01-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

Chicken & Egg Pictures is excited to congratulate Liberty grantee Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, an official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival!

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is the first feature-length film about the internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. In recent years, Ai has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY examines this complex intersection of artistic practice and social activism as seen through the life and art of China’s preeminent contemporary artist.

From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai’s artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate exchanges with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman’s detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

Read more about filmmaker Alison Klayman and her documentary on IndieWire: Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #31: Alison Klayman, 'Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Congratulations! We wish you continued success!

Congratulations to C&E I Believe in You Grantee THE NEW BLACK!

2012-01-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

Chicken & Egg would like to send out congratulations to I Believe in You grantee The New Black, taking part in Tribeca All Access, a four day program which includes individual one-on-one meetings with industry members, networking with fellow filmmakers, and workshops.

The New Black, by Yoruba Richen, uncovers the complicated histories of the African-American and LGBT civil-rights movements.

Tribeca All Access (TAA) provides grants, one-on-one meetings with industry representatives, career development workshops and informational panels to ten exceptional filmmakers working in narrative and documentary. The TAA Creative Promise Awards, presented by Time Warner, come with a total prize of $20,000: $10,000 for narrative and $10,000 for documentary, as well as an original piece of art from a contemporary artist. (x)

Congratulations! We wish you continued success!

Chicken & Egg Coasts the Social Media Waves!

2012-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Here at Chicken & Egg Pictures, we thought we would kick off the new year by introducing our new media additions! With the fabulous help and tech-savvy foresight of an eggcellent team over at Rutgers, we now have expanded and explored our social media options! Social media is becoming an insurmountable asset when it comes to sharing, exploring, and helping the modern independent filmmaker and we're glad to have more ways to offer valuable information!

Firstly, check out our new Twitter, EggstraEggstra for awesome facts, fun, and trivia!

Secondly, check out the sharp new additions to our Google map page! It offers information on both Chicken and Egg Pictures as well as possible film festivals and resources in the surrounding area!

Lastly, check out the fabulous additions to our Facebook with handy dandy links to our partners right in the left side column!

We're excited for all these great new additions and look to keep expanding throughout the new year!! Thanks to everyone for their feedback and help! And a special thanks to Bryce Renninger's class at Rutgers for their wonderful additions to our Chicken and Egg social social media!

Story Leads to Action presented Call Me Kuchu, in honor of Human Rights Day

2011-12-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

December 15th, Story Leads to Action gathered at 92YTribeca for a work-in-progress screening of Call Me Kuchu, a documentary chronicling 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.

The work-in-progress screening consisted of five scene selections and threads, each section drawing the audience deeper into the documentary's overall message. The filmmakers were initially drawn to the story after the case of Victor Mukasa, whose home was illegally raided by a government representative in hopes of obtaining information against the LGBT community. Mukasa won the case against the official after the courts declared the illegal raid an act against citizen rights.

The screened selections of Call Me Kuchu demonstrated the large scope of the film, illustrating both the joyful and heartbreaking times--most notably the burial of murdered activist David Kato.

After the screening filmmakers Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Wright Fairfax were joined by Pierre Bairin, Media Director at Human Rights Watch) Andre Banks Director of Strategy at Purpose and co-founder of All Out, Wade McMullen the Donald M. Wilson fellow at Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and Spectra Speaks writer and founder of QWOC+ Boston. The discussion was moderated by Peabody-winning filmmaker, educator, environmentalist and co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, Judith Helfand.

The panel discussion sought to uncover ways in which to create an engagement plan for Call Me Kuchu, while giving the audience a clearer understanding of the field explored in the film. The discussion served to contextualize the overall political and social climate in Uganda, as well as globally.

According to Pierre Bairin, the job of Human Rights Watch is to harness the power of the image, as a picture is worth a thousand words. Media is powerful and is best used if the multimedia side of research is fully developed. The best way to fully develop the multimedia element of outreach and engagement is to look for synergy between the project and similar issues. He also stated that a film can be so powerful it may backfire... it becomes counterproductive. Therefore, it is important to narrow the message to resonate with the audience.

Human rights lawyer Wade McMullen stated the importance to move towards an overarching goal. He spoke about determining "What is the change you want to see? Who are the targets of this spreading this change? Policymakers, government officials, citizens?" McMullen also stated the importance of supporting change without traditional Western cultural influence.--The matter needs to be more than the West telling the East to change. The Ugandan voices need to be heard..

This discussion regarding Western culture also fit with Andre Banks's concerns. Banks, Director of Strategy at Purpose, discussed the importance to explore the whole issue. One key element of the discussion was the question of the South African influence, as South Africa is recognized as a part of the Western culture. Although sex might be an acceptable topic in South Africa, sexual issues are discussed in Uganda.--This is not limited to LGBT issues. To openly speak about sex is viewed as immoral.

Spectra Speaks, Nigerian afrofeminist writer and founder of Queer Women of Color and Friends Boston, stated the importance for the film to commit to its audience, giving the audience the best and clearest story possible. By committing to the audience, the film has the potential to reach a wider audience than just the initial audience drawn to the subject matter.

Overall, the discussion focused on ways to create a wider audience engagement, with panelists agreeing that to go the "policy route", and screening the film primarily for policymakers and politicians would do a disservice to the film and its message. Once more, the panelists agreed by going for a wider exposure, the film would gain such policymakers while achieving a strong core audience.

The issues brought forth in Call Me Kuchu are ongoing and not limited to Uganda. However, despite the challenges and heartbreak in the film, there is also a sense of joy and hope. Despite tragedies, such as David Kato's death, the human relationships remain important. As Spectra Speaks stated, "there is not a tragic finite ending... people must pick up and continue on in their daily lives and in their causes and issues."

Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films would like to thank the filmmakers and panelists for taking part in our December Story Leads to Action screening, as well as all those who took part in the screening and great discussion.

The next Story Leads to Action screening will be February 16th! Be on the look out for more details!

PANELISTS JUST ADDED!! -- Tonight's STORY LEADS TO ACTION presents CALL ME KUCHU, 7PM at 92YTribeca

2011-12-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

TONIGHT!

in honor of HUMAN RIGHTS Day:

CALL ME KUCHU

by Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall

--a work in progress screening--

(comprised of selects and great strands that speak to their story and issue)

Thursday, December 15th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

“If we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.” – David Kato

In an unmarked office on the outskirts of Kampala, veteran activist David Kato labors to repeal Uganda’s homophobic laws and liberate his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, or “kuchus.” But David’s formidable task just became much more difficult: a new “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” proposes death for HIV-positive gay men, and prison for anyone who fails to turn in a known homosexual. Inspired by American evangelicals who have christened Uganda ground zero in their war on the “homosexual agenda,” the bill awaits debate in Parliament. Further still, the country’s newspapers have started running stories such as: “HOMO TERROR! We Name and Shame Top Gays in the City.” David, Uganda’s first openly gay man, is one of the few who dare to publicly protest the country’s government and press. But just three weeks after a landmark court victory, he is found bludgeoned to death in his home. David’s murder sends shockwaves around the world, and leaves Kampala’s kuchus traumatized and seeking answers for a way forward.

With unprecedented access, Call Me Kuchu explores a community that is at once persecuted and consoled by the Christian faith, and examines the astounding courage required to continue battling an oppressive government, even in the wake of a brutal murder.

After the screening the filmmakers will be joined by Pierre Bairin, Media Director at Human Rights Watch, Andre Banks, Director of Strategy at Purpose and co-founder of AllOut.org,Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS, Wade McMullen, the Donald M. Wilson Fellow at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and Spectra Speaks, Nigerian afrofeminist writer and founder of Queer Women of Color and Friends. 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.

Additional Panelists Added to the DEC 15th Story Leads to Action screening of CALL ME KUCHU!

2011-12-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

Next Thursday: in honor of HUMAN RIGHTS Day:

CALL ME KUCHU

by Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall

--a work in progress screening--

(comprised of selects and great strands that speak to their story and issue)

Thursday, December 15th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

“If we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.” – David Kato

“If we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.” – David Kato

After the screening the filmmakers will be joined by Pierre Bairin, Media Director at Human Rights Watch, Andre Banks, Director of Strategy at Purpose and co-founder of AllOut.org,Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS, and Wade McMullen, the Donald M. Wilson Fellow at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. 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.

Semper Fi comes back to NYC at IFC's Stranger than Fiction program!

2011-12-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

Did you miss out when Semper Fi: Always Faithful kicked off Story Leads to Action back in October? ---Semper Fi returns to NYC as part of IFC's Stranger than Fiction program. Rachel Libert and Jerry Ensminger will be in attendance!

Semper Fi: Always Faithful
December 14th, 8th
Buy Tickets Here

Synopsis
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.

Check out this great Academy Award short-listed documentary while you can!

Notes From the Field: TEDxWomen

2011-12-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

TEDxWomen, a day of panels and discussions simultaneously brodcast at the Paley Centers in New York City and Los Angeles, is going on RIGHT NOW! And will continue until 9:30pm EST. Check out the live stream here! TEDxWOMEN celebrates and explores how women and girls are shaping our shared future.

The theme of this session is "Resilience, Relationships, Rebirth, and Reimagine." Click here for more information on guest speakers and topics.

Follow their Twitter feed, #TEDxWomen, for awesome thoughts and soundbytes as they happen!

Chicken & Egg's very own co-founder Wendy Ettinger is attending at the New York City Paley Center and has sent back a few of her own notes from the discussions to consider:

• Engagement does make a difference! Everyone wants to help the individual and not the group or the issue. How do you get people to care about more people, but see the WHOLE issue?--Trigger response that goes beyong individual! (Make your issue relate-able through the lens of a character-driven story)

• Education goes beyond the immediate and equips people to have better interaction with the world.--Example: Educating the girls in the brothel also educates the reader. More illiterate girls are recruited into vulnerable situations than those with basic reading skills.

• NGOs are focusing on women-- The awareness is shifting. It is now the time for education and investment.

• Women cannot be half the population and a special interest group. Women can make a difference to the global economy. We just need think bigger!

• We must invest in women because in many cases that is all that is left.--Women make up 70% of the population in post-conflict Rwanda. We need to move beyond and invest more and in bigger numbers (this sense of investment is not limited to a monetary number).

Wow! Sounds like some amazing stuff!

Remember to check out the livestream until 9:30PM EST!

Check out Chicken & Egg Supported STORY OF BROKE online!

2011-12-01T07:49:00.001-08:00

The Story of Stuff Project, a non-profit organization founded by Annie Leonard in 2008, has released a new short film The Story of Broke: Why There's Still Plenty of Money to Build a Better Future. The Story of Broke breaks down how our tax dollars are invested and if the those funds are invested properly to the best interest of the citizens.

Synopsis:
The United States isn’t broke; we’re the richest country on the planet and a country in which the richest among us are doing exceptionally well. But the truth is, our economy is broken, producing more pollution, greenhouse gasses and garbage than any other country. In these and so many other ways, it just isn’t working. But rather than invest in something better, we continue to keep this ‘dinosaur economy’ on life support with hundreds of billions of dollars of our tax money. The Story of Broke calls for a shift in government spending toward investments in clean, green solutions—renewable energy, safer chemicals and materials, zero waste and more—that can deliver jobs AND a healthier environment. It’s time to rebuild the American Dream; but this time, let’s build it better.(Source.)

Watch the short film here and find out how you can help!

Also check out The Story of Stuff Project when it comes to Story Leads to Action this spring!

Report Back From REEL FOOD!

2011-11-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

REPORT BACK FROM REEL FOOD RESIDENCY
(November 5th-9th, 2011, San Francisco Bay Area)
By Natalie Difford

Chicken & Egg is committed to serving our filmmakers beyond the monetary grants we make via our bi-annual open calls. When we take on a film it is because we have seriously considered the field, the theme, and the filmmaker's voice and identify that this film and filmmaker demonstrates potential. But what happens next? Potential is great but with an ever-evolving landscape of media, filmmaking tools, and outreach possibilities filmmakers—-now more than ever-—need help navigating their craft and developing their strongest stories and characters.

In an effort to create a supportive and creative outlet for such filmmakers, Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to present the REEL ENGAGEMENT series with our partners The Fledgling Fund and Working Films. Together, we believe in collaboration over competition. We strive to bring filmmakers working on similar topics together to hone their audience engagement strategies, understand where collaboration makes them stronger, and finally offer them an opportunity to engage with each other during a one day summit at the end of the residency.

The topic of the second 2011 residency was FOOD: Seeding Change. Over four days, nestled in beautiful San Rafael, California, we learned about topics such as what the food movement is up to and how social media can advocate for your project, all the while figuring out ways to create an effective pitch.

With the idea that this blog will help widen the reach of the lessons learned at the residency, here are a couple of useful tidbits filmmakers should be thinking about when working on their audience engagement plans.

BIG QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF:
1. Question of sustainability: How long do you envision doing this particular project for? What should you build into your planning and fundraising to allow for that time frame?

2.What is your “return” on investment of your time and resources? What will allow you to “sleep at night”?

3. What is part of your mission and what is not? Don't take on every possible opportunity that arises —In the end, such opportunities may not be beneficial and could potentially take you away from you achieving your goals. As Sheila Leddy of the Fledgling Fund reminded us: Strategy is what you are NOT going to do.

4. What are you metrics by which to monitor your progress? This can be anything from how many Facebook “likes” you have or being integral to the passing of a bill.

5. Question yourself before you reinvent the wheel-- How can your film contribute to the movement without duplicating the work? Food Inc has a interactive “cafeteria” on their website where you can learn about all the issues they are working towards. However, to contribute to the actual social change, you can click on the food items and it will take you to the page of their partner working in that area.

6. Yes, the education market can be quite lucrative but understand that no program will take your entire curricula. Talk to those in the field, try to understand what they need and what components you have that can work in tandem with their lesson plans.

7. Impact is not centered on how many people you reach, but that you reach the right people. This is especially true if your demographic includes youth audiences. Understand your audience and how they are consuming the tools you are putting out there.

8. Be aware of specific dates and political agendas coming up that may affect your timeline. However, be wary of committing to work around them because they can then influence your priority levels. You want the resources going in and coming out of your work to be sustainable past this millisecond in time.

9. We were honored to be joined by Destin Joy Layne of GRACE Communications who contributed many of these points listed. She also made an empowering speech on the final day when she urged us all to remember that outreach does not remain an elitist tool, but that you are always working towards figuring out how the “mom at Walmart” can make her own food consumer choices without telling her how, where, and how much.

10. Another note brought up by GRACE Communications which I also encourage is that no matter what your issue is, media policy should be second on your list as our access to the Internet is being jeopardized. Read more about this issue here.

As you can imagine, a group of filmmakers and field experts who worked through these questions and honed these ideas into their own audience engagement plans made quite an impression on the advocates, funders, and NGOs present at Conference Center in Oakland. A representative from Green for All said it best when she thanked the residency for “bringing together people who wouldn’t usually talk to one another." She went on to say, that she really appreciated that such different projects were presented together because together they made her feel like her “whole person was activated.” It is exactly with this kind of collaborative spirit that we hold these group events and continue to work together with the food professionals who attend.-- All in hope of leveraging a better impact for the movement.

The residency was attended by filmmakers from: Betting the Farm, Cooked, The Lunch Love Community, Pipe Fire, Planeat, Finding North, and What's On Your Plate. For more information on these projects and their filmmakers, click here.

With great thanks to Working Films and The Fledgling Fund. Join us on Facebook for up-to-the minute tips and tidbits from other Chicken & Egg community events and workshops.

Working Films & Semper Fi Goes to Jacksonville

2011-11-29T06:22:00.000-08:00

Robert West of Working Films, Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert, filmmakers, and Master Sgt Jerry Ensminger traveled to Jacksonville to screen SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL. Read Robert West's first-hand account of the emotional experience, reposted to Chicken & Egg via Working Films.

SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL Comes Home to Jacksonville
November 21, 2011 by Robert West

Robert West, Working Films; Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert, filmmakers; Master Sgt Jerry Ensminger at Cucalorus.

On Saturday, November 12, Semper Fi: Always Faithful screened at a “sold out” crowd at our local and hip indie film fest Cucalorus.

The next day, Sunday, November 13, Working Films Robert West and filmmakers Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon took Semper Fi back home to Jacksonville, NC and Camp Lejeune for its first non-festival premiere. The film tells the story of retired Marine Jerry Ensminger’s fight for justice on behalf of U.S. soldiers and their families exposed to toxic drinking water at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, including detailed and important information about the water situation and how it affects current and former residents and employees.

After the film screening, over 120 audience members stayed for 90 minutes for a conversation with the filmmakers and Master Sgt. Ensminger; Hope Hodge, the military reporter from the Jacksonville Daily News; and David Andrews, an expert from the Environmental Working Group. Incredibly moving testimony from audience members reflected the hurt in this community, with folks sharing personal stories of their own cancers and the loss of their children or parents to rare cancers and illnesses. There were tears and anger, and solidarity in the room over their outrage at Camp Lejeune.

Jacksonville was the first stop on a planned North and South Carolina tour by Working Films and the filmmakers, with a potential national tour of other toxic military sites in 2012. And, as promised to the audience on Sunday, we will bring the film back to Jacksonville. It was very clear that this is a community that still needs a lot of answers and a conduit for collective action.

It was an amazing weekend, and then Semper Fi got great news – shortlisted for feature documentary for the Academy Awards 2012.

Read about the screening in the Jacksonville Daily News here.

(Source.)

Can Documentaries Change the World? Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand participates in upcoming UnionDocs Panel!

2011-11-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

Can Documentaries Change the World? Exploring the Social Impact of Nonfiction Film
Sunday, February 12th at 4:00pm
UnionDocs Center for Documentary Arts
322 Union Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Join filmmaker and activist Judith Helfand (A Healthy Baby Girl; Blue Vinyl; Everything's Cool; Cooked), and philanthropist and filmmaker Abigail Disney (Pray the Devil Back to Hell; Women, War & Peace) in conversation with Film Sprout's Caitlin Boyle, as they explore the promise and potential of documentary to effect social change.

Nonfiction filmmaking has long been understood to inspire and educate audiences. But can documentary change the world? This public seminar explores the ways we conceive, fund, execute and measure the impact of social-issue documentary films. What makes a film a social-issue project? What separates the filmmaker from the activist--and the activist from the filmmaker? What are the economics behind films that seek not only to be seen, but to mobilize audiences for social action? And how can we evaluate their success? Take part in this lively and dynamic session to probe questions ranging from the philosophical to the practical--and to pose your own to two women at the forefront of the field.

Abigail E. Disney is a filmmaker and philanthropist whose longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding culminated in her first film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, about the Liberian women who peacefully ended their country’s fourteen-year civil war. She is currently Executive Producer of the groundbreaking PBS mini-series Women, War & Peace, the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the role of women in peace and conflict. Along with her husband, Pierre Hauser, Abigail co-founded the Daphne Foundation, which works with low-income communities in the five boroughs of New York City.

Judith Helfand is a filmmaker, activist and teacher best known for balancing humor and horror in A HEALTHY BABY GIRL (winner of the George Foster Peabody Award), BLUE VINYL, EVERYTHING’S COOL and COOKED. Committed to mentorship and the power of non-fiction media to catalyze social change, she co-founded Working Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures.

Caitlin Boyle is the founder and president of Film Sprout, a grassroots and community distribution firm that broadens the audience and social impact of documentaries through public screening events. She is the architect of national screening and audience outreach initiatives for dozens of feature documentaries, including King Corn, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, The End of the Line, A Small Act and Bag It.

In Honor of Human Rights Day: CALL ME KUCHU at Story Leads to Action, 7PM at 92YTribeca

2011-11-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

CALL ME KUCHU
by Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall
--a work-in-progress screening--
Thursday, December 15th at 7:00 PM at 92Y Tribeca

“If we keep on hiding, they will say we are not here.” – David Kato

In an unmarked office on the outskirts of Kampala, veteran activist David Kato labors to repeal Uganda’s homophobic laws and liberate his fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women, or “kuchus.” But David’s formidable task just became much more difficult: a new “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” proposes death for HIV-positive gay men, and prison for anyone who fails to turn in a known homosexual. Inspired by American evangelicals who have christened Uganda ground zero in their war on the “homosexual agenda,” the bill awaits debate in Parliament. Further still, the country’s newspapers have started running stories such as: “HOMO TERROR! We Name and Shame Top Gays in the City.” David, Uganda’s first openly gay man, is one of the few who dare to publicly protest the country’s government and press. But just three weeks after a landmark court victory, he is found bludgeoned to death in his home. David’s murder sends shockwaves around the world, and leaves Kampala’s kuchus traumatized and seeking answers for a way forward.

With unprecedented access, Call Me Kuchu explores a community that is at once persecuted and consoled by the Christian faith, and examines the astounding courage required to continue battling an oppressive government, even in the wake of a brutal murder.

After the screening the filmmakers will be joined by Pierre Bairin, Media Director at Human Rights Watch and Sam Gregory, Program Director at WITNESS. 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

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COMING UP on STORY LEADS TO ACTION:

FEB 16th: SPECIAL OSCAR EVENT watch an Academy Award-nominated film in the lead-up to the Oscars! Find out about how social issue filmmakers are using the attention of an Oscar nomination to leverage their audience engagement campaign.

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

REEL FOOD reports back at Story Leads to Action -- A Post-Screening Write-Up!

2011-11-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, November 17th, Story Leads to Action reported back to from the REEL FOODS residency with Catherine Gund's What’s On Your Plate? and Jessica Oreck's work-in-progress Pipe Fire.

REEL FOOD is the latest installment of Working Films' REEL ENGAGEMENT PROJECT which, with support from Chicken & Egg and The Fledgling Fund, is "a series of thematic trainings aimed at securing strategic partnerships between social issue media makers, non-profits, and other key stakeholders leading efforts for change on the crucial issues of our time." (x)

Thursday night's screening focused on illuminating food production, consumerism, and consumption. What's On Your Plate? takes a look at kids and food politics as city kids Sadie and Safiyah explore where their food comes from and how it makes its way to their plates. The film places many societal concerns, such as how food production enables global warming, into child-friendly terms, thanks to the relatable lead characters, Sadie and Safiyah.

During the panel discussion, filmmaker Catherine Gund stated that she wanted her film to act as a learning tool for both adults and children, enabling a shared language for families to open a dialogue about what they eat and why.

The panelists also included Deborah Lewison-Grant from Food Fight, Stephanie Mack from Harlem Seeds, and Maritza Owens from Harvest Home Farmers Market.

Maritza Owens from Harvest Home Farmers Market spoke about her dedication to increasing access to local, farm-fresh products in low-income New York City neighborhoods, placing 21 farmers markets throughout the city. Maritza stated that those living in these neighborhoods often have diabetes, obesity, and other chronic illnesses due to low-access to fresh fruits and vegetables. To counter this issue, Harvest Home Farmers Markets accepts governmental assistance such as food stamps and "health bucks."

Next, Stephanie Mack from Harlem Seeds spoke about how if we teach our children to nourish their bodies with healthy foods, they can do well in school, and be overall happy and lead fulfilled lives. Her program, Harlem Seeds, teaches children how to properly cook foods, and exposes them to food combinations they may never have or know how to prepare. She spoke about how important it is for children to take part in the cooking process, in order for them to be aware of food production, from start to finish.

Rounding off the panel discussion, Deborah Lewison-Grant from Food Fight spoke about how we are programmed by our environment to want to consume nutritionally bankrupt foods and beverages. With Food Fight, Deborah strives to educate a new kind of consumer--one who is aware of the sociological, economical, and political issues that enable to make smart consumer choices.

Panelists and audience members collectively agreed that we must change what is viewed as "normal" when it comes to food consumerism. A primary concern for the audience was in regards to the low-income families who may not receive the proper information or be able to afford healthier food choices. In terms of spreading information and opening a dialogue, Catherine spoke the various supplementary tools she and her crew have developed via their documentary, including an interactive book and other great items. (Click here for the What's On Your Plate shop.)

Overall, a common thread throughout the evening was the need to return to eating meals together and at a table, thereby creating a dialogue about not only what we eat, why eat it, but also about our daily lives.

Next up, Story Leads to Action screened trailer of the lovely work-in-progress Pipe Fire by Jessica Oreck. The film presents one year in the lives of traditional wild reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland and illuminates an unfamiliar bond between man and nature.

Jessica spoke about how she her interest in finding modern day "cowboys" lead her to this project. She wanted to explore what it meant to have "a sixth sense of the natural world." In the making of her project, she discovered that the reindeer herders encounter many of the same problems small farmers face: outdated government policy, climate changes, and consumer market shifts. Her goal for her project is to subvert how Americans currently view nature. She wants to challenge her audiences to engage the natural world more readily, and plans to create an interactive teaching tool around her completed project. Follow Jessica's progress at her website!

A special thanks to all of the filmmakers, panelists, and audience members who came out to show their support and discuss what it means to be conscious of our food choices in this ever-evolving world!

Check out the full Story Leads to Action series list at our website!

Next up: In honor of Human Rights Day, Call Me Kuchu a work-in-progress screening. December 15th at 92Y Tribeca!

Working Films announces REEL AGING: REAL CHANGE residency!

2011-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

REEL AGING: REAL CHANGE
March 23 - 27, 2012

ATTENTION MEDIA MAKERS ADDRESSING AGING AND ELDER RIGHTS

Working Films, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, announces Reel Aging: Real Change, an initiative that will tie compelling documentary films and transmedia projects that explore aging to ongoing policy work and grassroots campaigns supporting older populations globally. Reel Aging: Real Change will begin on March 23, 2012 with a four-day residency where eight to ten media teams will sharpen their strategies for audience and community engagement. On Tuesday, March 27, the teams will present their projects to regional, national and global NGOs, funders, government agencies, activists, and policy makers – all leaders in the field of aging who have a track record of supporting elder rights, respect and health. The goal: to embed the film and media projects into on-the-ground efforts by the advocates in the room. Hosted in Washington, DC in collaboration with American University’s Center for Social Media, this day-long, strategic convening will launch a collaborative campaign between the participating media makers and the NGOs.
We are seeking applications from media makers for participation in Reel Aging: Real Change. All nonfiction projects that explore the aging experience are eligible to apply, and applicants may be at any stage of production or distribution, from new and completed projects to works-in-progress.
Submission: Please complete application form online at workingfilms.org/reelaging

Application Deadline: January 6, 2012

Registration Fee: NONE. The residency includes lodging, meals, and materials. Participants are responsible for covering their own travel; stipends are available.

Please Help Spread the Word:
Please forward this announcement to friends and colleagues and share www.workingfilms.org/reelaging on Facebook and Twitter.

DOC NYC -- Panel video now online!

2011-11-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

Couldn't make it to the fabulous panel discussions during DOC NYC's STATE OF THE INDIE DOC? Have no fear! DOC NYC has now posted segments of the panels online!

In celebration of Chicken & Egg's newly launched Mother Wit film fund, C&E supported filmmakers gathered with co-founders Judith Helfand and Wendy Ettinger to discuss their films and how they tackle tough topics.

Filmmakers included Alison Klayman (Ai Wei Wei, Never Sorry), Sara Terry (Fambul Tok), Kristi Jacobson (Hungry in America), and Lisa Collins (Oscar's Comeback), and Holen Kahn & Alessandra Zeka (A Quiet Inquisition).

Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand also moderated the STATE OF THE INDIE DOC panel CASE STUDY: TAKING ON CONTROVERSY.

Check out the video from that illuminating panel at DOC NYC's Youtube page, here.

TONIGHT! Story Leads to Action reports back from REEL FOOD with WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE & PIPE FIRE! -- 7PM at 92YTribeca

2011-11-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

TONIGHT!

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE AND PIPE FIRE

--from Working Films' REEL FOOD initiative--

at 92Y Tribeca, November 17th 7PM

What's On Your Plate? is a witty and provocative documentary about kids and food politics produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates. The girls address questions regarding the origin of the food they eat, how it’s cultivated, how many miles it travels from the harvest to their plate, how it’s prepared, who prepares it, and what is done afterwards with the packaging and leftovers. The process leads the two friends to formulate sophisticated and compassionate opinions on the state of their society, and by doing so inspire hope and active engagement in others.

We will also screen the trailer for Jessica Oreck's feature work-in-progress, Pipe Fire, which presents one year in the life of traditional reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland and illuminates an unfamiliar bond between man and nature.

After the screenings, Mary Jeys, the outreach coordinator for What's On Your Plate?, will be in attendance with director Catherine Gund to share the film’s trailer and an education module and talk about the campaign’s impact. Jessica Oreck, producer/writer/director ofPipe Fire, will also join us to discuss her experience with her work-in-progress project.

We will also be joined by Deborah Lewison-Grant from Food Fight, Stephanie Mack from Harlem Seeds, and Maritza Owens from Harvest Home Farmers Market. 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:

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

CALL FOR ENTRIES - Good Pitch 2012 Announced!

2011-11-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

GOOD PITCH EVENTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2012

We’re delighted to announce that Good Pitch is returning to New York’s Ford Foundation on May 25th 2012. There will also be Good Pitch Europe and San Francisco events in June and October, respectively. In a move away from last year’s application process, filmmakers can now submit for multiple Good Pitch events with one application form. The call for entries for all these events is now open here.

A partnership between the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Good Pitch is an invitation-only event, starting with an intensive two-day campaign development workshop for selected filmmakers. This is followed by a day-long live event which brings together invited foundations, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, broadcasters and other media to expand the resources aimed at maximizing the impact of social-issue documentary.

The call is aimed at documentary filmmakers of any nationality working on feature-length or hour-long independent documentary film projects that tackle important global and national issues and enhance our understanding of the world. Good Pitch is open to projects looking for completion funding, outreach funding, campaigning networks, or a combination of these.

The call for entries for all Good Pitch 2012 events is now open and will close at 4pm UK time on the following days:

Good Pitch New York & Good Pitch Europe
Closing date for applications:
Wednesday 1st February, 4pm UK time

Good Pitch San Francisco
Closing date for applications:
Wednesday 9th May, 4pm UK time

Good Pitch is grateful for continued support from Chicken & Egg Pictures, Crosscurrents Foundation, Fledgling Fund, Ford Foundation, Impact Partners, Working Films, Wyncote Foundation, and anonymous donors.

For more information, and to apply go to Good Pitch.

This Thursday, REEL FOODS reports back to STORY LEADS TO ACTION, at 92Y Tribeca!

2011-11-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE AND PIPE FIRE

--from Working Films' REEL FOOD initiative--

at 92Y Tribeca, November 17th 7PM

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:

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

Chicken & Egg at DOC NYC! -- Post-panel wrap-up!

2011-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

On November 3rd, as part of the DOC NYC panel series State of the Indie Doc, Chicken & Egg Pictures took part in the panel discussion "Turning Tough Topics into Great Stories."

In celebration of Chicken & Egg's newly launched Mother Wit film fund, C&E supported filmmakers gathered with co-founders Judith Helfand and Wendy Ettinger to discuss their films and how they seek to engage their audiences regarding difficult social topics such as poverty and abortion.

Filmmakers included Alison Klayman (Ai Wei Wei, Never Sorry), Sara Terry (Fambul Tok), Kristi Jacobson (Hungry in America), and Lisa Collins (Oscar's Comeback), and Holen Kahn & Alessandra Zeka (A Quiet Inquisition).

For the panelist filmmakers, it was important to create character-driven and community-driven stories in an effort to make their difficult project topics accessible and engaging for their audience. The audience is comprised of people who will be moved and seek policy shifts, people who understand the topic but seek more inspiration for continued activism, and people who want to see a story in a new and invigorating light. The filmmakers agreed that at the heart of their filmmaking, the story must connect to people in order instigate any activism, policy change, or basic awareness. A bombardment of statistics will not engage the audience as well as a film that offers up information through a character or community driven story.

After the panel, Chicken & Egg spoke to the filmmakers regarding audience engagement.

Q: What are some ways you--as the filmmaker--want to expand your narrative beyond the frame to mobilize your audience and make change?

Alison Klayman, Ai Wei Wei, Never Sorry:
A: In Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Ai Weiwei uses social media to report on social injustices and inspire others to engage, create and speak out. We also want to encourage fans of Weiwei and the film to get involved with the launch of the Never Retreat. Retweet. campaign. As Ai Weiwei once tweeted, "There are no outdoor sports greater than throwing stones at a dictatorship, and there is no communication as exciting as the gang-fight style of the digital world." In light of Weiwei’s 81-day detention and restrictive bail conditions, we know his ability to freely express himself online is fragile, and never guaranteed. This is a simple but impactful way of localizing Weiwei's global cause and empowering each person to keep his voice a loud part of the digital conversation. To participate in the conversation, please follow the film on Twitter: @AWWNeverSorry and let us continue Ai Weiwei's example. Never Retreat. Retweet.

Holen Kahn & Alessandra Zeka, A Quiet Inquisition:
A: One of things we've done is to think about the impact it can have while were making the film, in real on the ground ways. One of the instances of this has been to show sections of our film, to groups of doctors and nurses in the main hospital where we have been shooting in Nicaragua. These have generated some really serious discussions between them about their differing experiences and relationship to their medical practice. It has helped bring the issue of reproductive rights out into the open between them, where as before it was something rarely spoken about.

Sara Terry, Fambul Tok:
A: One of the ways we're hoping to extend Fambul Tok's message beyond our festivals and community screening campaigns is by launching an engagement campaign called "Forgive One Thing" -- which is meant to help audiences consider the impact in their own lives of apology and forgiveness.

We haven't raised the funds to create this online, interactive site yet, but here's the way we plan to invite viewers to be involved: “Forgive one thing – because the world doesn’t change until we change. And we do that one step at a time, in one act of forgiveness, one moment of peacemaking, one instance of saying you’re sorry to someone you’ve wronged. For Westerners, it may seem impossible to forgive the kinds of atrocities that Sierra Leoneans are forgiving in villages across their country. But we can start somewhere – whether it’s the person who cuts you off in traffic, the family member you haven’t spoken to in 20 years, or the ex-friend who still owes you $100. Because that’s how peace begins – first in our lives, and then in the world. So start by forgiving one thing. And while you're at it, say you’re sorry for another.”

__

DOC NYC continues until Novmeber 10th!

Women & Girls Matter--Watch the panels online!

2011-11-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Were you unable to attend the Women & Girls Matter day of panels, last week?

Chicken & Egg Picture co-founder Judith Helfand moderated the panel Building a Community: A New Media Audience Engagement Workshop! Watch the video here and discover ways to utilize new media and technology as an engagement tool.

Video streaming by Ustream

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.

Check out more panels recorded for the event here!

Story Leads to Action celebrates REEL FOOD with WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE? and PIPE FIRE November 17th!

2011-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE AND PIPE FIRE FEATURED AT THIS MONTH’S STORY LEADS TO ACTION
At 92Y Tribeca

This month at 92Y Tribeca, our STORY LEADS TO ACTION series will celebrate two films in our REEL FOOD initiative: What’s on Your Plate: two years and running with extraordinary impact and more to come, and Pipe Fire, just starting it’s engagement campaign.

What's On Your Plate? is a witty and provocative documentary about kids and food politics produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund, and co-produced by her daughter Sadie Rain Hope-Gund and her daughter’s friend Safiyah Kai Russell Riddle. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows these two eleven-year-old city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates. The girls address questions regarding the origin of the food they eat, how it’s cultivated, how many miles it travels from the harvest to their plate, how it’s prepared, who prepares it, and what is done afterwards with the packaging and leftovers. The process leads the two friends to formulate sophisticated and compassionate opinions on the state of their society, and by doing so inspire hope and active engagement in others.

Mary Jeys, the film’s outreach coordinator, will be in attendance with Catherine Gund to share the film’s trailer and an education module and talk about the campaign’s impact. Invited guests to this celebration on the film’s success will include the educators, nonprofit partners, and individual campaign participants who have put the film and web project to work.

We will also be joined by Jessica Oreck, producer/writer/director of Pipe Fire. We’ll screen the trailer for this feature work-in-progress, which presents one year in the life of traditional reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland and illuminates an unfamiliar bond between man and nature. It tracks the Aatsinkis family through their seasonal routines as they catch and mark the new reindeer calves in the spring, herd newborns and adults in the summer, and slaughter them for food and pelts as well as mass consumption in the fall.

Both of these New York based projects will have just participated in our Reel Food residency. Judith Helfand, co-founder of Working Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures, will lead a lively and interactive discussion with the directors, invited guests, and YOU, the audience, about the success of What’s on the Plate, the promise of Pipe Fire and the outcomes of the Reel Food residency. Both these films present great case studies on how to balance the needs of a character-driven film with the needs of local, regional and global advocacy campaigns, with a focus on local efforts in New York City.

Come be part of it.--We hope to see you there!

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!

Guest blogger Sara Terry discusses Fambul Tok; Chicken & Egg at DOC NYC!

2011-11-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

On the eve of DOC NYC (November 2nd-November 11th at IFC), Chicken & Egg filmmaker Sara Terry discusses her film Fambul Tok in our C&E guest blog!

There’s a story I sometimes tell to American audiences after a screening of Fambul Tok (which is screening November 6th [buy tickets!] and November 8th [buy tickets!] at DOC NYC), about a story I read in a newspaper back when I was in high school. It was about a village in Africa – and the way that villagers dealt justice to one of their own who had committed a crime (a theft, I think it was). When the offender was caught, he was brought into the middle of the village to acknowledge his crime, and all of the residents formed a circle around him. One by one, each person addressed the offender by name – and then identified something good about him, something of value in his character. And so it went around the whole circle, the rendering of one judgment after another – not of condemnation, but of affirmation, a determination to bring the offender back to an awareness of his true self, to remind him so forcefully of his own inherent goodness that he would not commit a crime again.

I find it helps to share this story after people have seen the stunning moments of apology and forgiveness that are at the heart of Fambul Tok. I’m well aware that for a western mind-set which is convinced that law and order – and justice – are maintained by punishment and imprisonment, it’s a shock to encounter a culture and a people who believe that true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals, and that truth-telling and forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities. It’s more than many of us can wrap our minds around.

It was a tricky thing to make a film that tries to let a culture speak for itself while being mindful of a Western audience that I fully expected would be baffled by what they were seeing on screen. Judging by the response of people who’ve seen the film in the 30 or so festivals we’ve been in since our premiere at SXSW earlier this year, Fambul Tok is doing what I hoped it would – baffling some audience members, leaving others in tears, prompting many questions and comments about whether such a process is even possible in our country (and if not, why not?).

- - -

Chicken & Egg DOCNYC Panel!
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!

A Chicken & Egg Friend at DOC NYC!
The Island President by Jon Shenk will screen as part of the Spotlight Gala Selection on Tuesday, November 8th at 8:30 PM. A Q&A with the filmmaker will follow, hosted by Academy-Award winner Michael Moore. Click here for more information.

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

Semper Fi kicks off the fourth season of Story Leads to Action!

2011-11-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

On October 27th, Semper Fi: Always Faithful kicked off the fourth season of Story Leads to Action, a screening and discussion series co-produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful tells the story of retired Marine Jerry Ensminger's fight for justice on behalf of United States soldiers and their families exposed to toxic drinking water while stationed at North Carolina’s Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base.

The post-screening panel discussion included filmmakers Rachel Libert & Tony Hardmon, Jerry Ensminger, Alex Rindler from Environmental Working Group, Charlotte Brody from Blue Green Alliance, and Lindsay Dahl from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families.

After the screening, panelists and audience members discussed the film's success and potential in mobilizing governmental regulations of chemical exposure. Audience members voiced their concerns regarding the wide exposure to chemicals in everyday household items, as well as in food production and packaging. Cancer is replacing the common cold with exposure to unregulated chemicals becoming a part of our daily lives. Exposure is happening prior to birth with studies showing chemical exposure in fetuses still in the womb.

Panelist Charlotte Brody stated, "We need to let the war against cancer not only be about treatment." --We need to solve the causes since so many cancers are environmental and preventable. Collectively, the audience agreed the United States needs a government that protects its citizens from things they cannot protect themselves against.--The government needs to invest in jobs that repair what is broken within the weak structure of chemical and environmental regulation. This regulation will not happen unless we contact our elected officials and voice our concerns, repeatedly and loudly.

Some suggestions from both panelists and audience members for engaging change included organizing door-to-door canvassing, gathering to write letters to political representatives and hand-delivering the letters to their offices, as well as partnering environmental groups with veteran organizations to spread the word.

As stated during the discussion, we must extend the narrative out from the frame of the film and recognize this is not only a local issue within the Camp LeJeune community, but a national and global issue.--It is an everyday issue that needs a solution.

Check out Semper Fi: Always Faithful's official website for more information on how you can support the change and contact your representative.

Story Leads to Action KICKS OFF TONIGHT with Semper Fi!

2011-10-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-13T10:53:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-10-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

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
____

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.

____

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

____

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)

____

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
____

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
____

October 15th, 2009:
Freeheld, by Cynthia Wade
Academy Award Winner

Panelists:
Robin Honan, co-producer, Freeheld
Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality
____

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
____

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!

____

What a week for Chicken & Egg Executive Produced Films!

2011-09-27T07:45:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Chicken & Egg Executive Produced Semper Fi: Always Faithful and The Barber of Birmingham for a fantastic week on the festival circuit!

Semper Fi took home the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 12th Annual Woodstock Film Festival! Read more about the festival and Semper Fi's win at Indiewire!

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, The Barber of Birmingham received the award for "Honoring Historic and Artistic Courage" at the 12th Annual Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington. To read more about this festival, check out the write-up in Peninsula Daily News.

Congratulations to these great documentaries as they continue to reach audiences and make their voices heard!

Celebrating Julia Reichert at IFW 2011!

2011-09-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Julia Reichert, a 2011 Celebration Grantee, was honored for her great filmmaking and mentorship. Julia brought forth her wisdom and warmth in a speech addressed to her young colleagues who attended the IFW party with her. Her speech echoed Chicken & Egg’s Mother Wit sentiment towards women filmmakers; dedicated to expanding the definition of human rights to include the basic human right to eat, play, work, love and learn in peace. She discussed how important it is to THRIVE, and to connect with people, subjects, issues, and joy. This is something that we truly want to celebrate and it is an honor to have her as part of the nest.

Here is her speech:

As Julia says, it is the job of filmmakers to hear and tell the truth, and to face it with courage. These are incredible tasks to ask of anyone, and that is why it is so important to provide support to these women filmmakers in mentorship, funds, collaboration, resources, and respect. So thank you Julia, for your inspiring words!

Julia, a three-time Academy Award nominee, and a Prime-time Emmy winner, continues to shape and support the world around her. As a professor at Wright State University in Ohio, Julia is not only a great filmmaker, but also a master teacher and beloved mentor whose generosity of spirit is inspiring a new generation of women filmmakers to find their voice.

Here is a compilation reel of her work:

GRANITO receives AN EXTENDED NYC RUN!

2011-09-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Have you been trying to check out the fabulous documentary GRANITO: How to Nail a Dictator all week but couldn't make it to IFC? Well, now's your chance! -- GRANITO has extended their NYC run, moving over to Cinema Village for the next two weeks!

GRANITO: How to Nail a Dictator, presented in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures’ MOTHER WIT Human Rights Fund, is part political thriller and part memoir, shadowing a haunting crime across four decades. As activists, experts and lawyers build an international human rights case against a Guatemalan military dictator, Pamela Yates’s 1982 film When the Mountains Trembl emerges as forensic evidence—a witness to the genocide it documented. Recording the search for truth and accountability, her latest work captures the arc of history as it bends towards justice.

GRANITO will begin screening at Cinema Village on September 23rd, so be sure to order your tickets for this amazing and inspiring documentary! Show your support and spread the word as GRANITO continues on its way for Oscar qualification!

For more information or to purchase tickets, click here!

Match+ receives SFFS Documentary Film Funds grant!

2011-09-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Match +! A 2009 recipient of Chicken & Egg's "Liberty Grant" is one of three winners of the San Francisco Film Society's inaugural SFFS Documentary Film Funds grants.

The SFFS Documentary Film Funds will award a total of $100,000 to help cover post-production costs of these three documentaries!

Match + chronicles love, marriage, and the growing movement for HIV-positive marriage matchmaking in India, and has screened at Sundance!

Read indiewire's write-up on the SFFS winners here!

Chicken & Egg Supported Documentaries at the Grierson Awards!

2011-09-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Chicken & Egg is proud to announce two recipients of the Liberty Grant, My Perestroika and Budrus, have been nominated for the Grierson 2011: The British Documentary Awards!

My Perestroika, which follows five ordinary Russians as they cope with their country's ever-shifting political landscape, is nominated for the "ITN Sources Best Historical Documentary."

Budrus, about a Palestinian community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus, is nominated for the "CTVC Best Newcomer Documentary."

The Grierson British Documentary Awards are named in honor of Scottish filmmaker John Grierson (1898-1972), creator of such fantastic works as Drifters and Night Mail, and often viewed as the father of documentary.

For more information or to purchase tickets to the ceremony, click here!

Chicken & Egg Celebrates IFW 2011!

2011-09-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who came out Monday night to Chicken & Egg’s reception celebrating those “I Believe in You” grantees who were featured at Independent Film Week 2011 “Spotlight in Documentary”! The evening was a great success! We were thrilled to celebrate such an accomplishment with them and toast their continued success!

The films featured at IFW 2011 included,

Always in Season by Jacqueline Olive
Call Me Kuchu by Malika Zouhali-Worrall & Katherine Wright
Can’t Stop the Water by Rebecca Ferris & Jason Ferris
Gideon's Army by Dawn Porter
Oscar’s Comeback by Lisa Collins & Mark Schwartzburt
They Are All My Brothers by Nicole Opper
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga by Jessica Oreck
Unstable Elements by Madeleine Sacker

Chicken & Egg also celebrated two outstanding women who have made considerable advancements in filmmaking and programming, as well as championed and mentored other women filmmakers—Claire Aguilar and Julia Reichert.

Here is a compilation reel of Claire's work:

Claire Aguilar received the 2011 Good Egg Award in honor of her deep belief in women filmmakers to secure the power of public television to make changes. Claire is currently the Senior Vice President of Programming at Independent Television Service (ITVS) and co-curates Independent Lens, a series of independent programming on PBS. Claire continues to support and mentor through her work with ITVS where she oversees programming initiatives, peer panel reviews, and funding recommendations.

Check out what Claire had to say!

Julia Reichert, a 2011 Celebration Grantee, was honored for her great filmmaking and mentorship. Julia, a three-time Academy Award nominee, and a Prime-time Emmy winner, continues to shape and support the world around her. As a professor at Wright State University in Ohio, Julia is not only a great filmmaker, but also a master teacher and beloved mentor whose generosity of spirit is inspiring a new generation of women filmmakers to find their voice.

Thank you to everyone for a successful and fantastic evening! And remember--we believe in you!

Tonight: GRANITO at IFC with Chicken & Egg co-founder Wendy Ettinger!

2011-09-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

Did you miss last night's premiere of GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICATOR at IFC? Then go tonight!

GRANITO: How to Nail a Dictator, presented in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures’ MOTHER WIT Human Rights Fund has a special screening planned for tonight!--Chicken & Egg Pictures co-founder Wendy Ettinger will be present at the Thursday, September 15th screening!

Part political thriller, part memoir, GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR shadows a haunting crime across four decades. As activists, experts and lawyers build an international human rights case against a Guatemalan military dictator, Pamela Yates’s 1982 film When the Mountains Tremble emerges as forensic evidence—a witness to the genocide it documented. Recording the search for truth and accountability, her latest work captures the arc of history as it bends towards justice.

Be sure to check out Chicken & Egg grantee Pamela Yates's spectacular new documentary! Show your support and spread the word as GRANITO continues on its way for Oscar qualification!

GRANITO runs until Thursday, September 22nd, at IFC. For more information, click here!

Chicken & Egg Supported CONNECTED Premieres Sept 16th!

2011-09-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Chicken & Egg Pictures is happy to announce the premiere of Tiffany Shlain's film CONNECTED: An Autobiography about Love, Death, and Techonology! The film premieres in San Francisco on September 16th, and will screen throughout the country in the following weeks--including New York City on October 14th!

A recipient of Chicken & Egg Pictures' I Believe in You Grant, CONNECTED explores what it means to be "interdependent" in the 21st century and the overall influence of technology.

Official Synopsis:
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.

For more information and to order tickets for the San Francisco premiere at Landmark Embarcadero, click here!

For more information and to order tickets for the New York City premiere at The Angelika Theater, click here.

Additional Opening Dates
9/16 | San Francisco | Landmark Embarcadero
9/16 | Mill Valley | Sequoia Theater
9/16 | Berkeley | Shattuck Theater
9/23 | Portland | Regal Fox Tower 10
9/23 | Monterey | Arcangelo Osio Theater
9/23 | Santa Cruz | The Nickelodeon
9/30 | LA | The Arclight Theater Hollywood
10/7 | Seattle | Landmark Varsity 3
10/14 | NYC | Angelika Theater
10/28 | Denver | Landmark Chez Artiste

For all the latest information as CONNECTED expands its reach across the country, or to connect with filmmaker Tiffany Shalin, check out her Twitter! @tiffanyshlain!

Chicken & Egg Supported GRANITO Premieres at IFC!

2011-09-01T07:58:00.001-07:00

GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICATOR, presented in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures’ MOTHER WIT Human Rights Fund, premieres at IFC Center on Wednesday, September 14th and runs until Thursday, September 22nd. Chicken & Egg Pictures co-founder Wendy Ettinger will be at the Thursday, September 15th screening, as part of a Q&A session! Be sure to check out Chicken & Egg grantee Pamela Yates's spectacular new documentary!

Part political thriller, part memoir, GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR shadows a haunting crime across four decades. As activists, experts and lawyers build an international human rights case against a Guatemalan military dictator, Pamela Yates’s 1982 film When the Mountains Tremble emerges as forensic evidence—a witness to the genocide it documented. Recording the search for truth and accountability, her latest work captures the arc of history as it bends towards justice.

GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR Theatrical Trailer.

For more information about GRANITO’s screenings at IFC Center, click here!

25 Tips and Ideas on How to Bag It!

2011-08-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

As the summer winds down and students return to schools and universities, school supplies and packed lunches become a part of day-to-day life. In BAG IT!, funded in part with Chicken & Egg’s Pictures’ Liberty Grant, filmmaker Suzan Beraza chronicles Jeb Berrier’s decision to stop using plastic bags. Through this simple action, Jeb discovers how plastic has taken over our daily lives.

Learn how to lower your plastic consumption or even how to have a plastic-free school year with these 25 ideas and tips from our friends at Reel Thing!

Here are our favorite 25 ideas for Back to School!

1. Phase out plastic use at school by starting a Bag It Club! (Bag It Clubs meet weekly to plan how to reduce their school's collective use of plastic).
2. Check out the best price on Klean Kanteens anywhere! Their summer merchandise sale ends Monday, September 5!
3. Organize a waste-free lunch day that encourages students and teachers to pack reusable lunches. Check out this guide for more organizing tips.
4. Host a school-wide screening of Bag It and pair it with an activity aimed at reducing plastic.
5. Organize a cleanup at a nearby waterway (here's an organizing guide to help).
6. Design reusable water bottles and sell them as a fundraiser.
7. Become a Plastic FREE Campus! The center for Health, Environment and Justice has created a fantastic tool kit to guide your school to action.
8 - 17. READ TEN WAYS TO BE A PVC FREE SCHOOL!
18. Register your school with the Kokua Foundation's Plastic Free Schools program which aims to help reduce single-use plastics on school campuses by encouraging students; faculty; and parents to make commitments to go plastic free.
19 - 23. Five Easy Tips from the Environmental Working Group for packing a healthy school lunch that your kids will actually eat!
24. Keep your Fork! Send your kids to school with their own lunch kit!
25. Arts and Crafts! Make your own reusable lunch bags. Check out this great How To blog!

What are your tips for a plastic-free new school year? Join the conversation on Facebook!

Chicken & Egg Executive Produced Semper Fi: Always Faithful Comes to New York

2011-08-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Do you know what's in your drinking water? From 1957 until 1984, over 1 million people were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, resulting in numerous illness and deaths. See the story of Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger as he searches for answers regarding the death of his nine-year-old daughter, and his efforts to hold the military accountable for their actions.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful premieres Friday, August 26th as part of IFC's DocuWeeks program. Filmmakers Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon will answer questions in-person after the screenings on Sunday, August 28th at 7:40 PM, Monday, August 29th at 5:20 PM, and Wednesday, August 31st at 7:35 PM. Additional screening dates and times are listed below.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful tells the story of Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, a devoted Marine for nearly twenty-five years. As a drill instructor he lived and breathed the “Corps” and was responsible for indoctrinating thousands of new recruits with its motto Semper Fidelis or “Always Faithful.” When Jerry’s nine-year old daughter Janey died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened. His search for answers led to the shocking discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history.

This documentary follows Jerry’s mission to expose the Marine Corps and force them to live up to their motto to the thousands of soldiers and their families exposed to toxic chemicals. His fight reveals a grave injustice at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful Screening Dates & Times:
- Friday, Aug 26, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM
- Saturday, Aug 27, 3:50 PM & 9:55 PM
- Sunday, Aug 28, 2:00 PM & 7:40 PM
- Monday, Aug 29, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM
- Tuesday, Aug 30, 3:45 PM & 9:55 PM
- Wednesday, Aug 31, 2:00 PM & 7:35 PM
- Thursday, Sept 1, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM

For more information or purchase tickets, check out IFC's website.

Chicken & Egg Pictures Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2011 Open Call!

2011-08-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Have a story to tell?--An issue just burning up inside that you can tell with a fresh perspective, a unique angle, or a distinctive voice? Is it a topic you know will reach out to audiences far and wide, inspiring them to help make a change? Do you need to share a character the world needs to hear from, who will transform conversations through their unique sensibility, story, or relation to the world?. . .

Then apply here!

Remember to always read the guidelines and FAQs before submitting your application!

Chicken & Egg Pictures is dedicated to supporting women filmmakers through financial support, mentorship, and more!

Submission deadline is September 30th, 2011 MIDNIGHT, PACIFIC TIME! Best of luck!

Chicken & Egg Pictures Executive Produced at IFC Center's DocuWeeks!

2011-08-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

During the month of August, IFC Center's 15th Annual DocuWeeks™ program will screen two films Executive Produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures! -- THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement and SEMPER FI: Always Faithful.

IFC Center's DocuWeeks™ program is designed to highlight the year's best documentaries in time for the Academy Awards® considerations.

Throughout DocuWeeks™, THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement will be showcased in a special two hour filmmakers-in-person program along with Barbara Hammer's MAYA DEREN'S SINK and Phio Ambo's THE HOME FRONT.

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
Directed by: Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday

The film features 85-year old Mr. Armstrong, an African American barber in Birmingham, Alabama, as he experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president. This colorful and courageous activist of the Civil Rights era casts his vote, celebrates Obama’s victory and proudly unfurls the American flag as he is inducted into the Foot Soldiers Hall of Fame. Mr. Armstrong links the magnitude of the present paradigm shift with challenges he faced in the past: from his sons’ integration into an all white school to the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights. The documentary raises questions about democracy and patriotism in the face of adversity, and the vigilance and action required to ensure continued forward movement to end racial injustice.

Filmmakers in Person Screening Event Dates & Times:
- Tuesday, Aug 16th, 5:00 PM
- Thursday, Aug 17th, 7:15 PM
- Friday, Aug 18th, 5:00 PM

Click here for more information on this special filmmaker event!

SEMPER FI: Always Faithful
Directed by: Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon

Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger was a devoted Marine for nearly twenty-five years. As a drill instructor he lived and breathed the “Corps” and was responsible for indoctrinating thousands of new recruits with its motto Semper Fidelis or “Always Faithful.” When Jerry’s nine-year old daughter Janey died of a rare type of leukemia, his world collapsed. As a grief-stricken father, he struggled for years to make sense of what happened. His search for answers led to the shocking discovery of a Marine Corps cover-up of one of the largest water contamination incidents in U.S. history.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful follows Jerry’s mission to expose the Marine Corps and force them to live up to their motto to the thousands of soldiers and their families exposed to toxic chemicals. His fight reveals a grave injustice at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.

Semper Fi: Always Faithful Screening Dates & Times:
- Friday, Aug 26, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM
- Saturday, Aug 27, 3:50 PM & 9:55 PM
- Sunday, Aug 28, 2:00 PM & 7:40 PM
- Monday, Aug 29, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM
- Tuesday, Aug 30, 3:45 PM & 9:55 PM
- Wednesday, Aug 31, 2:00 PM & 7:35 PM
- Thursday, Sept 1, 12:05 PM & 5:20 PM

For more information about these screenings and more check out IFC Center's DocuWeeks™ website!

Join Chicken & Egg Pictures In Celebrating Our Spring 2011 Grantees!

2011-08-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

CHICKEN & EGG PICTURES ANNOUNCES 2011
SPRING GRANT RECIPIENTS

Award-Winning Hybrid Film Fund and Non-Profit Production Company
Announces Grants for Fourteen Non-fiction Films Directed by Women

Follows Six Emmy Nominations and Two Oscar-Qualifying Films at DocuWeeks

NEW YORK (August 1, 2011) – Chicken & Egg Pictures, the award-winning hybrid film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers, is proud to announce the fourteen grant recipients for its Spring Open Call 2011.

With over $1.8 million in grants and over 3,500 mentorship hours provided to women filmmakers since it was established in 2005, Chicken & Egg Pictures has had a significant impact on documentary filmmaking and the issues they illuminate. This year alone, five films executive produced or supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures received Emmy® nominations. In addition, two new films – touching on timely policy issues – that are executive produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures will have their Academy Awards®-qualifying runs next month as part of DocuWeeks™.

Award-winning independent producers and directors Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger and Judith Helfand founded Chicken & Egg Pictures in 2005. They match strategically timed financial support with rigorous, respectful and dynamic ''hands-with'' mentorship, creative collaboration and community-building opportunities – or what they like to call “chick-flick-ship”.

“Six years ago this month we came together to build this dynamic venture with the mission of being both responsive to the needs of women filmmakers, particularly those making films dedicated to social change, and mindful of how the business of filmmaking and social change works—and could work better,” said Chicken & Egg Pictures co-founders Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger and Judith Helfand.

Spring Open Call 2011 Grant Recipients:
This spring, more than 300 women filmmakers submitted applications for consideration.

Of the fourteen funded documentary projects announced today, two existing grantees, Atomic Epilogue by Ellen Spiro and Mariachi High by Ilana Trachtman, are receiving additional grants due to their timeliness and urgency. “We were impressed by Ellen’s ability to respond to the recent nuclear energy and radiation disaster in Japan by turning her compelling character-driven memoir and precautionary tale about one man and his nation’s atomic waste, into an even more compelling and useful short. Likewise, Mariachi High is taking on the spectre of slashing culture, music and art programs from public schools through the experience of one competitive Mariachi high school band in Zapata, Texas.

The grantees from the Chicken & Egg Pictures 2011 Spring Open Call announced today are:

I BELIEVE IN YOU Grants:

A QUIET INQUISITION, directed by Holen Kahn and Alessandra Zeka

A doctor must choose between breaking the law or breaking everything she stands for. This is the reality of living in one of the six countries in the world where the termination of any pregnancy, even if in response to a result of rape, incest, or to save the woman’s life is illegal and actively prosecuted.
For: Editing

CAUGHT IN THE NET, directed by Hilla Medalia and Shosh Shalm

“Caught in the Net” follows China as the first country in the world to classify Internet Addiction as a clinical disorder. The film features a Beijing treatment center where Chinese teenagers are being de-programmed. We follow the lives of three teens from the day they arrive throughout their three-month treatment period and their return home.

For: Production

FIGHTING FOSTER, directed by Stephanie Wang Breal

“Fighting Foster” brings to life the conflicting values, uncertainties and tensions that surround the foster care system. The film follows three parents who have lost their child(ren) to the child welfare system and the legal, administrative and emotional battles they must overcome in order to get their child(ren) home.

For: Development

GIDEON’S ARMY, directed by Dawn Porter

The United States criminal justice system is strained to the breaking point. What it is like to work as a lawyer for the accused? Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up. But they now have help. Jonathan Rapping, founder of the Southern Public Defender Training Center has dedicated his career to mentoring the lawyers who represent the people society would rather forget. Can he make a difference?

For: Production

HOME AGAIN, directed by Julie Englander

When you’ve grown up all over the world, can you ever really go home again? HOME AGAIN is an intimate documentary that poses questions about citizenship, faith, politics, and identity—one that views America through the eyes of missionary kids who’ve grown up overseas. Though their passports say they're American, they find upon their return that the U.S. can be the strangest country of all.
For: Production

IN THE MIDDLE, directed by Lorena Luciano

Locals on the remote Italian island of Lampedusa are split between compassion and animosity. As thousands of migrants make the dangerous crossing to Lampedusa fleeing the ongoing crisis across the Arab world, NGOs such as UNHCR, Red Cross, and Doctors without Borders have poured on the island to assist the asylum seekers, the unaccompanied minors, the pregnant women who are kept in detention centers, painfully unaware of the uncertain future awaiting them.

For: Development

THE NEW BLACK, directed by Yoruba Richen

The New Black is a documentary-that uncovers the complicated and often combative relationship between the African-American and LGBT civil rights movements. Specifically, the film examines homophobia in the black church and reveals the Christian right wing’s strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.
For: Production

UNSTABLE ELEMENTS, directed by Madeleine Sackler

The members of the Belarus Free Theater risk their lives staging illicit performances and campaigning around the world to expose what life is truly like under the last dictatorship in Europe, where the secret police are still called the KGB and political dissenters disappear.

For: Production

LIBERTY GRANTS:

GIRL MODEL, directed by Ashley Sabin

Girl Model follows a complex supply chain between Siberia, Japan, and the

U.S. within the modeling industry. The story is told through the eyes of a scout and a 13

year-old model.
For: Completion

THE MOSUO SISTERS, directed by Marlo Poras

Two spirited daughters from China's last remaining matriarchal ethnic minority are thrust into the worldwide economic downturn when they lose the only jobs they've ever known.

For: Completion

MARIACHI HIGH, directed by Illana Trachtman

Mariachi High follows a year in the life of competitive high school musicians in the top-ranked ensemble Mariachi Halcon in Zapata, Texas – a flash point for the issues facing the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. As President Obama sounds a call for lowering the Latino dropout rate, the highest in the country, Mariachi High turns a positive lens on college-bound Latino role models who are inspired by cultural pride and striving for excellence. High school has never sounded so good.

Additional grant for: Editing

WHICH CAME FIRST Environmental Film Fund:

ATOMIC EPILOGUE: Hope Dies Last, directed by Ellen Spiro

Atomic Epilogue explores the changing face of energy production in the United States through one man’s unusual life and legacy. “Atomic” Ed Grothus spent decades as an activist and educator, while collecting tons of detritus from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in his unofficial museum of the nuclear age, The Black Hole. In his final days, Ed confronts his own death with honesty and humor, looking forward to the legacy of hope he wants to leave behind.
Additional Liberty Grant for: Completion

BIDDER 70, directed by Beth Gage and George Gage

Moral monkey-wrencher, Tim DeChristopher derailed President George W. Bush’s 2008 Christmas gift to the energy industry, fraudulently bidding $1.8 million at auction without intention to pay or drill, to save 22,000 acres of Utah’s pristine red rock wilderness. Now he’s paying for it with his future. On July 26, 2011 a federal judge sentenced DeChristopher to 2 years in prison, 3 years of supervised probation and a $10,000 fine for his act of civil disobedience - an act that has catapulted DeChristopher into the national spotlight and energized a movement.

For: Post production

XMAS WITHOUT CHINA, directed by Alicia Dwyer

Two families living side by side, but worlds apart, collide when pride and mischief inspire Chinese immigrant Tom Xia to challenge his American neighbors to celebrate Christmas without any Chinese products.

For: Editing

Update on the Impact of Chicken & Egg Pictures in 2011:

This month Chicken & Egg Pictures is also celebrating the six Emmy nominations received by five grantees: A Small Act by Jennifer Arnold, Deep Down: A Story from the Heart of Coal Country by Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin, Monica & David by Ali Codina, The Oath by Laura Poitras (2 nominations) and Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy by Stephanie Wang Breal. The Emmy Awards ceremony will be on September 26th.

In the meantime you can catch Semper Fi : Always Faithful by Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon and The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement by Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday, both Executive Produced by Chicken & Egg Pictures, during their Academy Awards®-qualifying runs next month at the International Documentary Association's 15th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase.

“The impact these films and grantees have had this year are testament to the value of the investment of dollars and hours we collectively devote to creative mentorship, collaboration, community building we provide,“ said Chicken & Egg Pictures co-founders Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger and Judith Helfand.

###

About Chicken & Egg Pictures

Chicken & Egg Pictures is a film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about the art and craft of storytelling as they are about the human rights, global health and environmental justice issues they are embracing, translating and exploring on film. In 2010, Chicken & Egg Pictures received the Loreen Arbus Award from New York Women in Film and Television, honoring Those Who Take Action and Effect Change, through making a significant contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the entertainment industry.

Films that have received support from Chicken & Egg Pictures include: The Academy Awards® winner Freeheld by Cynthia Wade (Best Documentary Short, 2008), Lioness by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, Connected by Tiffany Shlain, Orgasm Inc. by Liz Canner, Eventual Salvation by Dee Rees, Body Typed by Jesse Epstein and The Oath by Laura Poitras. More information about these and other projects is available at www.chickeneggpics.org and the organization's blog at chickeneggpics.blogspot.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Natalie Difford at (212) 875-0456 or natalie@chickeneggpics.org
Adam J. Segal at (202) 422-4673 or adam@the2050group.com

Congratulations to five Chicken & Egg Grantees on their Emmy Nominations!

2011-07-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

The 32nd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards nominees
have been announced, and we’re proud to see many
Chicken & Egg grantees in the running!

Monica & David by Alexandra Codina

The Oath by Laura Poitras

A Small Act by Jennifer Arnold

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy by Stephanie Wang-Breal

Deep Down by Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin

And congratulations to Chicken & Egg grantee Nicole Opper for her nominated feature film debut, Off and Running.

Check Out DEAR MANDELA'S Theatrical Trailer!

2011-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

We’re thrilled to support DEAR MANDELA.
Their theatrical trailer is now up!

DEAR MANDELA, by Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza
When their shantytowns are threatened with mass eviction, three ‘young lions’ of South Africa’s new generation rise from the shacks and take their government to the highest court in the land, putting the promises of democracy to the test.

DEAR MANDELA will World Premiere at the Durban International Film Festival on July 26, 2011.

Check it Out:

DEAR MANDELA theatrical trailer from Sleeping Giant on Vimeo.

href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.

Congratulations to Bag It's grant from The Fledgling Fund's Spring 2011 selection!

2011-07-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Fledgling Fund has announced their Spring 2011 grantees. We’re thrilled to see Suzan Beraza’s Bag It, as a grant recipient among all the 26 amazing projects being supported. The Fledgling Fund continues to seeks to improve the lives of vulnerable individuals, families, and communities by supporting innovative media projects that target entrenched social problems.

BAG IT, by Suzan Beraza

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes-single-use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. But where is "away?" Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health? Bag It follows "everyman" Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb's journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? Jeb looks beyond plastic bags and discovers that virtually everything in modern society-from baby bottles, to sports equipment, to dental sealants, to personal care products-is made with plastic or contains potentially harmful chemical additives used in the plastic-making process. When Jeb's journey takes a personal twist, we see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up with us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

Check out the trailer:

Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Judith Helfand's film, A Healthy Baby Girl, is Screening this Tuesday, July 19th, in DC!

2011-07-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM of WOMEN in the ARTS presents
A HEALTHY BABY GIRL
THE PEABODY AWARD-WINNING FILM BY JUDITH HELFAND

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Susan Swartz: Seasons of the Soul, filmmaker JUDITH HELFAND joins renowned scholar SUSAN BELL, Author of DES DAUGHTERS, for a screening of Helfand’s 1997 autobiographical “classic”.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Susan Bell & Judith Helfand. The focus: how A HEALTHY BABY GIRL – a disarmingly, loving [and even funny] story exploring the impact of DES – was used by environmentalists to reframe the specter of hormone/endocrine mimicking chemicals as a threat to our most precious and personal relationships.

Judith will share new dvd extras, including one that explores her first foray into painting and “healing with color” -- made post DES cancer & hysterectomy.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
7:00pm-9:00pm

National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Ave/ Washington, D.C. 20005

General $5; Members/Seniors/Students $4.

Reservations encouraged: reservations@nmwa.org/call 202-783-7370

Check Out Jesse Epstein and NAMI NYC's Multimedia Event!

2011-07-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jesse Epstein, who is partnering with NAMI NYC on a multimedia event exploring the "invention of the ideal body". They are also really interested in having NYC based educators and students there so spread the word!

Thursday, July 14 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm

NYU Langone Medical Center

550 First Ave (32nd and 33rd)

New York, NY

Sponsored by NAMI -- "Body Image, Eating Disorders and Mental Health," a public education event featuring writer Harriet Brown and filmmaker Jesse Erica Epstein.

Author Harriet Brown will speak and read from her book "Brave Girl Eating"
Filmmaker Jesse Epstein will show excerpts from BODY TYPED.

Check out the event on Facebook.

My Perestroika Broadcasts Nationally on PBS June 28th at 10pm!

2011-06-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Robin, we feel honored to have supported this wonderful work!

Tune into POV on Tuesday, June 28th at 10pm. My Perestroika, a film by Robin Hessman, is having its national PBS broadcast as part of the 24th season of POV. (Check your local listings.)

It's been an exciting spring with the theatrical release of My Perestroika rolling out in over 60 cities. And now of course, My Perestroika has the opportunity to reach people all across the country!

Check out the trailer:

Watch the full episode. See more POV.

What you missed from STORY LEADS TO ACTION at Silverdocs 2011

2011-06-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

This week STORY LEADS TO ACTION, a monthly screening series in New York, headed down to Silver Spring, MD where it had the first of three annual events in conjunction with Silverdocs.

A co-partnership between Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films, STORY
LEADS TO ACTION makes the nuts and bolts of designing a community engagement campaign transparent, dynamic and fun!

A panel of stake-holders, the filmmakers and the audience brainstormed a strategy that linked the core elements of a film’s launch to the concrete needs of the movement that needs it the most.

The films in the lab were THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement by Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday and SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL by Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon.

For THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM their focus was to educate, inspire and galvanize the interconnected and technologically-savvy generation in history around citizenship, civil rights and the meaning and power of the vote.

On the panel were co-Director/Producer Robin Fryday; 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; Foot Soldier, Barber Legacy Keeper Pete Stone, straight from his barber shop in Birmingham, AL, and special guest Amelia Boynton (99-year-old) "Foot Soldier & Matriarch of the Voting Rights Movement".They had the following comments and suggestions:

MAKING ARCHIVE RELEVANT: Heather Smith’s interns were most moved by the archival footage as it gave them access to a moment in history that was pivotal for civil rights and through seeing other people struggling to have their voice heard, made them understand their role in society today. Rock the Vote has many street teams ready to be galvanized and Heather exclaimed that having a short film like this could help in their training, especially as they are limited in the in-person training they are able to offer.

BRIDGING AN ELDER/YOUTH GAP IN COMMUNITIES: Carey Jenkins of League of Young Voters said that this film could be used as a great tool in the communities he works in whereby audiences could watch this film and then have an elder from their own community come in and talk about their experiences thereby bridging a gap between the generations that are currently driven apart by the economy and drug problems.

BARBERSHOPS ARE THE CORNER STONE OF COMMUNITIES: Pete Stone gave the audience great insight into the workings of small-town America when he shared stories of how community news, issues and actions can be found in the Barbershop. Each Barbershop has a captive audience, are equipped with the technology to show a film and feel a sense of ownership and empowerment to be able to stimulate conversations around such issues. Barber of Birmingham should definitely coordinate an effort around screenings in Barber shops, particularly in areas where economy or race as well as other factors can limit citizens’ access to the voting booth.

Amelia Boynton, who at 99 years old had experienced civil rights in its most violent (and non-violent) form, left us with the poignant truth that “if you don’t vote, you’re not a first-class citizen.”

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? Visit BARBER WEBSITE and be sure to check out www.rockthevote.com to make sure young voters are getting the right to their vote in the 2012 election.

SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL
Our second session was around SEMPER FI whose filmmakers wanted to address two of the most under reported yet pressing environmental issues of our time—the need for increased environmental oversight of the US Department of Defense and regulatory reform of toxic chemicals.

On the panel were 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 and Green Chemistry, BlueGreen Alliance; Rachel Kriegsman, Campaign Associate, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF).They had a lot of valuable things to say:

THE BLAME GAME:
Charlotte Brody of the Blue Green Alliance was most touched by the scene in the movie where a mother stands up and shares that for years, before the news leak, she blamed herself and her body for failing to carry her now-deceased sons. Charlotte’s work is to take the blame away from those suffering and make the chemical industry culpable. Chemicals don’t have to be certified safe in America in order to be sold. Charlotte has pledged her 14million person directory to help Rachel get out the film and help develop an alternative, more environmentally sustainable, industry.

THE LOCAL SPACE:
Similar to the Barbershops for BARBER, the safe space for people involved on the ground-level with this issue to speak is at their local Union station. Given that the largest male breast cancer cluster in the world is in veterans of Camp Lejeune, we need to find a space where men, and especially military men, feel comfortable enough to talk about their health risks and get screenings.

SCREENING TOUR:
One of the biggest themes of the film is trying to get the military to inform all of the residents who lived at Camp Lejeune during the affected time of what happened and their health risks. The audience, who are as much a part of the brainstorming process as the panel, throughout suggestions of screening tours around military bases that may also have problems and college campus as that is where the more active youth reside.

And finally, on the note of STORY leads to ACTION, Heather White from EWG pinpointed why Chicken & Egg Pictures goes above and beyond our grantmaking to provide such arenas for our filmmakers: “I just want to commend Rachel and Tony for telling a complicated issue with a compelling story through personalizing the film with the character Jerry Ensminger. It gives the audience a lot of credit and will resonate with folks. This film is tailor-made for action.”

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED? There's a bill looking to be passed this month. Go to www.semperfialwaysfaithful.com and find out who you should be contacting to ensure health care for veterans and their families.

The filmmakers must now take all these suggestions, strategies and offers of support to formulate an effective audience engagement campaign that can move people to action in a way that makes sense for their film, their movement and the strategic area they want to change.

Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films are delighted that we will continue this relationship with Silverdocs and will hold two additional STORY LEADS TO ACTIONs with AFI Discovery a year. Stay tuned for more!

Chicken & Egg at Silverdocs 2011!

2011-06-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

CHICKEN & EGG PICTURES goes to Washington
and while we’re there we will be...

Co-Sponsoring & Launching STORY LEADS TO ACTION at SILVERDOCS 2011 (a new partnership between C&E, Working Films and Silverdocs.

***

Helping launch four films we could not be more proud of incubating, hatching and supporting as they take off and soar...

EL VELADOR by Natalia Almada

OUR SCHOOL by Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coca-Cozma

SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL by Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

by Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 22ND 2:00-5:00PM - STORY LEADS TO ACTION
at the Silverdocs Filmmakers Conference.

Followed by a

Chicken & Egg Pictures' Sponsored Happy Hour

5 - 7pm, Silver Spring Civic Building. 1 Veterans Plaza.

We'll be toasting these films, their filmmakers & the launch of Story Leads to Action Series in our Nation's Capitol

DETAILS:

Each film will have a dedicated 75-minute session focused on the nuts and bolts of designing a community engagement campaign.

Transparent * Interactive * Fun!

Expect a hand-picked panel of stake-holders, DC-based policy-movers-and-shapers, the filmmakers and you – the audience – who together will brainstorm strategies for linking the core elements of a film’s launch to the concrete needs of the movement that needs it the most.

2:15-3.30pm The Barber of Birmingham, 3:45-5pm Semper Fi: Always Faithful

MORE ABOUT THE FILMS:

EL VELADOR:

From dusk to dawn EL VELADOR accompanies Martin, the guardian angel whom, night after night, watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico's most notorious Drug Lords. In the labyrinth of the cemetery, this film about violence without violence reminds us how, in the turmoil of Mexico's bloodiest conflict since the Revolution, ordinary life persists and quietly defies the dead.

OUR SCHOOL:

OUR SCHOOL follows three Roma (commonly known as "Gypsy") children in a rural Transylvanian village who are among the pioneer participants in an initiative to integrate the ethnically segregated Romanian schools. When their district is ordered desegregated, Alin, Benjamin, and Dana set out for the city school, optimistic for education and new friendships, even as funds earmarked for integration are questionably used to build a "Roma-only" school in their village. Their innocent optimism quickly sours when the children are met with baseless ostracism from peers and teachers alike. OUR SCHOOL is an absorbing, infuriating, and ultimately bittersweet story of tradition and progress.

SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL:

For thirty years thousands of Marines and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Base in North Carolina drank, bathed and cooked with water that was

highly contaminated by carcinogenic industrial solvents. The toxic wells were eventually closed but the contamination was never made public. The situation was finally uncovered by two career Marines who were grieving the deaths of their children and struggling to make sense of what happened.
Semper Fi: Always Faithful follows their fight for justice and reveals a looming environmental crisis at military sites across the country.

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM:

Mr. James Armstrong is the proud proprietor of Armstrong’s Barbershop in Birmingham, Alabama. A hub for hair cuts and civil rights since 1955, “the dream” of a promised land, where dignity and the right to vote belongs to everyone is documented in photos, headlines and clippings that cover every inch of wall space. 85-years-young, Mr. Armstrong will cut your hair and tell you about his role as a "foot soldier.” He marched with Dr. King in Selma, stood up to police truncheons and got arrested (a lot) and walked his children past vicious hecklers to integrate their all-white elementary school. On the eve of the election of the first African-American president, Mr. Armstrong, the barber of Birmingham, sees his unimaginable dream come true

Click here to purchase tickets to their official Silverdocs '11 screenings.

Story Leads To Action Panel at Silverdocs!

2011-06-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 22ND 2:00-5:00PM

STORY LEADS TO ACTION makes the nuts and bolts of designing a community engagement campaign transparent, dynamic and fun! Expect a hand-picked panel of stake-holders, the filmmakers and you—the audience. Together we’ll brainstorm a strategy that links the core elements of a film’s launch to the concrete needs of the movement that needs it the most.

SESSION 1: 2:15pm–3:30pm

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

In this session we'll be asking: How can THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM be used to educate, inspire and galvanize the most mobile, interconnected and technologically savvy generation in history around citizenship, civil rights and the meaning and power of the vote.From the classroom, to the chat rooms, barber shops to rock-the-vote-bus caravans and national days of on-the-streets/on-line action—the venues and platforms for education, community building and organizing are vast and diverse. Can this film, be it used in its entirety or as down-loadable short “shorts” screened on “smart"-turned-wise-phones,” help put the current voting rights battle—being waged systematically state-by-state—into a context that’s historical, dynamic and urgent enough to do something about it? We think so...

Panelists: Co-Director/Producer Robin Fryday; 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; Foot Soldier, Barber Legacy Keeper Pete Stone, straight from his barber shop in Birmingham, AL, and special guest Amelia Boynton (99-year-old) "Foot Soldier & Matriarch of the Voting Rights Movement".

SESSION 2 SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL 3:45pm–5:00pm

SEMPER FI Directors Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon meet with some of our nation’s leading environmental activists, scientists and NGO’s to address two of the most under reported yet pressing environ- mental issues of our time—the need for increased environmental oversight of the US Department of Defense and regulatory reform of toxic chemicals

The challenge: how to transform audience outrage into action AND “devise an audience ask” and strategy for a theatrical/semi-theatrical/college tour that leverages effective press & public attention for families living on or near contaminated military bases. Join us for a session that promises to be PURE SERIOUS fun!!

Panelists: 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 and Green Chemistry, BlueGreen Alliance; Rachel Kriegsman, Campaign Associate, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF)

Followed by a

Chicken & Egg Pictures Happy Hour

5-7 pm

* STORY LEADS TO ACTION is a monthly series at the 92Y Tribeca-NYC featuring Chicken & Egg/ Working Films’ filmmakers. Together with strategic advocates, educators and audience members they brainstorm and “design” on-the-spot community/audience engagement strategies for their films.

Monica & David and the Transition to Adulthood

2011-06-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

Check out Part 1 of this amazing blog, written by Andraéa LaVant, on Monica & David and Story Leads To Action. The blog addresses how the film is an important representation of transitioning to adulthood with disabilities.

Andraéa LaVant is a Youth Development Specialist, with the National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth at the Institute for Educational Leadership Center for Workforce Development, and panelist for Story Leads To Action's Monica & David.

The National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) works to ensure that transition age youth are provided full access to high quality services in integrated settings to gain education, employment, and independent living. Part 1 of the blog discusses the importance the film has for disability rights and also gives valuable information about legislation and movements within and surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We can't wait to read Part 2 of the blog, which will look at some of the other transition challenges and lessons on self-determination that this documentary brings to light.

Check out Lynn Hershman Leesons' film, !Women Art Revolution, at IFC June 1st!

2011-05-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

We're excited to announce that Lynn Hershman Leeson premieres !Women Art Revolution at IFC Center in New York on Wednesday, June 1. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

!Women Art Revolution (!W.A.R.) is a documentary that combines interviews, artwork and rarely seen archival film and video footage, collected over the past 40 years, to detail the evolution of the feminist art movement in the United States from 1968 to the present. The film ties the feminist art movement to 1960s anti-war and civil rights demonstrations, showing how historical events, such as the all-male protest exhibition against the invasion of Cambodia, sparked the first of many feminist actions against major cultural institutions. !W.A.R. also details major developments in women's art during the 1970s, including the opening of alternative art spaces such as the AIR Gallery in New York and the Los Angeles Woman's Building. Chronicling the work of activists in recent decades, the film focuses on the Guerrilla Girls, the Women's Art Coalition and other similar groups, as well as the publications and spaces they've engendered.

Written, directed, narrated and edited by Leeson, !Women Art Revolution will be distributed nationwide by Zeitgeist Films. Special events throughout the film's IFC Center run include introductions to the film by the following artists and activists:

June 1: Kathleen Hanna (6:00pm and 8:00pm)
June 2: Howardena Pindell (2:00pm), Carolee Schneemann (6:00pm), Bob Alotta (8:00pm)
June 3: Janine Antoni (noon), Howardena Pindell (2:00pm), Joyce Kozloff (6:00pm), Martha Wilson (8:00pm)
June 4: B. Ruby Rich (6:00pm), Guerrilla Girls Frida Kahlo and Kathe Kollwitz (8:00pm)
June 5: Howardena Pindell (2:00pm), B. Ruby Rich (6:00pm)
June 6: Carey Lovelace, Connie Butler (6:00pm)
June 7: Carey Lovelace, Faith Ringgold (6:00pm)

The full list of showtimes will be available at IFCCenter.com later this week.

Coming soon to a theater near you! Browse other upcoming screenings of !W.A.R. here.

Monica & David Wraps up the season of our Story Leads To Action series!

2011-05-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Photo: Robert West; moderator and co-founder/executive director of Working Films, and director of Monica & David Ali Codina.

Last week we closed out the 2010-2011 season of Story Leads To Action at 92Y Tribeca, with a screening and discussion of Alexandra Codina’s film, Monica & David.

Monica & David is the love story of two adults with Down syndrome, and the family who strives to support their needs. Full of humor, romance and everyday family drama, Monica and David want what every adult wants—an independent life. Winner of the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, and an audience favorite at festivals around the world. Directed and produced by Monica’s cousin, first-time filmmaker, Alexandra Codina.

After the screening, panelists and audience members participated in discussing the films success and potential in promoting disability rights and sexuality awareness. The panel consisted of experts in the fields, including Andraéa N. LaVant, Youth Development Specialist at National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology; Director of Graduate Program in Culture and Media; Director, Center for Media, Culture & History; Co-Director, Center for Religion and Media, and Logan Levkoff, Ph.D, Sexologist, Sexuality Educator and Author.

Before the film began, the audience members were given handouts, listing various scenes throughout the film. They were asked to mark scenes that best represented three issues of importance; employment, marriage/dating/sexuality, and the role of parents. After the film audiences discussed which scenes they thought best represented these issues in order to address them in an academic setting with the DVD release coming up.

Photo (right to left): Panelists Andrea LaVant, , Logan Levkoff, filmmaker Ali Codina, panelist Faye Ginsburg, and moderator Robert West.

Audiences varied, and were able to offer perspectives ranging from disabled youth, parents of disabled children, couples, and filmmakers. Ali discussed the struggle of witnessing and sharing such an intimate story while being a family member to the characters. The audience was able to partake is discussing the parents involvement in their children's lives and their own fears about raising children themselves. Andrea LaVant gave examples of growing up disabled as a child and described how influenced she was by her mothers view of her own independence. Logan Levkoff referred to the representation of the couples sexuality and relationship as a really good universal example of a healthy relationship. Faye Ginsburg was able to discuss being a parent and her own frustration with the lack of community resources and information for parents and caregivers.

There was a general sense of appreciation and awe for the films' visibility and positive portrayal of a love story. The film depicts an amazingly generous family who are able to care for Monica and David in a unique way. One viewer wondered how this portrayal of success and happiness in a couple with down syndrome translated across class lines, and the director made it clear that this film is meant to bring awareness to an extremely underrepresented issue but it tells a story of only one family. All in all the evening was informative and enlightening, and we can’t wait to see what partnerships and changes are in the works for the next seasons' story leads to action!

by Sarah Tabet

TFI New Media Fund Submission Deadline is May 25th!

2011-05-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

Only two days left to apply for this amazing fund!

About the TFI New Media Fund

The TFI New Media Fund provides funding and support to non-fiction, social issue media projects which go beyond traditional screens – integrating film with content across media platforms, from video games and mobile apps to social networks and interactive websites. We’re looking for projects that activate audiences around issues of contemporary social justice and equality around the world and demonstrate the power of cross-platform storytelling and dynamic audience engagement.

Funding

Four to eight non-fiction projects will be accepted, each receiving $50,000 to $100,000 in funding. The projects must present a non-fiction story focused on social issues and include an integrated cross-platform or new media component designed to engage and activate audiences in imaginative ways. The fund will include peer support and expert mentorship for producers. Producers from the U.S. and internationally are invited to apply.

Apply here!

Lena Dunham Will Be Judging Shooting Peoples Film of the Month this May!

2011-04-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Most of the world heard about Lena Dunham after her stellar victory at SXSW in 2010. Not only did the 24 year old premiere her first feature Tiny Furniture, she also starred in it, wrote it and walked away with the Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the award for Best Narrative Feature. All this from a film she made for $45,000 (which has since grossed to date eight times that). Not too shabby.

Lena’s success did not go unnoticed. With fans such as Sarah Silverman and Judd Apatow behind her, as well as big time Producer Scott Rudin, the director has landed herself her own HBO series (Girls) and the label of ‘Generation Y's Woody Allen’.

Lena is a great example of an independent filmmaker getting out there and doing it. It’s also nice to see a woman writing, acting and directing comedy - there are too few. This is why the folks over at Shooting People are stoked (as the Australians say) to have her as their judge for May’s Film of the Month.

Shooting People is presenting May's Film of the Month in partnership with Birds Eye View, the UK's leading women's film festival. They hosted the UK premiere of Tiny Furniture back in March and those of us on this side of the Atlantic are truly grateful to them from bringing it over. However, Film of the Month is open to EVERYONE, and both women and men are encouraged to submit.

If you would like the chance of having Lena watch your work, then please upload it from 1st May.
Visit their website for more info and to submit your film.

Come See Our School and Semper Fi at the Tribeca Film Festival!

2011-04-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

We are excited to support two great documentaries screening at Tribeca Film Festival this next week!

Our School follows three Roma (commonly known as "Gypsy") children in a rural Transylvanian village who are among the pioneer participants in an initiative to integrate the ethnically segregated Romanian schools. When their district is ordered desegregated, Alin, Benjamin, and Dana set out for the city school, optimistic for education and new friendships, even as funds earmarked for integration are questionably used to build a "Roma-only" school in their village. Their innocent optimism quickly sours when the children are met with baseless ostracism from peers and teachers alike.

Shot over four years, the filmmakers' tender portrait of rural village life and its rhythms fosters an intimacy in the children's profound reality and admiration for their indomitable spirit, which is then punctuated with shocking instances of prejudice and ignorance. Their story touches on issues ranging from institutionalized racism, public education, and the intractability of poverty, culminating in an outrageous finale that cements the Roma children's struggle in the annals of egregious human rights violations. Our School is an absorbing, infuriating, and ultimately bittersweet story of tradition and progress.

--Cara Cusumano

Showtimes:

Friday April 22, 7:30PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 9

Saturday April 23, 7:30PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 9

Tuesday April 26, 3:45PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 8

Saturday April 30, 6:30PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 2

SEMPER FI: Always Faithful

Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger's loyalty belonged to the Marine Corps for 25 years. But when his nine-year-old daughter dies of a rare leukemia, Jerry gives up all else to investigate the cause of her death. His exhaustive search for answers leads to a shocking discovery: one of the largest water contamination cover-ups in US history. Bravely determined to hold the Marine Corps accountable for the unprecedented number of cancer cases and deaths at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, Jerry refuses to settle for the military's dismissive response to the many victims buried under their dubious bureaucracy. Outrage, perseverance, and enduring patriotic duty drive Jerry to reveal this grave national issue before Congress and the American public.

Directors Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon present a timely and sobering personal story, shining a light on the military's betrayal of American soldiers and their families. The film compels and empowers the viewer to demand the Department of Defense—America's largest polluter, according to the film—to protect its soldiers and civilians from toxic environmental conditions at military sites across the nation.

--Roya Rastegar

Showtimes:

Monday April 25, 12:00PM at AMC Loews Village 7-1

Wednesday April 27, 7:00PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 5

Saturday April 30, 1:00PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 5

For More Information click TICKETS ...

Apply for UNAFF 2011: Early Deadline is May 11th!

2011-04-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

CALL FOR ENTRIES
14th UNAFF (UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION FILM FESTIVAL)

October 21-30, 2011 Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University - celebrates the power of international documentary films dealing with human rights issues, environmental themes, protection of refugees, famine, homelessness, racism, disease control, women's issues, children, universal education, war and peace. In addition to our ongoing celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year we emphasize the theme

EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT

“Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups” (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Formats: 16mm and 35mm film; Beta SP, DVD (NTSC)

Preview: DVD (NTSC region 0 or 1) Please test your consumer-burned DVD
on several makes and models of players before submitting it.
All lengths are eligible

Entry fee: $25 for films up to 30 min. (late deadline $35)
and $35 for films longer than 30 min. (late deadline is $45)
Please send a check or money order payable to UNAFF or use PayPal using UNAFF web site www.unaff.org

Early Deadline – May 11, 2011*
Regular Deadline – May 21, 2011*
Late deadline –June 1, 2011*
(*Postmarked)

THE ENTRY FORM: Print from www.unaff.org or www.withoutabox.com

Awards:
• UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary
• UNAFF Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary
• UNAFF/Stanford Video Award for Cinematography
• UNAFF/Stanford Video Award for Editing
• UNAFF Youth Vision Award

Please submit screening materials and background info to:
UNAFF 2011
Stanford University
10 Alvarado Row - CERAS/CFLP, Room 114
Stanford, CA 94305-3084

Questions or comments: Email info@unaff.org or call (650) 724-5544

Upcoming Women Make Movies Workshops are starting this week!

2011-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

Women Make Movies has a bunch of amazing workshops coming up!
Their first event, starts next Wednesday night, April 20,
features the incomparable Ingrid Kopp.

Here is a list of all the workshops:

Meet the Funder: TFI New Media Fund
Wednesday, April 20 | 6:30 - 8:00 pm | FREE
Presented by Ingrid Kopp, New Media Consultant for the TFI New Media Fund

Meet the Funder: National Endowment for the Humanities
Wednesday, April 27 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | $20/$15 discounted rate

Transmedia, Why Do Funders Think It’s Important?
Monday, May 2 | 6:30 | 8:30 pm | $50/$40 discounted rate
Presented by Lina Srivastava, Principal of Lina Srivastava Consulting

Navigating the International Film Festival Circuit
Wednesday, May 25 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | $50/$40 discounted rate
Presented by Debra Zimmerman, WMM Executive Director

Selling to Broadcasters: Getting Onto Primetime
Wednesday, June 8| 6:30 | 8:30pm | $50/$40 discounted rate
$50/$40 discounted rate

Fear of Fundraising: An Essential Overview of the Basics
Wednesday, June 22, 6:30 8:30 pm | $50/$40 discounted rate
Presented by Tracie Holder, WMM Production Assistance Program Consultant

They are also offering SEASON PASSES: Four workshops for only $150/$120 (discount rate) or three workshops for $120/$80 (discount rate). Please note: Does not include Meet the Funder Events.

Click HERE to find the full details and registration. There are full descriptions of what the workshops entail on their site!

Brooklyn Castle Announced for Good Pitch NY Project Lineup!

2011-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

GOOD PITCH NY 2011 PROJECT LINEUP ANNOUNCED

Good Pitch NY 2011 will take place at the

Ford Foundation on Friday, May 20th, 2011

London, UK, April 4, 2010 - The lineup for the Good Pitch NY 2011, taking place at the Ford Foundation’s Manhattan headquarters on Friday 20 May, is announced today.

The Good Pitch is an invitation-only event, starting with an intensive two-day campaign development workshop for the filmmakers, followed by a day-long live event which brings together documentary films and organizations with social change and innovation at their heart.

Eight filmmaking teams will pitch their projects and associated outreach campaigns to an invited group of foundations, NGOs, brands, advertising and digital agencies, social entrepreneurs and media organizations with the aim of creating a unique coalition around each film to accelerate its impact and influence.

A project of the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation in partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, the team worked with staff and advisors to choose eight documentary projects for this edition of the Good Pitch out of several hundred applications. The selected filmmakers are Dawn Porter (Gideon's Army), Soniya Kirpalani (We The People), Marc Silver (Who Is Dayani Cristal?), Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry), Kief Davidson (Untitled Partners In Health Documentary), Katie Dellamaggiore (Brooklyn Castle), Patrice O'Neill (Not In Our Town III: Light in the Darkness), and Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime).

Brooklyn Castle

Dir. Katie Dellamaggiore

Amidst financial crisis and unprecedented public school budget cuts, Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York, has assembled the best junior high chess team in the nation. Brooklyn Castle follows five young teens for one school year as they struggle, grow and challenge themselves both on and off the chessboard.

We are delighted to see Katie Dellamaggiore included in the Good Pitch Line up with Brooklyn Castle. The film follows the students from I.S. 318, whose chess program is just one example of an innovative and accessible public education program that works. And yet while most educators, parents and politicians agree that programs like art, music and chess play a vital role in public education, in times of financial crisis they are the first programs to be cut. Through the telling of five personal stories, Brooklyn Castle makes an argument for afterschool programs and the critical role they play in addressing the needs of kids, especially disadvantaged kids that might otherwise be marginalized by the current public education system. We're excited to see her form partnerships and be able to make a difference in important New York after school programming.

Find out more here: http://britdoc.org/real_good/gpny2011

“This is the first of two Good Pitches to be held in North America in 2011,” said Cara Mertes, Sundance Documentary Film Program Director, “and the range of topics and geographies represents a full spectrum of documentary storytelling.”

The projects focus on issues of immigration, human rights, global health, racism, migrant labor, hate crimes, poverty, domestic violence, and criminal justice and tell stories from The Emirates, China, USA, South Asia, Haiti, and US/Mexico/Central American borders.

In 2011, the Ford Foundation has joined the Good Pitch team as a major funder and host venue of the New York City event. The Ford Foundation joins the Tides Foundation, the Fledgling Fund, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Impact Partners, CrossCurrents Foundation and anonymous donors as supporters of the Good Pitch. Working Films will continue to provide campaign development for the invited filmmakers.

“The ability to take complex, urgent issues and translate them into compelling stories is the remarkable skill of documentary filmmakers,” said Orlando Bagwell, Director of the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms Initiative. “As great cinema, documentaries can not only inform and inspire their audiences, but also catalyze viewers to become active participants in social change. Good Pitch makes that opportunity for action possible by connecting master storytellers to organizations on the ground working to improve people’s lives. The Ford Foundation is excited to be a new supporter and host of this year’s Good Pitch in New York City.”

The Good Pitch NY 2011 is the first event of 2011 on an annual, international tour, with further pitches planned for San Francisco in September and Europe in October. For more information on Good Pitch events in 2011, see www.britdoc.org/goodpitch.

For more information about the Good Pitch, contact Elise McCave at the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation: elise@britdoc.org or on +44 7980 986 862

Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation is a UK-based not-for-profit organization backed by Channel 4 TV. It is dedicated to reinventing funding and distribution models for British documentary filmmakers. As well as funding ground breaking social-issue films (such as double Sundance winner Afghan Star, Berlin winner The Yes Men Fix the World, Sundance 09 feature doc The End of the Line and Tribeca winner We Are Together), the Foundation brokers relationships between filmmakers and the NGO and brand sectors in the UK to create better, more effective films. The Good Pitch is a key part of the Foundation’s important work in this area.

Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP) supports contemporary nonfiction filmmakers globally with year-round activities, including the Sundance Documentary Fund, Creative Labs and workshops focusing on the art of documentary, and collaborative partnerships including the Stories of Change initiative with the Skoll Foundation, and major social justice and human rights initiatives with Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation among others. The DFP has supported over 400 films since 1996, including The Oath, Nerakoon: Betrayal, Trouble the Water, Iraq in Fragments, Why We Fight, and Long Night’s Journey Into Day. The DFP is a core program of the Los Angeles-based non-profit Sundance Institute. Founded by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Chicken and Egg Pictures

In honor of the 2012 Oscar Season STORY LEADS TO ACTION Presents the 1993 Academy Award-nominated THE WAR ROOM on February 16th!

Can Documentaries Change the World? Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand participates in upcoming UnionDocs Panel!

Chicken & Egg funded films nominated for Best Short Documentary Oscar!

CE Grantee Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Goes to Sundance!

Congratulations to C&E I Believe in You Grantee THE NEW BLACK!

Chicken & Egg Coasts the Social Media Waves!

Story Leads to Action presented Call Me Kuchu, in honor of Human Rights Day

PANELISTS JUST ADDED!! -- Tonight's STORY LEADS TO ACTION presents CALL ME KUCHU, 7PM at 92YTribeca

Additional Panelists Added to the DEC 15th Story Leads to Action screening of CALL ME KUCHU!

Semper Fi comes back to NYC at IFC's Stranger than Fiction program!

Notes From the Field: TEDxWomen

Check out Chicken & Egg Supported STORY OF BROKE online!

Report Back From REEL FOOD!

Working Films & Semper Fi Goes to Jacksonville

Can Documentaries Change the World? Chicken & Egg co-founder Judith Helfand participates in upcoming UnionDocs Panel!

In Honor of Human Rights Day: CALL ME KUCHU at Story Leads to Action, 7PM at 92YTribeca

REEL FOOD reports back at Story Leads to Action -- A Post-Screening Write-Up!

Working Films announces REEL AGING: REAL CHANGE residency!

DOC NYC -- Panel video now online!

TONIGHT! Story Leads to Action reports back from REEL FOOD with WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE & PIPE FIRE! -- 7PM at 92YTribeca

CALL FOR ENTRIES - Good Pitch 2012 Announced!

This Thursday, REEL FOODS reports back to STORY LEADS TO ACTION, at 92Y Tribeca!

Chicken & Egg at DOC NYC! -- Post-panel wrap-up!

Women & Girls Matter--Watch the panels online!

Story Leads to Action celebrates REEL FOOD with WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE? and PIPE FIRE November 17th!

Guest blogger Sara Terry discusses Fambul Tok; Chicken & Egg at DOC NYC!

Semper Fi kicks off the fourth season of Story Leads to Action!

Story Leads to Action KICKS OFF TONIGHT with Semper Fi!

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

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

Story Leads to Action, 2011-2012 Schedule Announced!

Chicken & Egg Supported Films Receive MacArthur Documentary Film Grants!

CONNECTED Premieres in NYC on October 14th!

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

STORY LEADS TO ACTION's Panelist Profile 2009-201

What a week for Chicken & Egg Executive Produced Films!

Celebrating Julia Reichert at IFW 2011!

GRANITO receives AN EXTENDED NYC RUN!

Match+ receives SFFS Documentary Film Funds grant!

Chicken & Egg Supported Documentaries at the Grierson Awards!

Chicken & Egg Celebrates IFW 2011!

Tonight: GRANITO at IFC with Chicken & Egg co-founder Wendy Ettinger!

Chicken & Egg Supported CONNECTED Premieres Sept 16th!

Chicken & Egg Supported GRANITO Premieres at IFC!

25 Tips and Ideas on How to Bag It!

Chicken & Egg Executive Produced Semper Fi: Always Faithful Comes to New York

Chicken & Egg Pictures Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2011 Open Call!

Chicken & Egg Pictures Executive Produced at IFC Center's DocuWeeks!

Join Chicken & Egg Pictures In Celebrating Our Spring 2011 Grantees!

Congratulations to five Chicken & Egg Grantees on their Emmy Nominations!

Check Out DEAR MANDELA'S Theatrical Trailer!

Congratulations to Bag It's grant from The Fledgling Fund's Spring 2011 selection!

Judith Helfand's film, A Healthy Baby Girl, is Screening this Tuesday, July 19th, in DC!

Check Out Jesse Epstein and NAMI NYC's Multimedia Event!

My Perestroika Broadcasts Nationally on PBS June 28th at 10pm!

What you missed from STORY LEADS TO ACTION at Silverdocs 2011

Chicken & Egg at Silverdocs 2011!

Story Leads To Action Panel at Silverdocs!

Monica & David and the Transition to Adulthood

Check out Lynn Hershman Leesons' film, !Women Art Revolution, at IFC June 1st!

Monica & David Wraps up the season of our Story Leads To Action series!

TFI New Media Fund Submission Deadline is May 25th!

Only two days left to apply for this amazing fund!

About the TFI New Media Fund

Lena Dunham Will Be Judging Shooting Peoples Film of the Month this May!

Come See Our School and Semper Fi at the Tribeca Film Festival!

Apply for UNAFF 2011: Early Deadline is May 11th!

Upcoming Women Make Movies Workshops are starting this week!

Brooklyn Castle Announced for Good Pitch NY Project Lineup!

Chicken & Egg Pictures Executive Produced at IFC Center's DocuWeeks!