The Official Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival is June 3rd in NYC

Fred Benenson, May 27th, 2009

Every year, Arts Engine produces the fantastic Media That Matters Film Festival. The festival awards and screens a dozen social justice shorts each year and then releases them for sale under our Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license on region-free unencrypted DVDs. This allows educators, fans, and audiences to arrange their own non-commercial screenings of the shorts and help promote them without having to spend time negotiating with MTM and the many different film makers participating in the festival.

This year’s Official Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival is happening next Wednesday, June 3rd in NYC but there are hundreds of screenings organized all around the world. In conjunction with the NYC festival, there will be an impACT salon featuring the festival’s presenting partners that begins an hour prior to the screening at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) Visual Arts Theater.

Check out the official site for details, schedules, and downloads.

Also of interest may be the video Creative Commons and Media That Matters collaborated on in late 2008:

You can download the video and learn more about it on its video page.

Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival DVDs on Sale

Fred Benenson, November 25th, 2008

The Media that Matters 8th Annual Festival DVDs have officially gone on sale. There are a number of facts that make these DVDs exceptional in the festival and documentary world:

• They use CC’s BY-NC-ND license to encourage educational reuse and sharing of the material.
• The DVDs are not region encoded or encrypted. This means you are free to copy and share the DVDs according to the license without running afoul of laws regulating anti-circumvention technologies.
• All of the films are available online in high and low quality formats.
• The DVD cases are clearly marked with the badge of our the license.
• Arts Engine uses these DVD sales to support more CC licensed films being made.
• Arts Engine provides educational materials and discussion guides to help educators present the films to students.

If you’re interested in submitting your work to the 9th Annual Media that Matters Film Festival, check out their submission page here. Either way, consider buying a DVD today!

9th Annual Media That Matters Film Festival: Call For Entries

Cameron Parkins, October 1st, 2008

Arts Engine, a non-profit that creates social-issue documentaries, just released a call for entries for their 9th Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. The films produced for the MTMFF are short form, focus on social issues, and made mostly by young filmmakers.

Following a New York City Premiere, Awards Ceremony and industry networking event in June 2009, films submitted will take part in the Media That Matters international, multi-platform campaign with “DVD distribution, broadcasts, streaming and hundreds of screenings across the globe.” After the festival has been completed, the films will be released under a CC BY-NC-ND license. From MTMFF:

The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premier showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action.

From gay rights to global warming, the jury-selected collection represents the work of a diverse group of independent filmmakers, many of whom are under 21. The films are equally diverse in style and content, with documentaries, music videos, animations, experimental work and everything else in between. What all the films have in common is that they spark debate and action in 12 minutes or less.

You can check out entries from previous MTMFF here, here, and here. Details on how to enter below:

Short Films: Keep it short! Under 12 minutes is good, but under 8 is even better.

All Genres: Documentary, animation, PSA, narrative, music videos – be creative!

Social Issues: Any and all. This year we are looking for films on Media Literacy, Human Rights, Elections & Democracy, Sustainability, Sexual Identity—but all social issues are accepted. Youth produced projects are encouraged.

Cash Prize: $1,000 per film.

Submission Fee: $25 for general submissions; $10 for students over 18 (with valid student ID); free for youth 18 and under (with valid ID).

Deadline: All submission materials must be postmarked by January 9th, 2009.

Check website for more details: submit.

Arts Engine also sells region-free unencrypted CC licensed DVDs of all the films that can be shown in any non-commercial setting.