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Event Archive: 2003
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Center
for Social Media Hosts Panel at AMLA:
How do social change and advocacy materials
fit into a classroom standing in the shadow of standardized testing?
"Video is only one dimension of a process," said
Ronit Avni of the human rights organization Witness. "You need to
know more about the complexity of any human rights issue, and you
need to know what you can do. Otherwise, compassion fatigue sets
in." More>>
DC
FilmFest Panel Discussion
CSM to Host Panel of International Filmmakers
in conjunction with DC Filmfest
On April 27, the Center for Social Media hosted a panel discussion
with international filmmakers at the Avalon Theater. More information
on this event, go to the DC FilmFest website.
Standing
on the Shoulders of Giants:
Documentary Filmmakers Caught Between
Copyright and the Public Domain
On April 11, the Center for Social Media hosted a panel discussion
on copyright and public domain issues in documentary filmmaking.
The event will be held at the Full Frame Documentary FilmFest in
Durham, North Carolina. For more information on the Film Fest, go
to fullframefest.org.
War
Beyond the Box 
CSM Launches War Beyond the Box Website
On April 7th, the Center for Social Media launched War
Beyond the Box, a website dedicated to documenting and highlighting
the various approaches to media that people used to communicate
about the war in Iraq. For more information about this exciting
project, read the press release.
Social
Action Media Showcase
In conjunction with the DC Environmental
Film Festival
On March 17, 2003, the Center for Social Media hosted screenings
and discussions of four films. The events were held in conjunction
with the DC Environmental Film Festival and featured films from
the 2002 United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF). Jasmina
Bojic, Founder and Executive Director of the UNAFF, introduced the
program, stating, "This is an important time for the United
Nations. The UN is facing enormous challenges regarding its future.
These films show why international understanding is so important
in a time of globalization."
Not
For Sale, by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young. A powerful examination
of the grassroots fight against expanding global trade agreements
and corporate patents over knowledge and life. Melissa Young and
Mark Dworkin joined Professor Paul Wapner for a post-screening discussion
of the film. Melissa said that the film demonstrated that “we
need a change in priorities: we need more federal money for organic
and sustainable agriculture. We need to fight the expansion of patents
over forms of life.” Mark Dworkin related the film to a recent
trip to Argentina, explaining that farmers in Argentina were forced
by the IMF to plant genetically modified crops for export. “Now
they don’t have enough food, even though they produce a lot
of export soy.” They also urged students to take action to
force the university cafeteria to buy from local farmers.
Culture
Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture, by Jill Sharpe. A hard-hitting
profile of the emerging movement of ‘culture jammers’
who are reclaiming corporate media space. Following the screening,
one self-described culture jammer in the audience explained his
campaign against oil corporations.
The
Blood of Earth, by Ana Vivas. The struggle of the U’Wa
Indians of Columbia raises urgent questions about indigenous rights
in a rapidly globalizing world.
Bombies, by Jack Silberman. Through the experiences of Laotians,
this film explores the legacy of unexploded cluster bombs and the
struggle to ban them. Jasmina Bojic joined Titus Peachey, who did
research and translation for Bombies, for a discussion of the film.
He explained that an estimated 10-30 million Bombies exist in Laos
due to the heavy aerial bombardment that took place. He estimated
that the U.S. bombers dropped more than twice the munitions used
in Germany and Japan during World War II in the bombing of Laos.
Freelance reporter Joan McQueeney Mitric also reflected on the film's
importance for civilian populations in Serbia and Iraq.
Panel Discussion: Filmmaking for
Environmental Action
Tuesday, March 18
 Six
accomplished documentary filmmakers shared insights on producing
successful films that have a social impact. Participants
included Jasmina Bojic, United Nations Association Film Festival,
James Ficklin (Tree-sit: The Art of Resistance); John de Graaf (Hot
Potatoes; Affluenza); Judith Helfand (Blue Vinyl); Barry Schneier
(Stonewalk) and Melissa Young (Not for Sale). The panel was moderated
by Pat Aufderheide. Panelists explained the importance of doing
market research, the power of humor to convey a message, producing
films on low operating budgets, and the importance of having a distribution
strategy when you begin production.
Stonewalk with Barry Schneier
7:30-9:00
Wechsler Theater
Peace activist Lewis Randa’s effort to bring
a memorial to civilian casualties of war to Arlington National Cemetery
brought this issue home wherever the marchers passed. Director Barry
Schneier led the post-screening dicussion, explaining that the memorial
continues to live on though it has not yet received Congressional
approval for Arlington Cemetery. The memorial has been used in Ireland
to bring momentum to the peace process there, and currently resides
in London.
Making Change, Making Movies
Wednesday, March 19
 On
March 19th, Judith Helfand presented an inspiring workshop on using
media for social change. Her presentation riveted the audience with
illustrations from her films and anecdotes that demonstrate how
her work has influenced social change. She traced her beginnings
in filmmaking to a George Stoney documentary, Wasn't That a Time,
which inspired her, and later to her experience working with him
on Uprising of '34. The way that the project combined organizing
and media to educate and motivate people toward action defined an
approach to social media that Judith has since expanded in works
such as A Healthy Baby Girl and Blue Vinyl. She emphasized that
it is important in filmmaking to have "a relationship at the
center, where your issue converges with the form of media."
The best documentaries often have "a relationship at stake,
a real reason to make the movie." She explained that her approach
to filmmaking is to "help set up incredible venues that use
culture and art to open space for education and dialogue around
social issues." Her advice to the next generation of filmmakers
was to "be both strategic and open to serendipity" in
your approach to each project.
For further details on the Environmental Film Festival click here.
March
5
Voices From the Arab "Street";
Iraq and Egypt
Featuring two new documentaries: "Generation
of Hate" and "Driving An Arab Street"
Free screening and discussion
5:30 pm, Wechsler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
The Center screened two new documentaries, one never before seen
in the U.S., featuring the opinions of ordinary people in Iraq and
Cairo about Americans, war in Iraq, al-Quaeda, and their own governments.
The documentaries:
"Generation of Hate", by Shelley Saywell (49 minutes).
Veteran Canadian human rights filmmaker Shelley Saywell and Olivia
Ward, former UN Correspondent for the Toronto Star, visit the street
kids, shop workers, and university students of Baghdad, the citizens
of bombed-out Basra, and refugees in Iran. In spite of censorship,
the complexity of their views on war, their government and America's
role in the world shows through.
"Driving An Arab Street", by Arthur Hurley (39 minutes).
Cairo cab drivers share their thoughts on everything from traffic
to terrorism with an AU graduate student in visual media. The work
comes out of Hurley's year in Cairo in 2001-2002, as an Arabic-speaking
journalist. (Produced by Arthur Hurley/Cyrille Joye. Distributor:
Arab Film Distribution.)
A discussion followed with filmmaker Arthur Hurley and School of
International Service Professor Diane Singerman.
Feb.
20
TV on WartimeTV: Lessons from the Gulf War
Free screening and discussion
5:30 pm, Wechsler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
The Center screened three films that challenge television coverage
of the Gulf War. Each has important lessons for media behavior in
wartime, and each is a creative example of media literacy. The three
films are:
"The Iraq Campaign", by Phil Patiris (18 minutes) is a
satire of TV network news during the Gulf War, which creatively
re-uses TV networks' own work. "Counterfeit Coverage",
by David Shulman (29 minutes) is an exposé of how Kuwait's
public relations firm manipulated news during the Gulf War. "TV's
Gulf War", by Bill Nichols (27 minutes) is a home-made, wryly
funny television criticism, from one of the leading film theory
scholars and his students.
A discussion followed with Center director Pat Aufderheide and SOC
professor Sarah Menke-Fish on critical viewing of television.
Feb. 6
Afghan Massacre: Convoy of Death
Screening and discussion
5:30 pm, Wechsler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
Was the US involved in war crimes In Afghanistan? Where are the
missing Taliban prisoners? The debate over what really happened--The
Center hosted a screening a vigorous discussion of the role of journalists
in documenting and prosecuting war crimes. The event was cosponsored
by Office of the University Chaplain, Kay Spiritual Life Center,
The Crimes of War Project, and US Independents.
The U.S. premiere of "Afghan Massacre: Convoy of Death," by Scottish
filmmaker Jamie Doran, took place on Feb. 6, 2003. The film charges
that the U.S. may be implicated in war crimes, when up to thousands
of Taliban soldiers were murdered after surrender to American-led
forces at Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001. The U.S. government has
repudiated the charges. Other journalists have been reluctant to
draw the same conclusions, while agreeing with many of the facts.
The film has been seen in Europe, where the U.S. government has
discouraged screening.
Pamela Constable, South Asia bureau chief on leave from the Washington
Post, provided historical and political context. After the screening,
Jamie Doran discussed the making of the film and engaged in dialogue
with other journalists, among them Crime of War Project founder
Roy Guttman. Guttman was a co-author of the Newsweek article that
focused on the massacre, without directly implicating the U.S. Doran
and Guttman represented two different approaches. Unable to get
Pentagon confirmation of reports of U.S. involvement in the massacre,
Guttman and his co-authors chose to make the Newsweek article a
record of indisputable, damning facts. Doran, who repeatedly tried
to get Pentagon corroboration of eyewitness accounts and failed,
reported those accounts and raised the question of U.S. responsibility.
Constable, who had seen the effects of both pieces of reporting,
noted that Doran's work had been widely seen and discussed in Europe.
She also noted that the Newsweek article was very important in keeping
the question of possible war crime alive in Afghanistan.
Also present was a representative of Physicians for Human Rights,
who emphasized the importance of journalistic coverage, in order
to keep the mass grave site from being tampered with before it could
be investigated.
Jamie Doran is an award-winning filmmaker who worked for the BBC
for seven years before founding his own company. The film's footage
recently won the 2002 Rory Peck Award for Hard News, The SONY Award
and the film has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Award
for Current Affairs.
For an in-depth (and different) analysis of the incident, by Babak
Dehghanpisheh, John Barry and Roy Gutman, see "The
Death Convoy of Afghanistan," Newsweek, August 26, 2002. For
recent reporting on U.S. involvement with human rights abuses in
war, consult Dana Priest and Barton Gellman, "U.S.
Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations," Washington Post, December
26, 2002. For analysis of the question of torture in wartime,
look at The Economist special report, "Ends,
means and barbarity," Jan 9, 2003.
Feb. 4
Beyond the Bottom Line in Documentary Filmmaking: New Research on
the State of Media Arts Funding, Production, and Distribution
At Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes / German
Cultural Center, Washington, DC
812 Seventh Street, NW (Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro )
Screening, panel discussion, and reception.
Beyond the business, the making of films and
videos is an art form. And it's even recognized as an artistic practice
by patrons both public and private. But the term "media arts"
is still strangely new. Recent research shows:
• Where the resources are for media artists
• What policies support media arts
• What media artists need to do to get better support and
policies.
On the evening's panel were scholars and researchers to explain
recent research, as well as producers and policymakers to comment
upon it. Featured research:
• An Urban Institute study on resources for the arts, including
a comprehensive database at nyfa.org.
• From Celluloid to Cyberspace: The Media Arts and the Changing
Arts World, by Kevin F. McCarthy and Elizabeth Heneghan Ondaatje,
of RAND.
• Media as a Social Tool, the final report of a conference
at the Center.
Featured speakers included:
• Carole Rosenstein, Urban Institute
• Kevin McCarthy, RAND (unconfirmed)
• Leo Eaton, producer
• Gail Leftwich, Federation of State Humanities Councils
• Katharina von Flotow, Head of Music and Documentary, European
Broadcasting Union, Switzerland
Schedule:
4:00-6:30 Presentation of short works of social
documentary art
7:00 Panel discussion
8:00 Reception
Sponsors:
The Center for Social Media at American University
and the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes/German Cultural Center, Washington,
with support from US Independents, Women and Film and Video (WIFV),
International Documentary Association (IDA) and Washington Salon,
Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF).
Jan.
21
Civil Rights Alive in Documentary About Local Legal Activist
James Forman, Jr. and Kirsten
Johnson to attend screening
of "Innocent Until Proven Guilty"
(60 min.) 5:30 pm, Wechsler Theater
The Center hosted extraordinary social activists and the filmmaker
who told their story at the screening of the award-winning documentary
"Innocent until Proven Guilty".
This event was part of the celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. at American University.
Meet James Forman, Jr., lawyer and teacher, who works with young
people at risk. Meet a teacher and student from his charter school.
And meet filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, a widely-sought-after cinematographer
whose work has been seen on MTV, PBS and European TV.
"Innocent until Proven Guilty", an hour-long documentary,
showcases the legal and educational activism of James Forman, Jr.,
a public defender, a teacher, a writer, and an indefatigable activist.
The son of civil rights activists, Forman has fought the criminalization
of African-American youth in the courts, and has also founded a
school, the Maya Angelou Charter School in Washington, D.C. Renowned
African-American filmmaker St. Clair Bourne produced the film, which
debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival.
A reception followed, in the Lobby on the third floor of Mary Graydon
Center, located in Room 315 on the 3rd floor of Mary Graydon Center
on the main campus of American University.
For more information on the film, visit Big
Mouth Productions.
This event was supported by the Haas Family Trusts.
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