VIDEO | Dennis Banks: Sacred Run
A Film by Rebecca MacNeice
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm

Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, organized the first Sacred Run across the country 28 years ago. The run is a staggered event that covers the country by foot between February 11th and April 22nd, ending in Washington, DC, on Earth Day. Along the way, the core group of runners is joined intermittently by other walkers and runners. This year's closing ceremony was held at the Lincoln Memorial. Banks has always been accompanied by Buddhist monks from the Nipponzan Myohoji sect.

I just discovered an article in the Valley Scene regarding 5th annual WildWood Film Festival which took place April 14-15 at The Big Picture in Appleton, that deserves to be archived...

How to draw a Doggie
By Jim Lundstrom

Eric Carter was so inspired to see his work on a big screen at last year’s WildWood Film Festival that this year he not only has his own short film – “How to Draw a Doggie in Four Easy Steps” – entered for judging in the comedy category, but he also took part in the filming and editing of works entered by two filmmaking friends who also have works entered in the 5th annual WildWood Film Festival.

“Last year I had two shorts in Wildwood,” said Carter, a 33-year-old Green Bay resident. “It was awesome. I think it’s great to have the chance to show your films.”

WildWood is a two-day event that begins with a single viewing session Friday, April 14, and continues for two more sessions on Saturday.

For the past two years it was held in the small hall at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, but this year moves to the large-screen format movie theater The Big Picture in downtown Appleton, a move that Carter applauds.

“That should actually be better,” he said. “The PAC is a prestigious place, but they didn’t have the best equipment for showing films.”

Still, he said, “It was just exciting to see something I did play on a big screen.”

That’s exactly why WildWood founders Craig Knitt, Tom Thorne and Jason Buss created the festival, to shed light on the largely underground film community in Wisconsin. They hope this year’s crop of films give wider exposure both to the filmmakers and the film festival.

“We had close to 50 submissions this year,” Buss said. “Quite a few of those are returning filmmakers. That’s good to see.”

“We’re proud to encourage Wisconsin filmmakers,” Thorne said. “We’re hoping this fifth year will be the breakout year for us. We’d like to have multiple venues around the state in the future – Green Bay, La Crosse, Wausau.”

Carter said he enjoys taking part in WildWood for the pleasure of seeing his work in public on a big screen, but last year’s event also turned into opportunities to work with others.

“I was just surprised to find there are so many actors and people who want to make movies around here,” said Carter, who makes a living as a picture frame and wedding video editor.

“I made a lot of short films in high school,” he said. “I really wanted to go to college for film, but I didn’t want to go far away, so I ended up studying photography and art (at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay).”

In 2004 he took an editing class at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay that led to his entry in this year’s festival, “How to Draw a Doggie…”.

“The assignment was to do an instructional video, and I really didn’t want to do an instructional video,” Carter said. “I wanted to do something a little more creative.”

What he came up with could be seen as a comic take on the creative process, but Carter insists it’s all arbitrary stuff designed to fulfill the class assignment.

“In art school, I was into surrealism and dada,” he said.

So, the four steps to drawing a doggie include 1. Coffee, with Frank Sinatra on vocals; 2. Drawing a doggie, which Carter does; 3. A Levitating Strawberry (part of the assignment called for inserting a clip, and Carter found this one on the Internet); 4. Crabmeat Rangoon, which requires a trip to a Chinese restaurant.

“I never knew the WildWood Festival existed until someone at NWTC told me I should enter my couple of films in it,” Carter said. “It was cool to see there were other local people making movies. I was in my own little bubble and didn’t even know there was a group getting together to make movies.”

That led to his discovering the Independent Filmmakers Guild, which operates out of Green Bay, and put him in touch with other likeminded filmmakers.

“Scott Harpt started the IFG, and he’s the guy who wrote and directed ‘Chester McPhail’ (another comedy in this year’s WildWood lineup),” Carter said. “I did all the filming and editing on that. Then there’s a documentary, a short profile called ‘Menzel.’ I helped with the editing on that.”

All of which has inspired Carter to do more.

“I have a lot of ideas,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out how to write using scriptwriting software and write an actual story instead of just piecing stuff together. I’m studying stop-motion graphics because I want to get more into the animation side of things.”

Robert Greenwald writes...

Dear field producers and screening hosts,

So we have gone public with our new film Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. It was sooner than we had thought, but given the critical nature of raising the funds now or not having the film available for the fall, the Brave New Films team decided it was better to go public. And what a great response we've had already... a thousand people have contributed over $60,000!! And if you take the time to look through the contributors, the variety, the personal dedications, the political passion jumps off the page.

http://iraqforsale.org/

I can't overstate the potential political import of having this film available as a tool in mid-September. Rick Jacobs, the Brave New Films chairman, wrote about this today on the Huffington Post.

The issue of war profiteering, of profit over patriotism, of our being less safe because money that is meant for the soldiers and for the reconstruction of Iraq, is going into the pockets of these greedy corporations. We've found some incredibly brave individuals who are willing to talk on camera about what they have witnessed.

And now once more we need your help. Please take my video appeal, if you like it, if not make up one of your own. And then with a personal note send it on to your e-mail lists. Tell them about your experience as a field producer or a host, tell them about the films you've seen and screened, and the possibility with this film. And then ask them if they would sign up and contribute.

Here's the link:
http://iraqforsale.org/

Get those email lists out and fire away, we need you to distribute the fundraising, just as you have distributed the films. Thanks!

Robert Greenwald

P.S. Here's what two field producers working with me on the film had to say:

Janie: "I've loved tracking down information that in the long run is going to benefit the well-being of our troops that are placed in harms way, while at the same time being able to support them in a way that really matters, not just slapping a bumper sticker on my car and calling it a day.

Ellen: "Working on the film is a way for me, an ordinary citizen with no big political or Hollywood connections, to feel like I'm making a difference. They say that knowledge is power. This is a way for me to get knowledge and help disseminate it, too."

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)Opens May 24 nationwide...

Director Davis Guggenheim eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Al Gore's personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change. A longtime advocate for the environment, Mr. Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a thoughtful and compelling way.

"Al Gore strips his presentations of politics, laying out the facts for the audience to draw their own conclusions in a charming, funny and engaging style, and by the end has everyone on the edge of their seats, gripped by his haunting message," says Guggenheim.

An Inconvenient Truth is not a story of despair but rather a rallying cry to protect the one earth we all share.

"It is now clear that we face a deepening global climate crisis that requires us to act boldly, quickly, and wisely," says Gore.

On April 29 thousands of people will be gathering all across the nation and here in Wisconsin at Coate field on the UW-LaCrosse campus at around 7:30 8 PM. Then they will "commut" (walk) to the parking lot of the YMCA in La Crosse and spending the night sleeping in the parking lot. They are doing this because every night thousands of children in Uganda must walk miles from their homes into the center of the city each night to spend the night packed together like sardines in basically empty warehouses - because that is the only place they are safe from being kidnapped and used as child soldiers or sex slaves.

On April 29 people around the world are commuting to the center of their cities and spending the night outside to bring awareness of the situation into focus to create the support that is needed to end this crisis.

During the night they will write letters to congress, sign petitions and also take pictures, do artwork, and write letters that will be taken to Uganda and be given to the children there!

Find out more at www.invisiblechildren.com , click on the Global Night Commute button and then sign up somewhere.

There is a film available on DVD...

Kavanah: A Progressive Jewish Voice, Along With The Social Justice Film Series, Presents:
================================================================
PROMISES — the Film
Monday, April 17th 7:30pm TITU (Look for "Promises: Social Justice Film Series")
Running time, 106 minutes.
Arabic, Hebrew and English dialogue with English subtitles.
Abstract below.
================================================================


PROMISES follows the journey of one of the filmmakers, Israeli-
American B.Z. Goldberg. B.Z. travels to a Palestinian refugee camp and
to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and to the more familiar
neighborhoods of Jerusalem where he meets seven Palestinian and
Israeli children.


Though the children live only 20 minutes apart, they exist in
completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional
obstacles between them run deep.


PROMISES explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story
of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their
neighbors. Rather than focusing on political events, the seven
children featured in PROMISES offer a refreshing, human and sometimes
humorous portrait of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.


PROMISES, a film by Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg and co-director and
editor Carlos Bolado, was shot between 1995-2000.


To find out more about the film and the project please go to:


http://www.promisesproject.org/index.html

The Social Justice Film Series is an open space for activists to share and unite in struggle, sponsored by:
Amnesty International (UW and local chapters), The Madison InfoShop, Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC), UW Stop the War!, Action In Sudan, Community Action on Latin America (CALA), Kavanah (A Progressive Jewish Voice), The Homeless Cooperative, Madison Warming Center Campaign (MWCC), the LGBT Campus Center, Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition), Madison Fair Trade Action Alliance (MadFTAA), FH King Students for Sustainable Agriculture, the Campus Women's Center, Family Farm Defenders, MultiCultural Student Coaltion (MCSC), MEChA (El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), Industrial Workers of the World, (IWW-Madison Chapter) and the Madison Observer.

Filmmaker Jyllian Gunther will be blogging live from the Full Frame documentary film festival in Durham, N.C., from April 6-9. Stay tuned to THE MIX for daily cinematic highlights (and lowlights).

The Trials of Henry Kissinger
Jigsaw Educational Productions, Inc.
1 hr 19 min 41 sec - Mar 20, 2006
www.thetrialsofhenrykissinger.com


The war crimes of Henry Kissinger, and how he is connected to the Rockefellers. BBC 2002

Two New Films About Vets and The War to Premier at TriBeCa Film Festival:

In January, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) took the message of today's Troops and Veterans to the Sundance Film Festival as part of the premier of "The Ground Truth," a documentary film following the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans after they return from war.

Next month, two more films about Veterans' issues and the Iraq War will premier at the TriBeCa film festival in New York City. "When I Came Home" chronicles the all-too-common problem of homelessness that many Veterans face when they return from war. The second film, "The War Tapes," is the first documentary shot entirely by the Soldiers themselves. IAVA was involved with each of these films from the beginning.