Speak The Truth
Watching the Youtube video of Mos Def’s frustrated reaction to the absence of mainstream media coverage of the Jena 6 rally last September, I was thinking about the effectiveness of this relatively new media in getting the message out there. With its egalitarian, easy-access technology, Youtube is slowly revolutionizing the ways visual information is distributed, and people are beginning to use it effectively as a political tool. A case in point, the Jena rally clearly demonstrated just how closely the success of grassroots activism is intertwined with the support of the media. To have a voice means that you have to find a way to be heard - or nobody will listen.
To find out more about getting your voice out there, go check out the Fifth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference at Hunter College CUNY, hosted by the NYC Grassroots Media Coalition (NYCGMC). The conference theme – Speaking Truth to Power: MEDIA JUSTICE IN OUR COMMUNITIES – invites media makers and community organizers to discuss the idea of “Media Justice”, and to explore ways to implement it. Media justice activists will address a range of related issues, including under-representation, lack of access, racial bias, the connections between media justice and visual literacy, and the role of the arts, and complimentary strategies for making change on the streets of NYC. To register and find out more, click here.
Sunday March 2nd, 2008 9am–6pm
Hunter College, North Building, 68th Street and Lexington Ave. (Enter from street or directly from 6 train.)
If you miss the panels, you could still catch participants to network and build at the AFTER PARTY.
Mo’s Caribbean Bar and Grill
1454 2nd Ave. at 76th St.
6pm (1⁄2 off drinks after 7pm)
Rendezvous
Francophiles and foreign-film buffs get a treat this weekend with the start of Rendezvous with French Cinema, a week long event at the IFC debuting 15 of the newest French films in America. Throughout the week, the IFC will premiere a range of films covering love, war, and the situations that take us from one pole to the other.
The festival kicks off with French box-office hit, A Secret. Based on a novel by Phillipe Grimbert that will also be released in the United States this year, the film explores the effects of the many secrets a Jewish family was forced to keep on the eve, and in the wake of World War II.
Given the popularity of Persepolis, you might want to check out Fear in the Dark, an animated film in the same stylistic vein, developed by six of France’s top comic book artists. Each artists’ idea is woven into a dreamlike story taking you through the realms of science fiction, horror, and the fantastic.
One movie I’m checking for is Ain’t Scared, a drama set in the housing projects outside of Paris. Ain’t Scared is one day in the emotional life of a group of youth trying to express deep feelings for each other, when they’re accustomed to maintaining a hard, protective front. The director, who also grew up in les cités (as the housing projects are called), gives audiences a chance to see a gentler side of Paris’ urban youth that is rare in the media.
A bonus during the week is a preview screening of Love Songs, which will start its official run at the IFC March 21.
The directors of all the films will also be in attendance - a cherry on top for those who like to find out the director’s perspective on making the film, or the significance of the color green. All films in French with English subtitles.
Festival runs February 29-March 6 atthe IFC. For tickets and further information, visit IFC.