Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival

Posted in About IDEA on Aug 03, 2010 - 09:01 AM

Two weeks ago I received an exciting call from Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza, a talented film-maker who directed, shot, and edited IDEA's launch-time video, "Make Your Voice Heard." He had just got word that our video was selected by the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival as one of 33 films to be shown during the festival out of 235 that were submitted! Here's a bit about the festival from their website:

"Lights. Camera. Help. The Nonprofit Film Festival is the world's first film festival dedicated entirely to nonprofit and cause-driven films. This 3-day event gives films-for-a-cause the attention they deserve by putting them up on the big screen in a theater setting."

The festival took place last week from July 29-31 in Austin, Texas. There were about 300 attendees, with 60 attending the screening that including IDEA's video. Nathan Felix, leader of The Noise Revival Orchestra, the group whose music is featured in "Make Your Voice Heard," lives in Austin and was IDEA's representative at the festival. He shares this report from the event:

The seats were filled and the audience was both attentive and appreciative. I learned a lot from the films I watched at the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival in Austin on Thursday. Films about diabetes and disaster relief in Peru struck a chord in my heart and conjured up a desire to, in some way, support these causes. Learning this was the reason behind the festival, so it must mean it's on its way to larger success?

When the PSA for “Make Your Voice Heard” was screened, I felt proud to be associated with IDEA on this night. I had viewed the video online numerous times, but there was something special that overcame the audience and myself that evening as evidenced by their reaction. During the Q&A portion I answered questions about “Make Your Voice Heard” and IDEA to the best of my knowledge and made brochures available. I continued discussion at the post-screening event down the street, with enthusiastic believers in the Democratic Education movement who vowed to pass along the information to like-minded family and friends that are educators around the country.

As my experience concludes, I walk away longing to continue to stay closely associated with IDEA, even beyond a musical contribution. Thanks to Dana Bennis and Juan Carlos Escoriaza for all the opportunities!

Thanks to Nathan for representing IDEA and giving us this great report, to Juan Carlos for entering the video, and to the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival for selecting our video.

Tags for this entry:
technology, video, media, public outreach

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