About Media That Matters
If you feel inspired to take action in your community, Media That Matters sells DVD collections for showing films, as well as providing nuts and bolts advice on how to organize screenings. They'll even help publicize your event. Launched in 2001 by Arts Engine and one of the oldest and largest online film festivals, the MTM Film Festival is an annual global showcase of short films with "insight, humor and creativity that make audiences think, laugh and take action on today's most pressing social issues." Each short screened in the festival is accompanied by "Take Action Links," interactive tools that empower audiences to become activists at the click of a button.
"Media That Matters stands apart from other film festivals in that it really engages audiences and makes them feel part of something bigger, whether you're participating at home or at a screening," said Katy Chevigny, co-founder and executive director of Arts Engine. "These are films that not only entertain, but also inspire and motivate."
The eighth annual Media That Matters Film Festival launched on May 28th and is currently touring the world. Shorts for a dozen films can be viewed online, covering topics ranging from post-Katrina New Orleans to Argentina workers, to African Hip-Hop, to the disappearance of honey bees, to e-waste, and more.
Buy and show Perversion of Justice to support Mummert's work, and visit her website to support Hamedah Hasan's clemency appeal.
Hamedah Hasan and filmmaker Melissa Mummert
A Few Action Centers and Sources for Further Reading (of many) Action links recommended by Mummert are bolded:
Center for Community Transitions, www.centerforcommunitytransitions.org Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, www.cjpf.org Critical Resistance, www.criticalresistance.org Drug Policy Alliance, www.drugpolicy.org Families Against Mandatory Minimums, www.famm.org Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, www.idpi.us International Centre for Prison Studies, www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/law/research/icps Justice Policy Institute, www.justicepolicy.org/index.php Marijuana Policy Project, www.mpp.org Perversion of Justice, www.perversionofjustice.com The Pew Center on the States, see Corrections and Public Safety Prison Activist Resource Center, www.prisonactivist.org Prison Policy Initiative, www.prisonpolicy.org Prisoner Solidarity, www.prisonersolidarity.org The Sentencing Project, www.sentencingproject.org Urban Institute, www.urban.org/justice/index.cfm Women and Prison, www.womenandprison.org The Women's Prison Association, www.wpaonline.org
For a more comprehensive list, see these annotated Prison Resources.
Special thanks to Roy Walmsley of the International Centre for Prison Studies for his help in clarifying calculation methodology of incarcerated foreigners, and for his incredible work in this field.
