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With generous support from the Ford Foundation’s Good Neighbor Committee, EVC provided professional development and in-class coaching for teachers from the ACCESS GED program in Manhattan to support the implementation of EVC’s community documentary curriculum in their extended day program. Through this program, the students created a powerful documentary on the impact of religion. In addition, this grant funded researchers from the Center for Children and Technology/EDC to design and pilot test at the ACCESS site evaluation instruments that will support the scale up of EVC’s methodology in other school districts. These evaluation frameworks will better allow EVC staff to observe, document, and assess the process of local adaptation while maintaining the rigor and quality of the EVC curriculum model. EVC expects the collection of uniform evaluation data across multiple sites will support both ongoing formative evaluation to inform program improvement, and outcome evaluation to demonstrate program quality and impact. The key questions to be addressed by this effort are: Which are the most essential promising practices drawn from EVC’s Documentary Workshop model that can be transferred and successfully applied in External Education Program school settings? How can these practices be made visible and measurable to support the monitoring and evaluation of program implementation as the program is brought to scale on a national basis? #ACCESS #FordFoundation #ProfessionalDevelopment #curriculummodel #documentarycurriculum #mediacoaching #EVCmethodology

NYC GRASSROOTS MEDIA CONFERENCE Sixth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference Saturday | May 30th 2009 Hunter College, 68th St and Lexington Ave | North Building 9am–6pm HOPE to ACTION Co-Sponsored by the Film and Media Department at Hunter College, CUNY The enthusiasm that mobilized the public for the historic 2008 election campaign ignited the hopeful hearts of a country at a crossroads. As a powerful spark of grassroots organizing swept through the country, the world witnessed our nation wield unprecedented power by voting for large scale social change. This momentum offers our communities an unprecedented opportunity to act as critical agents in charting the road forward. But even as we celebrate this victory, uncertainty looms ahead. Many of us have lost our jobs, our insurance, and our economic stability; many of our independent media producers and social justice organizations face diminished financial support and increasing barriers. In these challenging times, how can we build a stronger media network that ensures the visibility of our communities’ voices, images and stories? In this moment of great opportunity and great challenge, the NYC Grassroots Media community asks: What role can the media play as a catalyst for social justice? How can we use the media tools at our disposal to turn HOPE for social justice into ACTION in our communities? Please join us at the 6th annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference as we strategize how to build a media that inherently values every human story – a media that addresses and exposes injustice in all forms, responds to economic turmoil, showcases our creativity, represents our communities and cultures, and affirms the myriad ways in which these goals can be achieved. For more information please call 347-706-2489 or email info@nycgrassrootsmedia.org

On June 10, 2009, EVC’s Youth Organizers Television team (YO-TV) premiered their latest documentary The War Within: Youth Depression to a packed house at HBO’s Screening Room. The screening was followed by a powerful discussion about youth depression among audience members, the YO-TV producers, and the young people and mental health professionals they interviewed. Watch the screening discussion Watch a clip from The War Within As the youth filmmakers discovered in making The War Within, depression is a hidden crisis among young people of color, one that impacts their families, schools, and communities. They found that too often there is a stigma and a sense of denial associated with depression. Youth in communities of color often feel they have no options for affordable, culturally relevant therapies. In The War Within, youth tell powerful stories of their experiences with depression and the treatments they have found to cope with it. Through interviews with youth, clinicians, and mental health advocates, this film gives important information and a message of life-affirming hope for others who may be struggling with this widespread problem. The War Within was produced by a team of 6 youth producers who participated in EVC’s 2008-2009 Youth Organizers Television (YO-TV) Program. YO-TV is a ten-month pre-professional paid internship that jumpstarts the college and media careers of graduates of the EVC Documentary Workshop. The War Within will be screened at Lehman College, Hunter College, and NYU this fall. It is also available on DVD for purchase via the EVC online store. Thanks to our funders who made this possible. Support for the Educational Video Center is provided, in part, by: Adobe Systems, Inc. The Altman Foundation Brenner Family Foundation Citi Private Bank The Cricket Island Foundation HBO The Hearst Foundations The Jed Foundation The Maxine Greene Foundation The Milton A. and Roslyn Z. Wolf Family Foundation New York Community Trust Open Society Institute Time Warner, Inc. The W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation The W. K. Kellogg Foundation Wellspring Foundation With on-going support from: Individual donors Anonymous In-kind support is provided by: The New York City Department of Education Satellite Academy High School Taproot Foundation All of EVC’s activities are supported, in part, by public funds from: The National Endowment for the Arts The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs The New York State Department of Education The New York State Council on the Arts: Arts in Education and Electronic Media and Film Programs #YOTV #mentalhealth #HunterCollege #NYU #YouthMedia #youthdepression #premierescreening #LehmanCollege

Reel Talk: A Film Screening and Conversation on Storytelling and Social Justice When: Sunday, July 12, 2pm-5pm Where: Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn On Sunday, July 12th, join film enthusiasts, story tellers, and fellow Jewish activists, to experience “Youth Producing Change” – a series of short films created by youth from across the globe that premiered at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. Together we will experience the vision of young activists who have channeled art and technology to share their perspectives, engage and empower their communities, and expose human rights issues close to their hearts. With classic movie treats a plenty, you’re invited to relax, enjoy, and connect with other young Jews from across the city. Following the screening, local Jewish artists and activists will enhance our movie-going experience by sharing their vantage points as they facilitate dialogue about art and activism. Together we will explore our values and the power of storytelling to promote social change. Reel Talk is brought to you by the AJWS-AVODAH NY City Team and is co-sponsored by Brooklyn Jews, Uri L’Tzedek, and Mima’amakim. It is made possible thanks to collaboration with the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and Founding Presenter, Adobe Youth Voices. Click here to RSVP: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=clAwX19XdEZzTkdLLW1kbjVu… For more information: Contact newyorkcityteam@gmail.com

Its purpose is to enlist diverse, independent, multigenerational conversations surrounding the African American community. While the main topic is masculinity, there is a focus on the broader issues facing the African American community in the 21st century. THE MASCULINITY PROJECT has a national community-based reach through a major community engagement initiative in partnership with some of the country’s leading organizations. The project also features an array of interactive content on its online portal that can be found at:www.masculinityproject.org.

EVC would like to thank the volunteer team: Jared Blank Susan Hood Tricia Kieran April Kobeda Eveyln Rivera Special thanks to Allison Farber, Taproot Project Manager. Learn more about Taproot here.

This has been a great year so far for EVC documentaries in film festivals around the world! Below is a list of acceptances so far: • Shame On You: That Can Be Reused!, Losing Ground, Journeys Through The Red, White and Blue: Brian’s Journey – Culture Unplugged, Online, starting December 18, 2008. • The Baby In Me: A Story Of Teen Pregnancy – “Best Short Film Non-Fiction,” 16:9 International Film Festival, India, January 12-13. • Shame On You: That Can Be Reused! – George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, Alabama, March 5-8. • Journeys Through the Red, White & Blue: Brian’s Journey – San Diego Latino Film Festival, March 12-22. • It’s Not About Sex – 13th Annual Derek Freese High School Film and Video Festival, Temple University, March 29th. • The Baby In Me: A Story Of Teen Pregnancy, Faces of Food, Losing Ground – ViewFinders International Film Festival For Youth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 21-25. • Journeys Through the Red, White & Blue: Brian’s Journey – Our City, My Story, the Tribeca Film Institute Youth Film Festival, New York, April 30-May 1. • Shame On You – Santa Cruz Film Festival, EarthVision International Environmental Film Section, California, May 7 –15. • It’s Not About Sex – Human Rights Watch International Film Festival: “Youth Producing Change,” New York, June 12-25 (Boston, London, San Francisco Dates TBA). • Losing Ground – Iowa City International Documentary Festival, Iowa City.

EVC’s External Education Program (EEP) and Youth Speakers Bureau (YSB) join forces. YSB students have screened in two different EEP schools, Frank Sinatra High School in Long Island City, Queens, and DreamYard Prep High School in the Bronx. Students share their experiences of the process of making a documentary and how it has continued to impact their own lives and their communities.

EVC doc, Journeys through the Red, White & Blue: Brian’s Journey has been accepted into the Sixteenth Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival 2009! The festival will take place March 12-22, 2009, at UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center. This year’s festival schedule includes eleven days of international films, three major galas, art exhibition, tributes, four filmmaker workshops, several receptions, Sonido Latino dance nights, and much more.

Three EVC documentaries, Losing Ground, Faces of Food and Baby in Me: A Story of Teen Pregnancy have been accepted to the Viewfinders: International Film Festival for Youth! In the spring of 2002, the Atlantic Film Festival Association (AFFA) launched the ViewFinders: International Film Festival for Youth. A five-day event in April, ViewFinders features screenings, workshops, panels and a ViewFinders Movie Challenge all geared towards school-aged kids, their teachers and families. Viewfinders: International Film Festival for Youth Halifax, Nova Scotia April 21-25, 2009 AFFA Blog: http://atlanticfilmfestivalassociation.blogspot.com/ Visit www.atlanticfilm.com for details.

Highlights include screenings with EVC staff and Journeys producers present for discussion at the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival High School Program in various NYC high schools and an interview on Teen Talk Radio (WHCR Harlem Community Radio). DVD Distribution Screenings without youth producer presentations were held as well in New York and in several other states. EVC created over 600 DVDs for distribution around the country. So far, Journeys has been mailed to 14 states, including NY, NJ, IL, OH, OR, VA, MA, MD, CA, MI, UT, PA, WI, SC. NYC Community Engagement screening venues include the following: • Social Justice Film Fiesta, New York Immigration Coalition • Organization of Chinese-Americans (OCA) • LaGuardia Community College • Hunter College, Black Male Initiative session • LaGuardia Community College • DoSomething & Idealist’s Take Action Fair • Grand Street Settlement • Validus Preparatory Academy (Human Rights Watch) • The Bushwick School for Social Justice (Human Rights Watch) • Brooklyn Public Library, NYC Dept of Youth & Community Development • Repertory High School (Human Rights Watch) • Urban Assembly Media High School • Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) • The Children’s Aid Society • Museum of Modern Art • Brooklyn College • Latino Pastoral Action Center There are still a few free copies available if you are interested! Please emailorders@evc.org for more details.

Journeys Through the Red, White & Blue screens at The People’s Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC. The People’s Inaugural celebrates grassroots people on the ground who worked tirelessly in the 2008 Presidential Election. The events will be held at The Historical Society of Washington DC at Mount Vernon Square.