Social Activism Fellowship

Do you have a demonstrated commitment to social justice and an interest in documentary filmmaking and new technology? Working Films is looking for you! Apply for the George Stoney Fellowship by March 31, and you could assist in conceptualization, writing and research for Working Films campaigns. Regular responsibilities include sitting in as a colleague in all development meetings between filmmakers, activists and other Working Films staff, and traveling when necessary to rough-cut screenings and community organizing meetings.

Working Films has a solid track record of linking social interest documentary films with activist outreach, including supporting a discussion tour of Sandi Simcha DuBowski's Trembling Before G-d, the story of gay and lesbian Hasidic and Orthodox Jews grappling with the intersection of their sexual identity and their faith.

The fellowship is expected to last 8-10 weeks in the Wilmington, NC office, starting in May or June 2008. The Fellow will serve as part-time, temporary staff, earning $10-15 an hour. For more information, visit www.workingfilms.org.

QFR interviews Yvonne Welbon

QueerFilmReview.com recently held a Q & A with Yvonne Welbon, an African American lesbian filmmaker whose work includes the documentary Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100. Ruth Ellis, the oldest living African American lesbian at the time, was an activist who agreed to be the subject of Welbon’s film because, in her words: "People who don't like gays and lesbians don't know us. I want to show them that we are just like everybody else." The 1999 film is available for order online ($35 plus s/h).

To read the transcript of the interview, which includes Welbon’s list of her favorite queer films, click here: http://www.tatenova.com/queerfilm/?p=55

For more about Yvonne Welbon, visit: http://sistersincinema.com/filmmakers/ywelbon/statement.html

Freeheld Wins Oscar!

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) congratulates director-producer Cynthia Wade and producer Vanessa Roth on their Oscar® win for the short documentary, Freeheld. The award was presented this evening at the 80th Annual Academy Awards®, held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

Freeheld documents the 2006 struggle of New Jersey Detective Lt. Laurel Hester in her effort to transfer her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, in the months leading up to Hester's death. With less than six months to live as cancer spread to her brain, Hester battled the Ocean County Freeholders, the locally elected officials, to give to Stacie the security for her partner that married couples receive automatically. The film captures both the very public and urgent dispute with the Freeholders, as well as the couple’s intensely private struggle as they come to terms with Hester's terminal illness.

"Freeheld is such a poignant and powerful documentary, and we are proud to count Cynthia as a strong ally to the gay community," says GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. "We are so thankful the film – and Laurel Hester's memory – have been honored tonight with a prestigious and well-deserved Academy Award®."

Social Change Doc Funds Available

Submissions for the 2008 GUCCI TRIBECA DOCMENTARY FUND are now open!

The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund offers finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which promote social change and highlight critical issues currently absent from mainstream media. Applications will be accepted between February 5 and April 11, 2008 for grants ranging from 5k to 30k. The 2008 grantees will be announced in July 2008.

For on-line submissions and further information please visit: www.tribecafilminstitute.org