The Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University will hold the Third Biennial Latin American Environmental Media Festival in New Orleans April 2009. This weekend-long festival will bring to audiences films, videos, and innovative works in digital media whose subjects call critical attention to major environmental challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean. The festival will be held on the Tulane University campus and at venues in the city. It will screen a curated, non-competitive series of innovative works and new productions submitted as part of a juried competition. A distinguished jury will award prizes in four categories at the opening of the festival in late March.

Competition Announcement for 2009:

The festival seeks innovative and provocative films, videos, and digital media that address environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. The competition encourages entries in documentary, experimental, and narrative genres—feature length, shorts, and multimedia presentations—that demonstrate originality and quality in form and content. The organizers embrace an open attitude with respect to the definition of appropriate content, which might range from the impact of humans on natural habitats to issues of environmental justice. Participants may choose to define environment more comprehensively as the objects, conditions or influences by which one is surrounded.

Deadline to submit is Monday, December 15, 2008

To download a copy of the submission form please click here.

To submit to the festival online please click here.

Selection Process:
Panelists consisting of filmmakers, media historians/critics, and content specialists will review all submissions to determine those that will be included in the festival award competition and in the curated series.

Awards:
The jury will make awards for the best feature-length, short, and multimedia presentations, and present a Grand Jury Award for the best work in the festival. Jurors will also have the discretion to make special awards based on format and content. Feature works are defined as fifty minutes or more in duration; shorts as works less than fifty minutes in duration.

Prizes:
The Grand Jury Award includes a prize of $1500 contributed by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. The festival is currently seeking sponsors for other prize awards.

Donation of Submissions to the Latin American Resource Center Lending Library:
If your film is selected for the festival, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies will seek permission to keep a preview copy in our Latin American Resource Center library for free loan to educators. We do not duplicate or sell these materials; they are strictly loaned for educational purposes only.

Curriculum Project:
An emphasis on educating the public about the environment and environmental justice in Latin America is at the center of this festival. In an effort to promote an educational component to this event, two films will be showcased in a curriculum project underwritten by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies with funds from the U.S. Department of Education. This project will involve a select group of K12 teachers and curriculum specialists developing units for use in the middle and high school classroom. The intent of this project is to make these units available for distribution with the film. The filmmakers need not make any commitment in regards to the development of these supplemental materials.

 

For more information, please contact Denise Wolterning at <dwolteri@tulane.edu> or 504-862-3143.

This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University.