Now Streaming on Indies Showcase: Please Vote for Me

The documentary by filmmaker Weijun Chen is streaming free until Saturday, August 20 as part of ITVS’s Indies Showcase.

Please Vote for Me chronicles the intensity behind eight-year-old students in an elementary school in China as they campaign for class monitor. Check out the film’s trailer below…

Tags: China, democracy, ITVS Indies Showcase, please vote for me

Fighting for the Public Square

By Sally Jo Fifer

ITVS President & CEO Sally Jo Fifer explains why — now more than ever — our democracy depends on the in-depth, diverse, and nuanced stories of independent filmmakers.

Beyond the Box trumpets the work of independent filmmakers, and rightly so.

Amid the posts, an occasional report from the organization about the organization seems in order — and not just because ITVS is rolling into its 20^th year.  We all have a stake in the health of the public institutions that serve us and for which we fought hard to make possible.

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Tags: CPB, democracy, filmmakers, Independents, PBS, public television, Sally Jo Fifer

Egypt & Democracy Front and Center on Global Voices

As the 2011 protests in Egypt lit up Tahrir Square and ultimately ousted President Mubarak, ITVS revisited Shayfeen.com last February with a live chat in partnership with PBS NewsHour. The discussion included the filmmakers, subjects of the doc, citizen journalists, and educators from around the globe.

You can scroll through a replay of the chat below and use it as a pre or post discussion guide to Sunday night’s broadcast of Shayfeen.com on the WORLD Channel.

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Tags: democracy, Egypt, pbs newshour, PBS World, shayfeen, world compass

The Egyptian Uprising in Context

ITVS FILMS AND RESOURCES HELP PLACE CURRENT EVENTS INTO HISTORICAL CONTEXT

ITVS has a history of working with international filmmakers as well as community organizers, educators, and activists to trace the evolution of democracy movements worldwide. Find useful content and resources that will bring the current situation in Egypt into historical context, on our new page Egypt & Democracy.

Tags: Alexandria, cario, democracy, discussion guides, Egypt, lesson plans, middle east, Mubarak, obama

Free Lesson Plans Bring Context to Protests in Egypt

For educators and community organizers: check out our FREE lesson plans and video modules for the film Shayfeen.com: We’re Watching You about three women in Egypt who form an online watchdog group to monitor the elections in 2005.

This is a great way to teach about democracy, corruption, and the power of citizen journalism to effect social change. The lesson plans are part of our Women’s Empowerment collection of educator resources.

Watch a trailer of Shayfeen.com after the jump.

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Tags: Cairo, classroom guide, democracy, discussion guide, Egypt, elections, lesson plan, middle east, politics, student resources, teachers

Please Vote (For Me)

Time is running out to exercise your democratic right to vote in this year’s midterm election. For those in need of some electoral inspiration, take a look at the 2007 ITVS International-funded documentary Please Vote for Me.

The fim, directed by Weijun Chen, follows students in an elementary school in China as they campaign for class monitor. If an 8-year-old can toil along the gritty campaign trail, surely you can mark up a ballot!

Enjoy this video feature on Please Vote for Me from today’s New York Times:

Tags: ballot, democracy, election, Independent Lens, midterm, obama, please vote for me, vote

COMMUNITY CLASSROOM: Women’s Empowerment

Despite the spread of globalization, democracy and digital communication, many women and girls are left out of important advancements that have deep implications on their quality of life. Furthermore, women represent only 16 percent of world parliamentarians but 60-70 percent of the world’s uneducated and poor. With a unique strategy to help educate, inspire and change, COMMUNITY CLASSROOM’s International Edition: Women’s Empowerment combines award-winning documentaries and innovative partnerships with dozens of impact-oriented NGOs and hundreds of educators.

COMMUNITY CLASSROOM’s International Edition: Women’s Empowerment highlights stories of women’s leadership around the world and engages young people in exploring their potential to become leaders, global citizens and active participants in the global movement for women’s rights. The four documentaries featured will introduce students to: an indigenous Bolivian leader fighting for labor rights; a young Israeli-Arab karate champion with feminist ideas; three Egyptian women working for fair elections and a Kenyan leader sparking a nationwide environmental movement.

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Tags: democracy, educators, globalization, women

Tonight on Independent Lens: PLEASE VOTE FOR ME

From Reality Blurred: Tonight, after today’s historic inauguration of Barack Obama and television’s non-stop celebration of this part of our democracy, PBS’ Independent Lens will re-air a documentary that explores democracy in a very different context: China’s first-ever democratic election in a school, which is for a third-grade hall monitor.

Watch a preview below:

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME airs tonight, January 20, on PBS’s Independent Lens at 10 PM (check local listings).

Tags: China, democracy, election