What’s Different About Karla’s Arrival?

By Koen Suidgeest
Filmmaker, Karla’s Arrival

Many films have been made about street children. Some good, some not. The kids are a thankful target for filmmakers like myself, as we ardently become sponges for their heartfelt stories. With so much done already, why then, I was often asked, make another documentary about one?

The answer is simple: by means of a compelling story which accompanies a young street mother and her baby for over a year, I want to draw attention to the alarming reality of homeless kids who are setting out to start their own families. This is new. During several years of research, we found that the proliferation of a next generation of street children is largely undocumented. Governments, NGO’s, academics, filmmakers… not even Unicef manages data on children who are born on the city streets. Statistically, they are all treated the same, while the social differences between parents and their children are enormous.
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Tags: ITVS, karla's arrival, koen suidgeest, Link TV

The Moment for Independent Media: Bridging Cultural Understanding, Providing Fresh Perspectives

By Caty Borum Chattoo, producer and communication strategist for Link TV, assistant professor in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C., and media fellow with the AU Center for Social Media. 

Back in September of last year – around the 18th, to be exact – a student in a media class I teach blogged about something she was picking up on Twitter and in the blogosphere.  But although she was pretty sure that “something” was happening, she wondered why she wasn’t reading or hearing more about it in media coverage. I recall tweeting back to her, “you can find stories on indie and public media, like Link TV, Democracy Now!, NPR…”

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Tags: Bridge to Iran, digital media, independent media, Link TV, Social Media

Contest: Make a Film, Change the World!

Want to use your film to change the world? That’s what Link TV wants you to do, and they’re holding an online film contest to find the very best short films that change how we think and how we act.

On April 30^th Link TV launched the ViewChange Online Film Contest, with cash prizes of up to $25,000 for the Grand Prize winner. The ViewChange Online Film Contest is looking for short films in six categories that examine international development efforts toward achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Online voters will help determine the finalists, with the winners selected by a panel of judges that includes Gael García Bernal, Wim Wenders, Danny Glover, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Angélique Kidjo and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Winners and finalists’ videos will be nationally broadcast on Link TV and showcased at major events in New York City and Washington D.C. for media and for policy makers.  All six category winners will be included in ViewChange.org, a cutting-edge digital media hub launching in October 2010.

As fans of ITVS and Independent Lens, you already know how powerful a good story can be. Tell yours.

Tags: contest, Danny Glover, film funding, Link TV, United Nations

Watch CHINESE SCHOOL Tomorrow on Link TV

More than 350 million children are enrolled in schools across the vast nation of China. Over the course of a year, CHINESE SCHOOL looks at a small school in the rural town of Anhui where a group of families, teachers and children reveal stories of hardship, joy and success.

Check out the clip below:

CHINESE SCHOOL premieres tomorrow night, November 24, on Link TV at 7:30 PM (check local listings). This film received ITVS International funding.

Tags: China, education, Link TV, schools