This weekend, Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat, a Sundance Institute Artist Trustee, sat at our annual Board Retreat and described in terrifying detail a situation we all know about, but perhaps not in enough detail. Among many others recently arrested in Iran’s post-election demonstrations are Iranian artists, journalists, filmmakers and human rights leaders, including some filmmakers who have received Sundance support. Shirin spoke of torture, and in extreme cases, executions. The situation is urgent.

When the press doesn’t cover an issue adequately, it runs the risk of falling off of the radar. Sundance Institute reaches out now to artists everywhere to stand witness until our colleagues, and all detainees, are freed.

This week, Shirin is one of the organizers of a hunger strike demonstration at the United Nations in New York City on behalf of her fellow Iranians, asking for their immediate release. On the evenings of July 22, 23, and 24, I ask the Sundance alumni community to stand with her and draw attention to this great human rights violation. Shirin has added detailed information below for you about the gatherings. This is just one of the many things you can do to keep international attention focused on the issue.

Sundance Institute has long stood for freedom of expression and the power of human rights through artist’s eyes. Lend your efforts — your voice can make a difference.

Robert Redford, President and Founder, Sundance Institute

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When the daughter of Dr. Jack Kessler, a respected neurologist,  is paralyzed with a spinal cord injury, he enters the unknown territory of stem cell research, navigating its promises and its perils. MAPPING STEM CELL RESEARCH: TERRA INCOGNITA follows his complex journey through a scientific, ethical and moral landscape. Read more about the film and watch a preview at Independent Lens>>

Maria Finitzo has been an award-winning filmmaker for 25 years. She directs and produces films for network television, public broadcasting and cable television markets. She produced and directed NO DIRECTION HOME about young people aging out of foster care, and 5 GIRLS, is a feature-length documentary that delves into the hearts and minds of five remarkable young women. The film was a special presentation of P.O.V. and premiered in 2001. MAPPING STEM CELL RESEARCH: TERRA INCOGNITA was also supported by ITVS, produced in association with Kartemquin Educational Films and broadcast on Independent Lens.

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In 2008, STORIES OF CHANGE launched a request for proposals and received more than 300 film projects filmmakers around the world interested in telling the stories of social entrepreneurs.  An advisory committee, including CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, celebrated documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight, The Trials of Henry Kissinger) and Skoll Foundation senior advancement officer Sandy Herz, made recommendations. 10 films have  been chosen, with the first films likely to be completed  as early as 2010.

On hand for the announcement were Jeff Skoll, Founder & Chairman, Skoll Foundation, Sandy Herz, Senior Advancement Office, Skoll Foundation, Ken Brecher, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, Pat Mitchell, President & CEO, The Paley Center For Media, and Cara Mertes, Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.

The five new STORIES OF CHANGE Grant Award Recipients are:

CONNECTED
Director: Jonathan Stack
Social Entrepreneur: Aloy Chife
Nigerian entrepreneur Chife is making an unrelenting effort to shrink Africa’s digital divide by bringing information technology to those who need it most.

EASY LIKE WATER
Director: Glenn Baker
Social Entrepreneur: Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan
In Bangladesh, Architect Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan’s solar-powered floating schools are turning the front lines of climate change into a community of learning.

TO CATCH A DOLLAR: MUHAMMAD YUNUS BANKS ON AMERICA (working title)
Director: Gayle Ferraro
Social Entrepreneur: Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus, known for developing the concept of microcredit,  reached seven and a half million poverty-stricken families in Bangladesh with his Grameen Bank. This film profiles the Nobel Prize winner’s newest location in Queens, New York, and 500 women borrowers.

SH*T!
Directors: Annika Gustafson and Phil Jandaly
Social Entrepreneurs: Various
This remarkable film shows viewers how to save the planet, save money while they do it, and have a laugh or two in the meantime.

THE REVOLUTIONARY OPTIMISTS
Directors: Maren Grainger-Monsen, Nicole Newnham
Social Entrepreneur:  Amlan Ganguly
In the slums of Calcutta, Ganguly, a lawyer turned social entrepreneur, empowers children to become “health minders” in their communities, which causes malaria and diarrhea rates to drop, and neighborhoods to transform.

“Social entrepreneurs are working on some of the biggest challenges facing humanity: from climate change, to water scarcity, to ethnic, political and socio-economic conflicts.  These visionaries have created workable solutions to tough problems, and it is critical to tell their stories, not only to inform but also to inspire,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of Skoll Foundation. “We are extremely pleased with the caliber of filmmaker submissions to the STORIES OF CHANGE initiative, and look forward to seeing the outcome of these unique collaborations.”

“It is truly extraordinary to be able to provide funding for these important projects in this difficult economic climate,” said Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program. “In their optimism, integrity and intelligence, the films that are launching today reflect the deep challenges we face as a global community, tempered  with the ingenuity and commitment to effective, transformative change that social entrepreneurs exemplify.”

Speaking at the Skoll World Forum Opening Plenary, Sundance Institute Executive Director Ken Brecher said, ” Film is the medium for modern storytelling, and the power of storytelling as an agent for change is tremendous. The goal of STORIES OF CHANGE is to unite these creative forces and bring about not simply awareness but also solutions to the issues of our time.”

This is the third year Sundance Institute has participated in the Skoll World Forum. 2009 Sundance Filmmaker Fellows also participating in the Forum include Robert Kenner (FOOD, INC.), Gayle Ferraro (Muhammad Yunus’ Vision for America (WT)), Greg Barker (SERGIO), and Jon Alpert (BAGHDAD E.R.).

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World Premiering at SXSW is Mai Iskander’s Garbage Dreams. The film has been four years in the making and follows the stories of three young men born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. Find out more about the films and screening times at sxsw.com

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Read the application guidelines, forum rules and apply here>>

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“Social entrepreneurs are working on some of the biggest challenges the planet faces, from climate change to water scarcity to conflict. They have created workable solutions to tough problems, and it’s important to tell their stories both to inform and inspire people,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of Skoll Foundation. ” We’re extremely pleased with the caliber of submissions to the Stories of Change initiative, and look forward to seeing the outcome of these collaborations between filmmakers and social entrepreneurs.”

In 2008, STORIES OF CHANGElaunched a request for proposals and received more than 300 film projects from around the world from filmmakers interested in telling the stories of social entrepreneurs. The advisory committee included CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, celebrated documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight, The Trials of Henry Kissinger) and Skoll Foundation senior advancement officer Sandy Herz.

“In their optimism, integrity and intelligence, the films that are recognized today reflect the deep challenges we face as a global community. They are about the transformative change that social entrepreneurs exemplify,” said Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program.

A combination of invited gatherings and documentary film project funding, the partnership believes that powerful storytellers and innovative changemakers can benefit from each other. In addition to funding the creation of new documentary films, Stories of Change supports convenings of leaders in both documentary film and social entrepreneurship at key gatherings globally over the course of the three year partnership, including the Skoll World Forum and the Sundance Film Festival.

BACK TO SCHOOL – Development
Producer: Julia Parker Benello
Social Entrepreneur: Sakena Yacoobi
Sakena Yacoobi’s Afghan Institute for Learning, a grassroots organization she founded 12 years ago, brings education to women in Afghanistan.

GREEN SHALL OVERCOME – Development
Director: Tracy Heather Strain/Co-Director: Megan Gelstein
Social Entrepreneur: Van Jones
Van Jones, an African American civil rights lawyer, envisions a pathway out of poverty for low income Americans while simultaneously addressing the challenges of environmental destruction. Can he bring about a revolution of black and green?

POOR CONSUELO – Development
Director: Peter Friedman
Producer: Paul Miller
Social Entrepreneur: PCI-Media Impact
Poor Consuelo Conquers the World tells the story of popular soap operas and telenovelas, now being used to combat the effects of poverty around the world.

THE TEAM – Production
Director: Patrick Reed
Producer: Peter Raymont
Social Entrepreneurs: John Marks and Susan Collin Marks
Kenyans scramble to produce a dramatic TV soap opera series, hoping taboo storylines can bridge deep ethnic divisions, as their country teeters on the brink.

YOUTHBUILD DOCUMENTARY – Production
Director: Annie Sundberg
Social Entrepreneur: Dorothy Stoneman
This feature length documentary will follow a year in the lives of out-of school young people selected for a high stakes community re-build project in North Philadelphia.

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The Good Pitch is borne out of the conviction that documentary is a powerful tool for creating social change. It is a unique opportunity for a selected group of filmmakers to pitch social-issue documentary projects with associated campaign strategies to invited organizations including NGOs, charities, foundations, campaigners, advertising agencies, brands and media.

The inaugural Good Pitch was held at the BRITDOC Film Festival in 2008. Eight projects were pitched, including the Resist project, authored by film star Gael Garcia Bernal, who took part in the live pitching process. Over 50 organizations took part including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The Times, MySpace, (RED) and Oxfam. Watch the trailer.

The Good Pitch (NA) will make its first stop at the Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF), May 6-7, part of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto, April 30-May 10, 2009. North America’s premier market event for the international documentary industry, the TDF is a two-day, limited-seating pitch forum. A slate of pre-selected international projects is showcased in brief presentations to a roundtable of commissioning editors, programming executives and observers from around the globe. Over the past nine years, the TDF’s intimate and intense format has successfully built international partnerships and raised millions of dollars in additional financing for both presenting producers and those attending as observers.

The next stop is SILVERDOCS, an eight-day internationally recognized documentary film festival created through a unique alliance between the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel and held every year near Washington, D.C. Started in 2003, SILVERDOCS celebrates independent thinking, supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and fosters the power of documentary to enhance our understanding of the world. Anchored in the National Capital Region, where important global and national issues are the daily business, SILVERDOCS is marked by its relevance, broad intellectual range, and wide public appeal.

“The Good Pitch is a new evolution in the ‘pitch forum’ format,” says Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Program. “It absolutely fits our focus on supporting human rights and social-issue documentary films with broad impact. The Channel Four Foundation has been a great innovator in the social-issue documentary sector and we are enthusiastic partners in bringing the Good Pitch to North America.”

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El General (Director: Natalia Almada)
U.S. Documentary Competition
As great-granddaughter of Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles, one of Mexico’s most controversial revolutionary figures, filmmaker Natalia Almada paints an intimate portrait of Mexico.

Kimjongilia  (Director: N.C. Heikin)
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Defectors from North Korea finally speak out about the terrifying reality of their lives–and escapes.

The Reckoning (Director: Pamela Yates)
U.S. Documentary Competition
A battle of monumental proportions unfolds as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators and world superpowers in bringing perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice.

Reporter (Director: Eric Daniel Metzgar)
U.S. Documentary Competition
Set in Africa, this documentary chronicles, in verité fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof.

Tibet in Song (Director: Ngawang Choephel)
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Through the story of Tibetan music, this film depicts the determined efforts of Tibetan people, both in Tibet and in exile, to preserve their unique cultural identity. Choephel served six years of an 18-year prison sentence for filming in Tibet.

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