A Girl Like Me is part of the 6th annual Media That Matters Film Festival collection - download the entire collection.

“BeatMakers”, documents the never ending hustle of up-and-coming as well as seasoned producers.

Filmed inside their home studios, these hungry musicians aspire to obtain more equipment, sell their hot tracks, and, of course, make a name for themselves in the competitive music industry.

The film follows a plethora of track masters in various stages of their careers including newcomer Justin “J Dot” Moyd, a 23 year-old college student who nears graduation, as he assembles his production center, works with aspiring recording artists and puts together his first professional demo package.

We also see a group of savvy producers, called 'Battery Five', combine their collective efforts, and discuss their trials and tribulations. We witness their relentless pursuit to create a "movement" and be recognized in such a tumultuous business.

The film provides a behind-the-scenes forum for composers to get a lot off their chests and discuss their unbridled passion for making music all with a steadfast belief that the 'next' track will be the one to take them to the ‘next’ level!

Elijah’s Liquor Store is set in Koreatown circa 1999. It’s the story of Elijah Gooden, a 43-year-old African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Tech University and worked in corporate America before moving his family to Los Angeles to start his own business. He and his family experience culture shock and adversity as they struggle to build their livelihood in an area dominated by Asian-American business owners.

Although Elijah is the main narrator of the story, the different cast of patrons he interacts with, provides a broad insight into society as a whole. His customers are white, black, Asian and Latino. He employs a Korean and Latino worker. His neighbor next door is Korean. It's worlds apart from what he knew in Atlanta, and despite the varying degrees of suspicion, contempt, resentment and prejudice that he faces, Gooden tries to overlook racial lines and instead, focus on the humanity of every person and the frailties of their condition.

In the end, relationships are re-examined and ideologies are challenged. Communities that have long been separated by language and cultural barriers as well as painful histories and even media propaganda find that change begins with one person. When one person shifts, everything shifts. When one person is committed to change, that person can powerfully bring about change. If our society needs a wake up call, then Elijah’s Liquor Store is the alarm clock.

Ready to be inspired? From civil liberties to global warming, the fifth annual Media That Matters shorts collection brings you sixteen innovative shorts by independent and youth filmmakers from around the country. These films will make you think, make you laugh and motivate you to take action. The collection includes:

Battleground Minnesota, 8 min, Youth Documentary
Winner of the Jury Award
Hip-hop activist Shakademic proves that if Walter Mondale can learn how to scratch, young voters can get schooled in election politics.
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All That I Can Be, 8:30 min, Youth Documentary
Winner of the Economic Justice Award
William, like many young Americans, feels that joining the military is his only way out of a dead-end job and a rough life.
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Pizza Surveillance Feature, 2:20 min, Public Service Announcement
Winner of the Civil Liberties
Want some privacy infringement with that? If the Patriot Act continues to grow in scope, you may get more than mushrooms with your next pizza order.
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The News Is What We Make It, 8:21 min, Animation
Winner of the Media Reform Award
When the same company owns all the TV stations in town, where can you turn for an alternative perspective? A high-schooler gets burned and turns insult into action.
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Laptop, 0:30 min, Public Service Announcement
Winner of the Digital Divide
A computer is only as advanced as the person behind the keyboard. Laptop reminds us that the digital divide still resides within our borders.
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A Girl Named Kai, 8:00 min, Experimental
Winner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights Award
Through a stirring poetic mix of video and sound, Kai appeals to her traditional Taiwanese parents for acceptance in spite of her untraditional take on life and love.
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Homecoming, 5:30 min, Youth Documentary
Winner of the Peter Yarrow Peace in Our Classrooms Award
When coming out makes Ron a target for attack, he finds a school where respect and acceptance are taught alongside Math and English.
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Bad Choices, 3:00 min, Youth Digital Story
Winner of the Youth Voice Award
Without a support system, it’s hard for a teenager to stay out of trouble. Aderian reflects on the lessons he has learned from his bad choices.
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Happy Ending, 8:00 min, Youth Documentary
Winner of the Family and Society Award
Drugs have taken Chris’s mom out of his life but not out of his heart. In this personal travelogue, he goes to Philadelphia in search of a happy ending.
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System Failure, 8:00 min, Documentary
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award
Physical abuse, sexual harassment, inadequate education for incarcerated youth – if a society can be graded by how it treats its prisoners, then the state of California gets an “F.”
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Fast and Reliable, 7:53 min, Documentary
Winner of the Against the Odds Award
Nothing can stop Dexter the bike messenger — not homelessness or even a close encounter with a ten-ton truck.
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Neglected Sky, 1:36 min, Youth Animation
Winner of the Environment Award
In this fast-paced animation, youth producer John Cooney shows us that a little effort can go a long way in reversing global warming.
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Young Agrarians, 8:00 min, Documentary
Winner of the Nourishing Change Award
Young people plant the seeds for a sustainable future in this portrait of organic farming in California.
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World On Fire, 4:20 min, Music video
Winner of the Citizen Engagement Award
$5,000 could cover the cost of hair and make-up for one day on set in LA or pay for one year’s schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan. Sarah McLachlan does the math and encourages you to join her.
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The Luckiest Nut In The World, 8:00 min, Musical
Winner of the Global Justice Award Sponsored by Oxfam America
A singing peanut and his gang of shelled friends explain that sometimes free trade is just nuts.
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Something Other Than Other, 7:05 min, Experimental
Winner of the Tolerance Education Award
New parents Jerry and Andrea have endured their own share of discrimination growing up. They hope their newborn son can grow up identifying as something other than “other.”
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If you want to purchase a DVD of these short films, instead of downloading them, please go to the Media That Matters website.

A black and white man in a bar examine the role of memories and how they affect our perception of others. "Race Memory" is a powerful short film that leaves the viewer with several plausible interpretations of director Peter O'Keefe's insightful short film.

Ready to be inspired? An image captures a feeling, a story shares a message, a movie becomes a movement. The seventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival brings you 16 inspiring shorts by youth and independent filmmakers committed to changing the world. The collection includes:

Garbage Dreams, 8:05 min, Documentary
Winner of the Sustainability Award
Egypt’s resident garbage recyclers, the Zaballeen, struggle as Cairo modernizes its waste disposal system.
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Rapping at Fear, 6:44 min, Documentary
Winner of the Speak the Peace Award
In Andrés Tabares’ barrio in Colombia, “social cleansing” groups wage war. When this thirteen-year-old raps against violence, people listen.
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Still Standing, 7:44 min, Documentary
Winner of the Jury Award
Ms. Gertrude returns to what remains of her New Orleans home and fights to rebuild what she can in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
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The Apollos, 6:00 min, Documentary
Winner of the Fair Use Award
Meet the trailblazing students who, over twenty years ago, fought to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.
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Sovereign Nation / Sovereign Neighbor, 7:00 min, Documentary
Winner of the Independence Award
The Narragansett tribe defends its sovereignty only to encounter violent resistance and entrenched misunderstanding from their home state of Rhode Island.
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Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border, 3:55 min, Documentary
Winner of the Immigration Award
What happens when people cross the line? Vigilantes take the law into their own hands on the U.S.-Mexican border.
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Power Up, 1:39 min, Animation
Winner of the Changemaker Award
“Bomber Man” strikes again! Who will stop him this time?
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Massacre at Murambi, 5:10 min, Documentary
Winner of the Global Justice Award
Does the way we respond to the genocide in Rwanda predict our response to Darfur?
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By-Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime, 5:00 min, Spoken Word
Winner of the War and Peace Award
Kelly Tsai speaks truth to power as she raises her voice against war and complacency.
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Grace, 3:12 min, Animation
Winner of the Women’s Justice Award
Three women’s lives share an unwanted and violent thread.
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I'm Not a Boy, 6:10 min, Documentary
Winner of the Empowerment Award
Julie Joyce is not a boy. As a transgendered youth, she just wants what all young people want – to have a positive space to live and grow.
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Ashray, 6:00 min, Documentary
Winner of the Global Health Award
Affected or infected, the children of Ashray in Bombay live together as one family, despite their HIV status.
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Tyttonen (The Young Girl), 5:03 min, Narrative
Winner of the Seeds of Tolerance Award
A woman, trapped by time and age, searches for freedom in her childhood memories.
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The Final Frontier: Explorers or Warriors?, 8:10 min, Documentary
Winner of the Next Generation Award
Two teens from Chicago ask senators, scientists and science fiction fans: Could space be the new battleground?
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Superstar, 6:15 min, Documentary
Winner of the Emerging Voice Award
With the support and guidance of his family, nothing will stop Naiquan from becoming a superstar.
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The Farm Sanctuary, 5:31 min, Documentary
Winner of the Good Food Award
Fifth graders from the Bronx go upstate to meet rescued farm animals and try out veganism, at least for the weekend.
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If you want to purchase a DVD of these short films, instead of downloading them, please go to the Media That Matters website.

An image captures a feeling, a story shares a message, a movie becomes a movement. The sixth annual Media That Matters Film Festival offer 16 inspiring films by youth and independent filmmakers committed to changing the world, in 8 minutes or less. The collection includes:

Slip of the Tongue, 4:06 min, Youth Slam
Directed Karen Lum and produced by Youth Sounds Factory
Winner of the Jury Award
“What’s your ethnic make up?” A young man makes a pass at a beautiful stranger and gets an eye-opening schooling on race and gender.
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A Girl Like Me, 7:08 min, Youth Documentary
Directed by Kiri Davis and produced by Reel Works Teen Filmmaking
Winner of the Diversity Award
Color is more than skin deep for young African-American women struggling to define themselves.
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In Transit, 5:51 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Bent Jorgen Perlmutt, Nelson Walker III and Louis Abelman
Winner of the Global Health Award
War may be over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but many Congolese women continue to battle for their reproductive health.
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Water Warriors, 6:17 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Liz Miller
Winner of the Environment Award
When water costs soar, residents of Highland Park, Michigan demand to know who will foot the bill.
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How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett, 3:16 min, Expose
Directed and produced by Meerkat Media Collective
Winner of the Changemaker Award
Michigan youth investigate the dubious circumstances under which a Wal-Mart appeared on a wetland in their small town.
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The Rules of the Game, 8:24 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Garance Burke and Monica Lam
Winner of the Community Discourse Award
A Native American tribe’s dreams of prosperity clash with small town values in Rohnert Park, California.
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Permission, 1:00 min, Public Service Announcement
Directed by Vance Malone and produced by Public Interest
Winner of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights Award
Whose permission would you need to get married to the person you love?
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Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize, 2:11 min, Advocacy Short
Directed and produced by Jacob Caggiano
Winner of the Fair Use Award
Copyright abuse or Fair Use? Learn how much is at stake when vital films are pulled from public discourse.
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Book 'Em: Undereducated, Overincarcerated, 3:03 min, Youth Documentary
Produced by Youth Rights Media
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award
In New Haven, Connecticut the pipeline from school to prison is shorter than you might think.
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(Hate) Machine, 4:45 min, Satire
Directed and produced by Phil Caron
Winner of the Media Literacy Award
When media messages are constructed, sometimes truth hits the cutting room floor.
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In the Morning, 4:25 min, Dramatic Narrative
Directed by Danielle Lurie and produced by Katie Mustard
Winner of the Women’s Rights Award
When a young Turkish woman is raped, there is nothing honorable about revenge.
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Bread, 4:56 min, Documentary
Directed by Marcelo Bukin and produced by Rec Stop and Play/Global Humanitaria
Winner of the Global Justice Award
Guatemalan brothers Edwin and Edson crush rocks with their father so their family has enough to eat.
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Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary), 5:57 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Kirsten Kelly and Anne de Mare
Winner of the Good Food Award
Journey to the “Asparagus Capital of the World” to discover why one little vegetable is so important.
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Recycle, 6:00 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Vasco Lusa Nunes and Ondi Timoner
Winner of the Sustainability Award
Poet Miguel Diaz transforms poverty into cultivation in the middle of a Los Angeles street.
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Night Visions, 7:07 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Kathy Huang
Winner of the War and Peace Award Sponsored by Netflix
Individuals enlist in the U.S. military for different reasons, but they all return from war, changed.
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If you want to purchase a DVD of these short films, instead of downloading them, please go to the Media That Matters website.

The Hustler’s Guide to the Entertainment Industry features the documentary, “Independent, Doin’ Major Things” (IDMT). IDMT is a powerful and uncompromisingly honest film fitting somewhere between Jay-Z’s Fade to Black, and the Hip-Hop classic, Wildstyle. So potent and raw, IDMT is commonly referred to as The Entertainment Industry’s Fahrenheit 911.

While chronicling what history will know as The Atlanta Renaissance, independent Hip-Hop mogul Hotep (a.k.a. Hustle Simmons) is both genius AND crazy enough to expose long time unethical practices and ndustry trade secrets to the masses. The movie provides profound insight into Atlanta’s entertainment industry through the eyes of the city’s movers and shakers in the areas of music, film, fashion and business.