Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary), 6 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Kirsten Kelly and Anne De Mare
Journey to the "Asparagus Capital of the World" to discover why one little vegetable is so important.
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Food Justice, A Growing Movement, 8 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Martina Brimmer and Zora Tucker
Farmers become activists in the fight for food justice in West Oakland, California.
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Recycle, 6 min, Documenatry
Directed and produced by Vasco Lucas Nunes and Ondi Timoner
Poet Miguel Diaz transforms poverty into cultivation in the middle of a Los Angeles street.
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Inch By Inch: Providence Youth - Gardens for Education, 8 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Ilana Friedman
Teachers and students in Providence, Rhode Island get their hands dirty and their lives enriched.
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Terminator Tomatoes, 5 min, Claymation
Directed and produced by Suzanne Twining
A farmer and his daughter get in too deep with a crop of genetically modified tomatoes.
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Young Agrarians, 8 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Johanna Divine
Young people plant the seeds for a sustainable future in this portrait of organic farming in California.
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Profit Cola, 2:06 min, Animation
Produced by Mark Fiore for Parents Action for Children
All aboard! Ride the sugar rollercoaster with Profit Cola. Next stop: childhood obesity.
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Directed and produced by Liz Miller
When water costs soar, residents of Highland Park, Michigan, demand to know who will foot the bill.
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Don't Worry, 8 min, Puppet Expose
Directed by Emily James and produced by Fulcrum TV
Find out how Sunny D and “that purple stuff” are marketed to children as young as three.
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One More Dead Fish, 7:50 min, Documentary
Directed and produced by Allan and Stefan Forbes
Handline fishermen fight to survive in a rapidly globalizing industry.
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The Meatrix, 3:47 min, Animation
Directed by Louis Fox and produced by Free Range Graphics & Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
Will Leo the pig take the blue pill and remain in a fantasyland where quaint family farms produce food for our tables?
» Learn more about this film

If you want to purchase a DVD of these short films, instead of downloading them, please go to the Media That Matters website.

The explosive documentary "BUSH'S BRAIN" suggests that George W. Bush would never have been president without Karl Rove, the man known as "Bush's Brain", the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain of Presidential politics. Based on the best-selling book by journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater, BUSH'S BRAIN chronicles Rove's history of political chicanery and dirty tricks.

Brilliant tactician, ruthless opponent, savvy policy maker, and one of the greatest political minds in the history of the Republic, Karl Rove shaped Bush’s political career to a degree never before seen in America. BUSH'S BRAIN makes a convincing and explosive case that Karl Rove is the most powerful non-elected official in American history and the first "co-president" of the United States. From his masterful political skills to the secret machinations he carefully orchestrated, the fingerprints of Karl Rove can be found on virtually every decision that has come out of the Bush White House.

What would you do if you discovered that 13 people slated for execution had been found innocent? That was exactly the question that Illinois Governor George Ryan faced in his final days in office. Deadline is a compelling look insider America’s prisons, highlighting one man’s unlikely and historic actions against the system.

With astounding access to hearings, Death Row prisoners, exonerated men and Governor Ryan himself, Deadline, brings us directly into the emotional and legal storm surrounding Ryan’s impending decision. Viewers are pulled into the story as families exchange pleas for forgiveness or revenge; as an exonerated man in Florida tries to pull the pieces of his shattered life back together; and as a man reflects on his crime and the consequences. The filmmakers also shed light on the United States’ complicated relationship with the death penalty, using archival flashbacks to the landmark decisions and capital punishment policies implemented in the 1970’s that brought the U.S.—and Governor Ryan—to where they are today.

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.
» Learn more about this film

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.
» Learn more about this film

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.

I Promise Africa, 2:40 min, Public Service Announcement
Jerry Henry, Director/Producer
When Jerry Henry set off to Kenya to make a documentary about orphans he didn’t realize that he would be preserving on tape the voices of a generation that would soon be silenced.
Winner of the Jury Award
» Learn more about this film

iThemba, 5:19 min, Documentary Short
Keefe Murren, Director/Producer, Nelson Walker III, Director/Producer, Lynn True, Director
Through the mesmerizing melding of their voices, the Sinikithemba Choir turns stage into soapbox, singing and speaking for the 5 million HIV+ South Africans in desperate need of medication and support.
Winner of the Health Advocacy Award
» Learn more about this film

Seeds of Hope: South Africa, 6:12 min, International Documentary
Sarah Hesterman, Director/Producer, Produced by Gotham Pictures,
Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Solutions to poverty and malnutrition require resourcefulness and dedication. A group of women in a South African township learn how to sustain themselves and their children.
Winner of the Environment Award
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The Meatrix, 3:47 min, Flash Animation
Louis Fox, Director, Produced by Free Range Graphics in conjunction with the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
Will Leo the pig take the blue pill and remain in a fantasyland where quaint family farms produce food for our tables or will he take the red pill and get a cruel welcome to the real world?
Winner of the Film for Thought Award
» Learn more about this film

Laugh at the Fat Kid, 7:57 min, Narrative Short
Kristina Schoentag, Director/Producer
Whimsical and visually creative, "Laugh at the Fat Kid" intimately portrays a young boy caught in a cycle of ridicule and overeating, forcing the viewer to ask "What's wrong with this picture?"
Winner of the Peter Yarrow Peace in Our Classrooms Award
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Lean on Me, 1:46 min, Youth Digital Story
Harold Clinton, Director, The Center for Reflective Community Practice at
MIT and Creative Narrations, Producers
When the mayor’s office says “no,” a group of kids find their own way to make their dream for a safe place to play basketball a reality.
Winner of the SEE CHANGE, MAKE CHANGE Youth Digital Story Award
» Learn more about this film

Books Not Bars, 3:44 min, Campaign Portrait
Mark Landsman, Director/Producer for WITNESS
A growing number of youth are questioning the way their state governments spend money. The teens of the Books Not Bars movement demand that education, not incarceration, be the priority, now and in the future.
Winner of the Criminal Justice Award
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The Children of Birmingham, 6:17 min, Animation
Rebecca Yenawine, Director, Kids on the Hill, Producer
Through stirring narration and beautiful illustrations, Baltimore middleschool students tell the story of their 1960s counterparts who fought for their civil rights.
Winner of the SEE CHANGE, MAKE CHANGE Youth Video Award
» Learn more about this film

Day of Remembrance, 8:00 min, Political Documentary
Cynthia Fujikawa, Director/Producer
The legislators behind the Patriot Act claim to have made America safer, but in the process they have destroyed the lives of thousands of innocent Arab and Muslim Americans. Day of Remembrance calls attention to this tragic phenomenon and reminds us that American history has a tendency to repeat itself.
Winner of the Racial Justice Award
» Learn more about this film

Dedicated to My Family, 3:51 min, Personal Documentary
Nicole Sobottke, Director, Reel Grrls at 911 Media Arts Center, Producer
Nicole dreams about a perfect family. Living in a teen shelter, she has learned that family is where the heart is.
Winner of the Family and Society Award
» Learn more about this film

Struggling to Survive, 7:37 min, Youth Documentary
Dana Hall, Ashley Potter and Mary Profitt, Directors, Appalshop’s
Appalachian Media Institute, Producer
Having a job doesn’t mean you make enough to get by. Teenagers in eastern Kentucky turn their cameras on the living wage crisis in their community.
Winner of the Youth Documentary Award
» Learn more about this film

The Sixth Section, 8:10 min, Social Documentary
Alex Rivera, Director/Producer, Produced in association with
P.O.V./American Documentary
Sometimes the “American Dream” is realized on foreign soil. During the cold winters of upstate New York, a group of immigrants work together to give a baseball field, an ambulance and whatever else they can manage to their hometown of Boqueron, Mexico.
Winner of the American Dream Award
» Learn more about this film

Novela, Novela, 7:20 min, International Documentary
Elizabeth Miller, Director/Producer
Every afternoon, millions of Nicaraguans gather around their TV sets to watch their favorite imported novela (soap opera). What would happen if a group of activists produced a homegrown novela about real issues
like safe sex and domestic abuse?
Winner of the Women’s Rights Award
» Learn more about this film

Bush for Peace, 1:56 min., Satirical Short
Sarah Christman, Director/Producer, Jen Simmons, Director/Producer
It’s Dubbya as you’ve never heard him before in a re-mix of U.S. foreign policy created from the Commander-in-Chief’s “Moment of Truth” speech. Bush for Peace is at once a fantasy, a satire, and an earnest plea to stop the violence.
Winner of the Politics and Government Award
» Learn more about this film

Spring in Awe, 4 min, Experimental Short
Martina Radwan, Director/Producer, Moira Demos, Producer
The overpowering displays of Times Square put a spell on the world in a disturbing lullaby of global capitalism.
Winner of the Media Awareness Award
» Learn more about this film

POPaganda: The Art & Subversion of Ron English, 8:24 min, Portrait
Pedro Carvajal, Director/Producer
A modern-day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue, artist and satirist Ron English reclaims corporate billboards with uncanny canvases that force the man on the street to look twice…or maybe three times.
Winner of the Media Literacy Award
» Learn more about this film

If you want to purchase a DVD of these short films, instead of downloading them, please go to the Media That Matters website.

The war in Iraq has been showcased as both an example of American decisiveness and the catastrophic result of failed leadership. But beyond the debate, what is the reality of life on the ground? In December of 2003 traveler Mike Shiley felt compelled to find out for himself. Shiley, who is not a professionally trained journalist or filmmaker, managed to strike a deal with a local ABC-TV station to bring back stories about the troops in Iraq. Armed with a digital video camera and a home-made press pass, Mike Shiley chronicled a two month journey inside Iraq, interviewing American and Iraqi soldiers, talking to local citizens, and putting himself in situations of great personal risk. The footage from Shiley's excursions throughout the Sunni Triangle, the city of Baghdad, the northern Kurdish region and the Shiite-controlled south, put into deep personal context the stories we hear about in the news. Rather than push a political point of view, INSIDE IRAQ: THE UNTOLD STORIES lets Shiley's camera roll, catching a multitude of real-life moments that tell it like it is.

Guided by his own narration and interspersed with cuts to the studio interview, we are shown Iraq as we've never seen it before, getting a raw look at what it's like to be a soldier and a civilian in Iraq today. No matter how you feel about the war, INSIDE IRAQ: THE UNTOLD STORIES is bound to leave you examining your own beliefs about the U.S. military, the Iraqi people, and our future in the Middle East.

Playfully updating the 1950's school documentary, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" offers up political and social satire regarding the current state of reproductive rights in a fast-paced spoonful. Found-footage, animation and original images are interwoven into a collage containing the fictional stories of a conservative politician, a young couple, and a fundamentalist activist (portrayed by Survival Research Laboratories founder Mark Pauline) along with the decline in amphibian populations and the insidious creeping erosion of reproductive rights in the United States. All linked together through a Chinese dry cleaner.