Inocente Cleveland International Film Festival Tickets on Sale!

Tickets are now on sale for Inocente at the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival!

Wednesday, March 28	11:55 AM
Thursday, March 29	6:30 PM

Get yours now at http://www.clevelandfilm.org/festival/films/2012/inocente

INOCENTE is a personal and vibrant coming of age story about a young artist’s determination never to surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by being an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Color is her personal revolution and its sweep on her canvases creates a world that looks nothing like her own dark past. INOCENTE is both a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America: children. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in her story proves that her circumstances do not define her, her dreams do.

Twitter: @InocenteDoc
Facbook: www.facebook.com/InocenteDoc

Watch War Dance and understand the story behind #StopKony

Invisible Children’s viral #StopKony campaign has caused a lot of controversy.  Some criticize its facts, its vilifying of the Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony to the exclusion of all other problems, or the organization itself.  Whatever your thoughts are, what the campaign has done exceedingly well is to bring the issue of child soldiers to current consciousnesses.

Shine Global’s first film War/Dance (2007) tells the stories of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy as they transform from victims of war into triumphant young adults.  For the past two decades, the children of the Acholi tribe in northern Uganda have been caught in the middle of a horrific war between the country’s leadership and the rebel force, the LRA. But when the camp’s primary school unexpectedly wins a regional music competition, the opportunity to compete nationally in Kampala brings with it the forgotten chance to dream.  War Dance was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary and won two Emmys for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography along with over 20 festival awards and honors.  The LA Times said “To make a memorable documentary… that can’t be forgotten once seen, you have to be more than gifted, you need an instinct for an unusual story and, frankly, you must have luck on your side. “War/Dance,” co-directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, has all that and more.”  War Dance is available for purchase on Amazon and can be watched on both Hulu and Netflix.  Or you can make a tax deductible donation to Shine Global so we can continue making films like War/Dance and receive a thank you gift of a War/Dance DVD and the short follow up documentary War/Dance Returns! Click here to donate now.

In the summer of 2008, director Sean Fine, executive producer Susan MacLaury, and the original “War Dance” film crew traveled back to Uganda for the first time since “War Dance” was filmed. Finally, the people of Uganda, were able to watch “War Dance,” the film dedicated to sharing their story with the world. Approximately 7-10 thousand people came to see the film in the Patongo camp making a lasting impression on the entire crew as well as Rose, Nancy, and Dominic.

Rose, Nancy, and Dominic have blossomed into strong and determined young adults who have become leaders in their community. They are admired for their strength and courage, and their hope shines brighter than ever.

You can watch War/Dance Returns for free online at http://www.filmannex.com/webtv/ShineGlobal

Shine Global is a 501(c)3 non-profit film production company.  All donations go to the production of our films and net profits are given to organizations working on the ground with the issues and children we document.  Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

Soraya Salti teaches entrepreneurship to youth in Middle East and North Africa

By Maegan P. Smith

Soraya Salti, the Executive Director of INJAZ Al-Arab, has just been awarded the seventh annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership. (The other winner of the Kravis Prize this year was mothers2mothers, which helps prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS through the education and support of mothers with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa). INJAZ Al-Arab is an organization that utilizes the mentorship of Arab business leaders to inspire a culture of entrepreneurialism and innovation among Arab youth.

Salti became involved with this organization in Jordan in 2001, when the great majority of youth in the Arab world were unable to find employment after graduation. She talks about what a widespread and serious issue this is in the Arab world in an interview with PBS: “[H]ere in Egypt, you find 83 percent of the unemployed are youth. And when I say youth, it’s between the ages of 15 to 29. If you go to Jordan, it’s 30 percent. In Algeria, it’s 40 percent. Even in oil-rich countries like the United Arab Emirates, where you used to have the biggest economic boom, 32 percent of youth are unemployed. Saudi Arabia — you’ve got 35 percent of the youth unemployed.”

Salti recognized this program when she started her work with the organization and began bringing professional leaders and their employees into Jordan’s public schools for an hour each week to share their professional experience with young adults. Through this program, students began to deepen their understanding of the business world and to increase their professional qualifications to operate as independent business owners. Local business leaders began to recognize an increase in talent, skills, and confidence from graduates.

In 2004, Salti expanded the program to a regional level, reaching 300,000 Arab youth. Since its inception, the organization has reached one million Arab youth in 14 different countries, making significant strides in spreading a culture of entrepreneurism, financial literacy and work readiness throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Salti hopes the program will help regional youth become recognized as an engine for growth and prosperity rather than a burden on their economies. The program aims to boost students’ self-confidence by presenting them with experiences and opportunities that inspire and increase their overall sense of awareness. It also seeks to provide a way for young people to make direct connections to business professionals for better chances of success later on.

INJAZ Al-Arab also has semester-long courses that promote financial literacy, work readiness, life skills, social leadership, and business entrepreneurship. They also provide job placement options by exposing them to career options and helping to promote them in the competitive job market. All of this is accomplished while continuing to engage the private sector in a manner that encourages their collaboration and provides a mutual benefit.

The effects of the program were seen at the 2009 Annual Battle for the Best Arab Student Company, where a team of young girls from a rural Omani public high school won both the best Student Company and Student CEO of the Year, becoming an inspiration for Arab women and demonstrating to the region the opportunities missed by having the lowest female labor market participation in the world.

INJAZ Al-Arab has become a “thought leader” in a region where 72% of private sector CEOs now express a desire to improve the quality of education and the ability of students to transition from the classroom to the workplace. INJAZ’s pioneering public-private partnerships have brought over 10,000 corporate volunteers into public school classrooms and encouraged 13 Ministries of Education to seek innovative solutions through partnership to address the skills gap Arab graduates face.

Salti has also been recognized as a 2006 Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year and as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

For more information about Soraya Salti and INJAZ Al-Arab, visit:
http://www.injazalarab.org/en
http://www.cmc.edu/kravisprize/awardee_sorayasalti.html
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/egypt804/interview/extended.html

Inocente to Premier at the Cleveland International Film Festival

We are very pleased to announce that Shine Global’s latest film INOCENTE will premier at the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival.  For the past 36 years, the CIFF has been the premier film event in Ohio. Today the CIFF presents a full survey of contemporary international and American Independent filmmaking, with more than 150 features and 130 short subjects from approximately 60 countries.  Last year almost 80,000 people attended to watch films and to meet and mingle with visiting filmmakers from around the world.

CIFF’s mission is to promote artistically and culturally significant film arts through education and exhibition to enrich the life of the community  (In other words, as they say, to “present the newest and best films from around the world, and … do everything in o[their] power to make sure that [their] audience learns something along the way — about other cultures, about the topic at hand, about the experience from the filmmakers themselves.)

INOCENTE is a personal and vibrant coming of age story about a young artist’s determination never to surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by being an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Color is her personal revolution and its sweep on her canvases creates a world that looks nothing like her own dark past. INOCENTE is both a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America: children. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in her story proves that the hand she has been dealt does not define her, her dreams do. Please click here to view the trailer.

SHOWTIMES:

Wednesday, March 28	11:55 AM
Thursday, March 29	6:30 PM

*Tickets are not yet on sale. Visit http://www.clevelandfilm.org/festival/films/2012/inocente for more information

Trader Joe’s Joins the Fair Food Campaign!

By Naomi Hernandez

Trader Joe’s has become the latest chain to sign a Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of Immolakee Workers after over a year of intense pressure including online campaigns and protests against “Traitor” Joe’s.

“We are truly happy today to welcome Trader Joe’s aboard the Fair Food Program,” said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “Trader Joe’s is cherished by its customers for a number of reasons, but high on that list is the company’s commitment to ethical purchasing practices. With this agreement, Trader Joe’s reaffirms that commitment and sends a strong — and timely — message of support to the Florida growers who are choosing to do the right thing, investing in improved labor standards, despite the challenges of a difficult marketplace and tough economic times.”

This is only the latest success for the CIW, which has been working to improve the wages of Florida farm workers since 1993.  The coalition works on several goals, but the Fair Food Campaign is their most prominent one.  A groundbreaking approach to social responsibility in the US produce industry, the campagin combines the Fair Food Code of Conduct – a set of labor standards developed in a unique collaboration among farmworkers, tomato growers, and the food industry leaders who purchase Florida tomatoes – with a small price premium to help improve harvesters’ wages.

The average household income for a farmworker in the US is between $15,000-$17,500 a year, well below the federal poverty line.  This is a contributing factor to the prevalence of child labor in agriculture – families need the extra income just to survive. Tomato pickers in Florida receive the same basic rate of pay now as they did thirty years ago.  When adjusted for inflation, their wages have actually dropped by half over that period. They usually earn 50 cents per every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes.  Average workdays consist of 14 hours and they are not able to get overtime. The harsh working conditions along with the limited wages has led the CIW to devise their action plans against the corporations which are most exploitative of this system.

The CIW has various strategies to put pressure on important food chains in the United States and they’ve been successfully implementing those strategies since 2001 with their Taco Bell boycott. The boycott lasted for four years and incited boycott committees in almost all 50 states, which eventually led to an agreement with the chain in 2005.  McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Bon Appétit Management Company, Compass Group, Aramark, Sodexo, and Whole Foods have all since signe don as well.

Although support within the fast-food industry and other sectors of the food industry has grown and the CIW has been able to reach several agreements with different chains and food service providers, they have turned their focus to the supermarket industry, which they believe lies at the heart of their campaign. Whole Foods Market was the first supermarket to sign an agreement with the CIW, but it wasn’t until February of 2012 that they got the support of a second major supermarket chain, Trader Joe’s.

Protests against Trader Joe’s have been ongoing for the past year throughout their locations across the country. Trader Joe’s has actively resisted pressure from the coalition and other groups, but finally relented in February.

The CIW’s next target is supermarket chain Publix, and to reach their goal they are planning a 6-day fast on March. Other giants in the supermarket industry that they seek to make an agreement with in the future are Ahold and Kroger. The coalition sees the supermarket industry as the remaining obstacle in their goal to make significant changes for the rights of farm workers.

The coalition has grown from a small community initiative to a powerful and influential body with an expanding public presence. They seek to grow and to keep promoting meaningful change and through their campaigns raise awareness and reach necessary agreements that will produce a fair system between the food industries and farm workers.

Visit: http://ciw-online.org/ for more information.

Children participating in rural Indian politics

By Naomi S. Hernandez

Pooja Gujjar, an 11 year-old girl from the village of Chaudhula, Viratnagar, Rajastan, in India, holds the position of deputy leader in her school’s Bal Panchayat, which is an initiative across rural India supported by various non-profit organizations that encourages children to form groups that follow a parliamentary system that improve their lives. The Bal Panchayat is modeled after the Gram Panchayat, which is a local governing institution in the villages. The initiative fosters the practice of democracy and encourages the children to draft demands and seek change in their environment and actively engage in the political process. “Before the Bal Panchayat the other students would take their complaints to the headmaster,” Pooja says. “But now they come directly to me.” The Bal Panchayat sits in meetings with the Gram Panchayat in Chaudhula, and the concerns and petitions of the children are taken into consideration.

As a candidate, Pooja had to create a political campaign to get support and identify issues that were important to her. One of her campaign promises was to get more children into schools. She has also taken up the cause of building a kitchen in her school because the conditions under which the school children’s meals were cooked were unsanitary. She, along with the other members of the children’s Panchayat, were able to get the measure passed by the Gam Panchayat and soon their school had a brand-new and safe kitchen. Pooja, within her role as deputy leader, is able to generate real change that affects those in her community and particularly the children of Chaudhula and is an influential member actively participating in the political system.

Read more about Pooja at: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/indias-child-politicians-bring-change-to-rural-villages/

US House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade holding a hearing on proposed rules to protect child farmworkers from the most dangerous tasks

The US House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade is holding a hearing entitled The Future of the Family Farm: The Effect of Proposed DOL Regulations on Small Business Producers on February 2, 2012, on proposed rules to prevent child farmworkers from taking on the most dangerous tasks. The new rules are intended to make paid farm work safer for the hundreds of thousands of children in the United States who labor in agriculture. They would not apply to children working on their parents’ farms.

“Sixteen children died at work in the US last year, and twelve of those were fatally injured while working on farms,” said Zama Coursen-Neff, deputy children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The rules need to change to ensure that the most dangerous farm jobs are done by adults, not children.”

On September 2, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make revisions to existing regulations pertaining to the employment of youths on farming and ranching operations.  Yesterday, February 1st, the DOL announced updates to the parental exemption portion of the proposed changes to better address farmers’ concerns.  The hearing will examine these rules so that members may better understand their potential effect on small business farm operations as well as youths working in or training for occupations in agriculture.

The subcommittee Chairman Scott Tipton (R-CO) issued a statement yesterday saying he believed “the rule altogether should never have been proposed” as it “would change long-standing and proven programs.”  Current child labor laws derive from the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act when agriculture was exempted from the protections given to children in other industries.  Children working in agriculture are permitted to do more work at younger ages than children working in other industries, they suffer more fatalities than they do in non-agricultural industries, and their work-related injuries tend to be more severe than injuries to children working in non-agricultural industries. Clearly something does need to change.

Witnesses include Nancy J. Leppink, Deputy Administrator Wage and Hour Division speaking on behalf of updating current child labor laws and Chris Chinn, Owner, Chinn Hog Farm testifying on behalf of the American Farm Bureau, Bob Tabb, Deputy Commissioner, West Virginia State Department of Agriculture, and Rick Ebert, Vice President, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and others speaking against new child labor protections.  You can read their statements on the Committee’s website.

Success in 2011 and the New Projects of 2012

2011 was one of Shine’s richest yet in terms of artistic production and growth, and we want to take this opportunity to thank all the artists, our professional colleagues, and friends for their contributions.

After four years, we finally released THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA! We are indebted to our Director/Producer, U Roberto Romano, Producer Rory O’Connor, and Executive Producers Eva Longoria, Alonzo Cantu, and Raul Padilla.  We also want to thank all the activists, politicians, and organizations that stepped up to help child migrant farmworkers.  Among the many successes are:

• THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA was released theatrically this summer after winning 2 festival awards. It also aired on EPIX and is now available on DVD.
• Shine Global contributed to the US Department of Labor’s campaign to change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to better protect child workers.  This began in 2009, when Labor Secretary Hilda Solis screened THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA trailer to members of government to kick off her campaign to crack down on violators of the FLSA.
• Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard introduced the CARE Act to raise the minimum age of child workers on June 16th, the same day she hosted a screening of THE HARVEST on Capitol Hill.
• Shine created free, downloadable curricula to accompany THE HARVEST for Grade 7-12 classes in English, social studies, mathematics, economics, geography, and health and college courses in history, political science, social justice and public health.  We want to thank the many teachers and pre-service teachers who contributed to its creation.  Take a look and let us know what you think.

It’s also been very exciting to reunite with our WAR/DANCE directors and cinematographer, Sean and Andrea Nix Fine, on the short documentary, INOCENTE, that introduced us to Producer Yael Melamede of Salty Features.  The film is now in post-production, and will air on MTV and Epix this spring.  Please watch the beautiful trailer by clicking here.

2011 also gave us the opportunity to work with talented director Hilla Medalia and producers Diane Nabatoff and Neta Zwebner-Zaibert to raise funds for DANCING IN JAFFA, which will be completed in 2012.  We love this film about a Palestinian dance instructor who returns to his hometown of Jaffa, Israel to teach ballroom dancing to Arab and Jewish 10-years olds, asking them to partner in a final competition.

And there is much more to look forward to in 2012!

Very excitingly, EPIX commissioned Shine to explore doing a film about preventing mother to child transmission of HIV.  We did initial filming in South Africa and plan to raise funds to do a feature length documentary.

Shine is also working with Jet Films to make BMX BOYS, now filming in London.  It tells the story of kids in inner-city London resisting gang pressure by racing BMX bikes and hoping to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.  Finally, we’re in early development on two more projects.  Shine and director Hilla Medalia are exploring funding options for a feature documentary on child brides in India.  The other is a possible film/educational project, tentatively called THE GIRLS FROM YAO, with Fulbright Scholar and Professor, Natalie Jesionka, who’s recently returned from 2 years in northern Thailand.  Natalie works with the Children’s Organization of Southeast Asia to rescue young girls from being trafficked as sex workers.

Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to hear more about all of these projects!

Every one of these stories teaches us about children struggling against very tough odds from an angle few of us would otherwise see.  And every one will potentially change the lives of thousands of other children like them.

From Homeless to Science Champ to the State of the Union

From Homeless to Science Champ to the State of the Union:
Samantha Garvey Doesn’t let her circumstances stand in the way of her dreams

Not one to let her family’s homelessness keep her form reaching for her dreams, New York teen Samantha Garvey was named as a semifinalist for the National Intel Science Competition.  Samantha was over the moon after learning she has a shot at the science competition’s $100,000 prize.

News of her story spread quickly, as many learned the story of the Brentwood High School senior who had been living with her family at a homeless shelter since January 1.   Samantha told radio station WCBS-AM that being homeless motivated her “to do better.” Adding, “I do well, and I pursue my passion because it’s what I have, and it’s a way out, you know, and it’ll lead to better things.”  Long Island Congressman Steve Israel heard her inspiring story and invited the teen to be his guest at the State of the Union address on January 24th.

Garvey is one of 300 teenagers nationwide named this week as semifinalists in the prestigious Intel science competition. She spent more than two years researching the effects of the Asian short crab on the mussel population in a salt marsh on Long Island, east of New York City.  Once sponsored by Westinghouse, the Society for Science and the Public has been running the science competition since 1942. Over the decades, contest finalists have gone on to some of the greatest achievements in science. Seven have won a Nobel Prize.  The finalists for the competition will be announced later this month, but in the mean time, Samantha, along with her two siblings, parents and pets, will be able to move into their new apartment.

Samantha was evicted along with her family from their home on New Year’s Eve. Her mother, Olga, a nurse’s assistant, was out of work for eight months following a car accident in February, and her father, Leo, could not keep up with the bills alone on his salary as a cab driver.  Leo said that after the eviction he took his family to a hotel for a week because he did not want them spending New Year’s in a homeless shelter. But he finally had to contact Suffolk County Social Services for help last week; they were then placed in a shelter.

Housing prices on Long Island are among the highest in the country, even in Brentwood, which has struggled with gang violence in recent years. A three-bedroom home there recently sold for $291,000, according to Lisa Kennedy, a broker with Eric G. Ramsay Associates. A three-bedroom ranch is renting for $1,800 a month, she said.

The Garveys will pay 30 percent of their monthly income to rent the county-owned property, officials said.

Gregory Blass, the county commissioner of Social Services, said the family was already known to officials because they were staying in a shelter, making them eligible to move into the house. He said the county works to place about 30 to 40 homeless families a month from shelters into apartments or homes. He insisted the Garveys received no preferential treatment because of Samantha’s celebrity.

Before the eviction, the Garveys had rented a home for six or seven years, Leo Garvey said. Before that, the family had also lived in homeless shelters from time to time; Leo Garvey described himself as a recovering alcoholic.

Samantha said that she had worried for several months before the eviction, knowing that her mother was ailing and money was tight.

“I ordered a senior picture and I said, `I don’t know where to send it. I don’t know what’s going to happen. What if we move, what if we get evicted,’ which we did,” she said. “You’re out in limbo. You’re like, `What’s going to happen to my mail, what’s going to happen to my college applications. Where are they all going to go?’ It’s scary.”

The teen says she hopes to pursue a career as a marine biologists after attending Brown or Yale.

New Years Auction

Did you miss the Holiday Auction?  Well you’re in luck!  We saved a few items for the New Year’s auction happening now until Jan 19th on CharityBuzz.com

You can have dinner with actor/writer/producer Mike O’Malley and tour the Paramount lot, go to one of your favorite comedy shows, get an interior design consultation from one of the country’s top interior designers, spend a week on the beach in the Hamptons, attend Dancing with the Stars and more!

Check it out at http://www.charitybuzz.com/support/shineglobal

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