[VIDEO] 2013 YFEP Film Contest Finalist: Video Games, the New Art Form

This film is one of ten semi-finalists in our 2013 Youth Free Expression Film Contest. LOVE this film? VOTE. You can help it win People’s Choice by liking it on YouTube.

“Video Games: the New Art Form” by Nathaniel Bodnar
Age 19, Watertown CT

About this film:

“My family and I were discussing Christmas lists at Thanksgiving just recently. My brother is a graphic artist and asked for a fifty dollar photo print. However, when I mentioned a sixty dollar video game, the standard running price for major new releases, that I had added to my list, I proceeded to be mocked, with questions like “Why do you need to spend that much on a video game?” I created this short film as a way to express my feelings to these sorts of remarks from non-gamers and critics. People always think of paintings, photography, literature, music, and film as art. The film addresses the questions “But why not video games?” The objective of the film is to show non gamers that video games have similar features to their favorite art form.”

[VIDEO] 2013 YFEP Film Contest Finalist: Video Games in the Crosshairs: Speaking of Games…

This film is one of ten semi-finalists in our 2013 Youth Free Expression Film Contest. LOVE this film? VOTE. You can help it win People’s Choice by liking it on YouTube.

“Video Games in the Crosshairs: Speaking of Games…” by Calvin Tran
Age 17, Jennison, MI

About this film:
“I am surrounded by tech-minded people and among them are very gamer-enthused guys. When I saw this video contest, I knew, as a film maker, that it is my job to bring to light the perspective of people who are not represented by the media…So, I got my friends together and interviewed them, watched them game, watch them interact and what I witnessed opened my mind; these people become alive. There was something with becoming a hero (or a villain or just someone) of a story that turned on the fire of their being – it was a communal thing, it was an individual thing, it was a human thing. That’s when I knew this film was something worth making.”

[VIDEO] 2013 YFEP Film Contest Finalist: Future Warfare III

This film is one of ten semi-finalists in our 2013 Youth Free Expression Film Contest. LOVE this film? VOTE. You can help it win People’s Choice by liking it on YouTube.

“Future Warfare III” by Ani Akpan
Age 17, Bronx NY

About this film:

“My film takes place 10 years in the future wherein Next Gen gaming has advanced into ‘real world environments’ that immerse the player in real world scenarios. I chose the topic to defend why video games are important because they really are an essential part to many people’s lives. Games provide a means of escape from the real world into one experienced by the player.”

[VIDEO] 2013 YFEP Film Contest Finalist: Perception of Gamers

This film is one of ten semi-finalists in our 2013 Youth Free Expression Film Contest. LOVE this film? VOTE. You can help it win People’s Choice by liking it on YouTube.

“Perception of Gamers” by Daniella Sanchez
Age 18, Jackson, MI

About this film:

“Video games have always been a part of my life, and they are by far my favorite hobby. The way people perceive video games and gamers drives me crazy; they think it’s a big waste of time and money, and video games are turning regular people into killers. I love making videos, and I love video games, so I figured I would make a video describing my gaming experience and why video games are important to me. Not to mention, I got to play more video games to get footage!”

Watch the Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest Semifinalists!

Why do we game? Are video games too violent? Do they change and affect us? Has anyone ever told you not to play a game because it was “inappropriate”? Is gaming an art form? Is it free speech?

We asked teens 19 and under to explore these questions in four minutes or less in this year’s Youth Free Expression Film Contest. Our theme: Video Games in the Crosshairs.

The ten semifinalists selected from a pool of nearly 100 complete films by teens are:

“Go With Them” by Matthew Billman
“Video Games in the Crosshairs” by Savannah Jossart
“Initial Testing” by Austin Guerrero
“Video Games in the Crosshairs: Rewind” by Logan Barrick
“A Virtual Reality” by Peter Ackerman
“Gaming: My Story” by Sylvan Gu
“Video Games: the New Art Form” by Nathaniel Bodnar
“Video Games in the Crosshairs: Speaking of Games…” by Calvin Tran
“Future Warfare III” by Ani Akpan
“Perception of Gamers” by Daniella Sanchez

HELP US SELECT THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER RIGHT NOW!

You can vote for your favorite semi-finalist by “liking” the film on YouTube. The film with the most “likes” will be awarded our viewer’s choice award. Share your favorite film with your friends and spread the word.

To learn more about the film contest, visit ncac.org. Sign up for our mailing list and be the first to know about the 2014 Contest Rules and NEW THEME.

Happy Birthday to the Wonderful, the Fabulous, the Fantastic – JUDY BLUME!

People, super serious question: what ever would we do without Judy Blume?

Judy’s books helped many of us navigate the troubled seas of adulthood (you former young ladies of the world know what I’m talking about). They entertained us, emboldened us, held our hands and assured us we were not alone. And her brave and tireless advocacy on behalf of the freedom to read has marked her out as one of the guiding lights of the free speech world.

So today we celebrate Judy’s Birthday, basically a literary national holiday.

Thank you, Judy for all you have done and all you continue to do! A million happy returns.

On that note, shall we end on a song?

Join The Day We Fight Back, Say No To Mass Surveillance!

The NSA “is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world.” – The Washington Post

Congress is considering two major bills. The USA Freedom Act curtails NSA surveillance abuses. The FISA Improvements Act attempts to legalize bulk data collection of phone records. We need to tell Congress to pass the USA Freedom Act and amend it to make it even stronger. E-mail and call your representative right now. 

Vermont legislation would “refuse material support” for NSA mass data collection

Similar legislation has been introduced in 12 states. From Truthout.org:

On Tuesday, January 28th, a transpartisan group of four Vermont state representatives introduced legislation that would block some of the practical effects of mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Rep. Teo Zagar (D-Windsor-4-1), along with co-sponsor Reps. Susan Davis (P/D-Orange-1), Patricia Komline (R-Bennington-Rutland) and William Stevens (I-Addison-Rutland) introduced the Fourth Amendment Protection Act to prohibit any state support of the NSA.

Based on model legislation drafted by the OffNow coalition, House Bill 732 (H732) would make it state policy to “refuse to provide material support for or assist or in any way participate in the collection of a person’s electronic data or metadata by any federal agency or pursuant to any federal law, rule, regulation, or order unless the data is collected pursuant to a warrant that particularly describes the persons, places, and things to be searched or seized.”

The bill would forbid Vermont from using information collected without a warrant by federal authorities, and bar the state from providing basic infrastructure, including water and electricity, to federal programs that participate in mass collection of data and metadata. Read more at Truthout.

Oral Argument in Blum v. Holder appeal started this week

From Center for Constitutional Rights:

Synopsis 

Blum v. Holder is a federal lawsuit challenging the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The plaintiffs are five longtime animal rights activists whose advocacy work has been chilled due to fear of being prosecuted as a terrorist under the AETA.

…

Pushed through Congress by a powerful lobby of pharmaceutical corporations and groups like the Fur Commission USA and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the AETA is an unconstitutional law because it criminalizes a broad swath of protected First Amendment activities and is so unclear as to fail to give people notice of whether or not their conduct is lawful.

Read more at www.ccrjustice.org/ourcases/Blum

[Video] Listen to the Pete Seeger Song Once Deemed Too Political for American Television

The great American musician Pete Seeger died yesterday at the age of 94. Referred to by many as the father of folk music, Seeger apparently preferred “river singer.” But he didn’t just sing up and down the Hudson River, he sang across our country and beyond many times over, and he sang about issues, people and ideas that he felt truly mattered. He sang and spoke candidly about social problems and political changes that many individuals in power didn’t like very much.

Just a small exemplary tale: in 1967 he was invited to sing “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” a song critical of the American policies that led to the Vietnam war, on The Smothers Brothers variety show on CBS. Seeger said that at the time, though his label had allowed him to record the song on a record,  he “knew there wasn’t time for it to get around the country. People were being killed every day in Vietnam. …The records stayed on the shelves and weren’t even sent to the stores.”

When he recorded the song for The Smothers Brothers show, it was censored by the network before it aired. After objections from the brothers and public protest, they changed their minds and Seeger was brought back to guest on the show in 1968. This time, seven million people saw it.

Take a listen in Pete Seeger’s honor.