The “My Hero” International Film Festival is celebrating 10 years of inspirational media from around the world on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 3 to 10:30 p.m. at the Ann and Jerry Moss Theater located in the Herb Alpert Educational Village at 3131 Olympic Blvd. in Santa Monica.
“The goal of MY HERO Project is to shine a light on heroes around the world who bring awareness to issues confronting our society and celebrating their accomplishments,” said Wendy Milette, Film Festival Director. “MY HERO Project uses media, art and technology to celebrate the best of humanity; offering an ad free platform for children, students and professionals to share stories that empower people of all ages to realize their own potential and to effect positive change in the world.”
The Festival brings together professional and youth activists, filmmakers and heroes. Films honor those working for human rights, the environment, peace and social activism.
Actress, singer, and activist Q’orianka Kilcher will host the event. One of the finalists is “Bombingham” by Culver City-based filmmaker, Gabrielle Gorman.
“What makes The MY HERO Project unique is our outreach program. We send MY HERO teams to visit schools and community centers to mentor teachers and students,” Milette said. “Teams bring cameras and computers to train teachers and students to make films and develop programs with the MY HERO tools. In the process, MY HERO promotes character education and empowers students by giving them tools for expression.”
Prizes are awarded to elementary, middle school, high school, college and professionals in categories of documentary, narrative, music video, animation, experimental, excerpts, trailers and features in development.
Films are judged by a panel of experts in film, education, and activism, including professors from USC, media professionals, students, and global educators.
The highest acclaimed films of each genre will be screened and the filmmakers and heroes will be recognized at the Awards Ceremony.
Special prizes include: The Relationships First Award, The Ron Kovic Peace Prize, Media Award, the Sylvia Earle Ocean Conservation Award, and the Dan Eldon Activist Award which will be presented by Kathy Eldon.
Poet, author, and educational visionary Paul Cummins will be honored with the 2014 Global Educator Award.
A short film featuring Jack Black as Cummins will be shown in his honor.
“We have witnessed the impact of this project on students who have gone from publishing essays about their heroes as young children to becoming award winning filmmakers as teenagers and young adults honored at our film festival,” said Rita Stern-Milch, Co-Founder of the MY HERO Project.
MY HERO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sharing stories of the world’s heroes in an ongoing effort to promote peace and cross cultural understanding. MY HERO’s free, interactive website features stories, videos, music and art. MY HERO is used in classrooms in 197 countries to promote media literacy in service of values education.
MY HERO offers online mentorships to teachers and students around the world. For more information, please visit www.myhero. com.