Using Film to Change the World

On September 21st, right in the midst of the UN MDG Summit, the UN Foundation, Mashable and the 92Y put together a really incredible social media summit that allowed journalists, bloggers and activists the opportunity to engage in conversations around the MDG Summit and following General Assembly meeting which is usually reserved to high profile personalities and world leaders.

I was asked to sit on a panel called "Reel Impact:  The Power of Film to Change Lives" with FilmAid International's Founder and CEO, Caroline Baron.  In all the hoopla of the MDGs, I felt it was important to ask critical questions about the role of filmmakers - particularly Western filmmakers - in telling development stories.

The panel was written up and posted on the front page of Mashable.com - which is huge considering its reach and impact.  Tom Cruise even picked up and tweeted about it.  I was thankful as it gave me an opportunity to introduce two of my projects - NOT YET RAIN, my film on unsafe abortions in Ethiopia and MDGFive.com which is a new media initiative uniting artists and activists for maternal health.

You can view the article here and watch the video of the panel above.

Happy Holidays!

Greetings!

As 2009 comes to a close, I want to take this time to thank those of you who have supported me and my work on behalf of women and young people. Whether as a colleague, a friend, an audience member, or a supporter, I couldn't have asked for a better year in being able to do the work I care so deeply about. As a colleague of mine said last night, "2009 was your year" and it was! It would not have been possible without the support I receive from so many of you.

As Maya Angleou wrote, "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."

Thank you for helping me realize the power of a dream.

Many thanks and happy holidays!

Lisa

Producer/Director
GOVERNESS FILMS
www.governessfilms.com




Highlights of 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- April 2009: Premiered "Not Yet Rain", a short film on unsafe abortion, produced in association with Ipas
- May 2009: Traveled to the Cannes Film Festival with the pitch reel for my new film, "The Parliament of One" on US-UN relations.
- May 2009: Received the Emmy® Award in the "Outstanding Advanced Media Interactivity" category for "Bi-Racial Hair" starring Zora Howard and produced as part of the WGBH Lab with the National Black Programming Consortium.
- June/July 2009: Keynote at nine National Youth Leadership Forum conferences in Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta with "Love, Labor, Loss", on obstetric fistula in Niger.
- August 2009: Filmmed in Northern Uganda for "YOUTH ZONES", a film and poetry initiative with UNFPA and Women's Refugee Commission.
- September 2009: Filmmed exclusive interview footage with Pete O'Neal in Tanzania in preparation for a book/script on his life story.
- September/October 2009: Filmmed at the UN General Assembly and completed second round of interviews for "The Parliament of One."
- November 2009: Invited to join the Editorial Committee for the Maternal Health Task Force.



2010 Projections
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Develop and launch MDGFive.com - a film and new media initiative to increase civic engagement to meet MDG Five on maternal health.
- Premiere "YOUTH ZONES", a film and poetry initiative with UNFPA and Women's Refugee Commission profiling young people in conflict and natural disasters in Liberia, Lebanon, Colombia, New Orleans and Northern Uganda.
- Research and development with award-winning choreographer, Tamilla Woodard and activist Joao Brando, on a live theater piece focused on sexual violence in the DR Congo and the Conflict Mineral Trade Act introduced by Representative Jim McDermott.
- Continue fundraising for production funds for "The Parliament of One" and "Myth of the Motherland."



Show your support of independent artists: Make a tax-free donation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As independent filmmakers, we spend more of time raising funds than actually working on the projects we care about. Governess Films can definitely use your support to keep our projects moving.

If you are interested in making a tax-free donation to Lisa Russell's independent documentary projects, please visit the following sites:

http://fiscalsponsorship.ifp.org/donate_now.html

And choose either,

"The Parliament of One"
"Myth of the Motherland"

Thank you!