Thanks to the Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY), you can see some of the great films that are part of the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, AKA the Havana Film Festival. In its 9th year, HFFNY features full-length features, documentaries, short films, classics and animation from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the United States.

Here are 10 reasons you won’t want to miss the festival.

1) ESTELA BRAVO RETROSPECTIVE: WITNESS OF HER TIME. FREE! (Tuesday April 15th) Check out three films of the Brooklyn born American filmmaker Estela Bravo, the director of 30 award-winning documentaries on Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the US. Then stay for a talk between Bravo and filmmaker Tami Gold.

2. Holy Father and Gloria, Bravo’s moving account about Carmen Gloria, a Chilean student whom the Chilean military doused with gasoline and set on fire in 1986 and Pope John Paul’s visit to Chile a year later, which ignited a massive outpouring against the repressive Pinochet regime.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Don’t miss some of our most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Autism Awareness Day

Dolly Parton & American Idol: 9 to 5 and Women’s Rights

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Nicole:

Top 10 Garbloggers Talkin’ Trash

‘Garbage Warrior’ Turns Trash Into Green Homes

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Giulia:

Low US Grad Rates & ‘The First Year’

‘The Greatest Silence’ & More Ways to Take Action

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Gina:

Top 10 Dystopian Film Heros & Heroines

Empire Or Humanity? Howard Zinn & Viggo Mortensen Spread the Word On YouTube

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Kerry:

Eco-action blogger Kerry Trueman has moved onto greener pastures, but you can still find her at eatingliberally.com. Good luck, Kerry. We’ll miss you!

If cinema has anything to say about it the future is a scary scary place. Filled with oppressive governments and dark and dirty landscapes, dystopian cinema provides lessons of what might lie ahead if we don’t get our act together today. One of the ways we can work to make sure our future is bright, emotion filled and without oppression is to look at the examples the heroes and heroines of these films provide.

Below are the Top 10 Dystopian Film Heroes & Heroines. For some movies I’ve included not only the obvious male hero but also the woman that is often connected to him. It isn’t right that only the men should be honored for their efforts!

So take a look and let me know if I’ve missed your favorite.

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1. THX 1138 : THX 1138

The end of this film is why THX tops my list. The boldness and fearlessness he exhibits as he moves towards the unknown exemplifies what it means to be a hero. After his girlfriend is found pregnant and he is arrested THX doesn’t give in to authority. More than that he never gives up the search for his love and his freedom in the tightly controlled underground world he finds himself in. Plus, who doesn’t love Robert Duvall!?

and learn how THX could have avoided (and young girls can avoid ) pregnancy with Planned Parenthood.

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Spitzer’s prostitution scandal and the outing of “call girl” ashley alexandra dupre, have provoked quite a reaction and much debate. Yet, the debate about legalizing prostitution has yet to surface. Is it time for the United States to decriminalize the world’s oldest? If we acknowledge that prostitution will never go away, wouldn’t we, as a society, be better off if prostitution were legal? Prostitutes would be less stigmatized and victimized. Prostitutes would have protection from the violence which haunts them, and more access to safe sex education, resources, and testing. The debate over whether prostitution is “moral” or “immoral,” liberating of exploitative strikes me as academic. What we do know is that the “problem isn’t going away.” So the question is, do we live in a state of denial and hypocrisy? Or do we think rationally and act compassionately?

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There’s actually a lot of good stuff in the theaters today and below are the Top 5 New Releases in Theaters that Spur Social Action.

All of the films are playing in New York City but don’t worry if you don’t live here - click on the “take action” links below each trailer to find out when the film might be coming to your area.

1. Chop Shop : Ramin Bahrani’s examination of what life is life for a boy named Alejandro living and working in a piecemeal auto repair joint in Queens (a “chop shop”) says more about courage, family and childhood spirit than any film I’ve seen in a long time. Reminiscent of Kiarostami, the film says a lot about the systems that effect kids like Alejandro in urban environments without ever needing to address the subject directly.

to see if Chop Shop is coming to a theater near you.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Don’t miss these excellent posts on some very engaging and thoughtful topics - from going green at the office to Julian Beever to dystopian film telling us to take action now. Check out our most popular articles of the week on a variety of subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Katoucha’s Body Found: Model Helped African Women Escape Mutiliation

Julian Beever Brings Art to New Orleans Sidewalks

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Nicole:

Heath Ledger Nick Drake Video for “Black Eyed Dog” Hits Web

Top 10 Ways to Go Green in the Office

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Giulia:

Crate & Barrel Goes Green

The Black Comedy Project

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Gina:

Top 10 Dystopian Future Films Telling Us to Take Action Now

Going to “The Edge of Heaven” with Fatih Akin

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Kerry:

Sustainable Songstrees Sue West’s Rural Revival

No Impact Home A Hit At Ecobuild Exhibition

It was Heath Ledger’s decision to join The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that gave director Terry Gilliam both the green light and his budget. So when Ledger passed in the middle of filming Parnassus, the fate of the movie didn’t look so great.

But thankfully, folks have banned together and with Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law signing on to help finish the film, Parnassus will live to see a movie theater.

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There is an entire genre of film out there that examines the darker side of humanity and what the future looks like if that darker side continues to thrive. It seems to me that these films offer us a great opportunity to turn a negative into a positive and thus I present you with the Top 10 Dystopian Future Films Telling Us to Act Now!

The films below are the best of the dystopian bunch, each one offering us a great cinema experience as well as insight on how to make the world better today!

1. Metropolis : My # 1 dystopian adventure is also the oldest. Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent, Metropolis, is about a society in 2026 (so soon!) that is split is two, with the rich living above ground and the workers below. When one of the elite goes underground, he falls in love and those above use technology to keep their delicate class system in order. The story’s simple and the messages it provides are abundant.

So & give a home (above ground ) to those who need it.

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Only months after declaring the successful reduction of deforestation of the Amazon, the Brazilian government recently announced a rise in the rate of the clearing of the rainforest, stating that in the last 5 months 1250 square miles of rainforest were lost.

INPE, an organization providing satellite imaging of the area, says that the new increased rate is unprecedented for this time of year. Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva has reiterated these concerns, and has even suggested that the preliminary assessment could double as more detailed images are analyzed.

Rising costs of raw materials and commodities have contributed to the clearing of more rainforest, particularly for soy crops, as an increasing number of farmers see the Amazon as a cheap source of land. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to attend an emergency meeting today to discuss new measures to mitigate Amazonian deforestation.

and check out these 7 steps you can take to help save the Amazon, provided by the Rainforest Action Network.

A yellow fever scare in Brazil has led millions of people to seek immunizations at hospitals across the country. Several deaths and reported cases of yellow fever have led to worsening fears about the possible resurgence of the disease.

Yellow fever was eradicated in 1940, but the death of a man in Brasilia last week fueled fears about a possible spread of the disease in urban centers. The Health Ministry has given out more than 3.2 million doses of yellow fever vaccines this year ““ three times the average monthy distribution in 2007. More than 20 other cases of yellow fever are being investigated in the country, but the government denies any indication of an epidemic. Still, authorities are warning tourists to be vaccinated at least 10 days before visiting rural areas.

The GAVI Alliance supports 72 of the world’s poorest countries by providing financial and material support for immunization programs to help control and eradicate diseases that contribute to high child mortality. Click here to take action: