It’s June 27th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Nicole Hughes:

U.S. Media Ignores Link Between Midwest Floods and Global Warming

Top 10 Houseplants for Removing Indoor Air Pollution

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Andy Kondrat:

Dubai to Build Rotating Positive Energy Tower

Bioethicist Peter Singer Tackles World Food Shortage

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Jon Popham:

Americacorps Workers Assist Flood Ravaged Town

Australians “Out-Fat” Americans

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Giulia Rozzi:

Progressive Book Club

Oprah Recommends “A New Earth”

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Gina Telaroli:

Human Rights Watch 2008 Film Festival Update

SilverDocs 2008 Update

So the first week of Human Rights Watch is almost over so if you’re in NYC, catch something while you still can. I’ll be posting reviews of the remaining films in the next few days before they screen so keep checking back. Each film’s screening times will be listed and I’ll leave a schedule of reviews to come here.

Also in case you’re just tuning in now, here’s a little refresher on what’s already played:

• Human Rights Watch 08 : Calle Santa Fe
• Human Rights Watch 08 : The Beytrayal (Nerakhoon)
• Human Rights Watch 08 : American Outrage
• Human Rights Watch 08 : A Promise to the Dead

Here’s what’s ahead:

• Under the Bombs : http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/hrw08/underthebombs.html
• The Sari Soldiers : http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/hrw08/thesarisoldiers.html
• Traces of the Trade : http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/hrw08/tracesofthetrade.html
• Letter to Anna : http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/hrw08/lettertoanna.html

After all is said and done I’ll post a comprehensive piece full of Takepart links that will let you connect to the issues in the film!

Calle Santa Fe - Director: Carmen Castillo; Country: Chile/France/Belgium; Release: 2007, Runtime: 163

Screening : Wed Jun 18: 7

For the documentary filmmaker that has often thought about including their own story in their film, Carmen Castillo’s Calle Santa Fe is worth considering.

A personal meditation on her time in Chile in the early 1970’s and the death of her husband, her comrade and revolutionary Miguel Enriquez, Castillo tells of her past while revisiting the scene where her husband was killed. Much of her story is told in voice-over and in turn she creates a journal of sorts surrounding her story, past and present.

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A Promise to the Dead ( Director: Peter Raymont, Country: Canada, Release: 2006, Runtime: 92)

Screening Fri Jun 13: 6:30 and Wed Jun 18: 1:30

Peter Raymont’s portrait of the life of exiled writer and activist Ariel Dorfman takes us on a tour of the places that defined his life and combines the present with the past to provide a captivating reflection on revolution. Dorfman’s life was never static as he was born in Argentina, moved to the US when he was a young boy and then moved to Chile when he was 12. From 1970-1973 he served with radical Chilean president Salvador Allende and become enveloped in a time of revolution and political change. The military coup of September 11th, 1973 that ended with General Augusto Pinochet coming into power led Dorfman into a life of exile, writing and the constant search for “home.”

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What do Brigitte Bardot, beach litter, and American rappers on skid row have in common? They’re all on the TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup!   The Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie:

Pras On Skid Row (Literally)

Top 10 Reasons to Go to the Havana Film Festival in New York

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Nicole:

6 Million Pounds of Trash Found On World’s Beaches In One Day

“Take A Bite” Out of Climate Change

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Giulia:

Once Upon A Time Mommy Wasn’t This Pretty

We Can Solve It

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Gina:

The Fresh Air of the Flight of the Red Balloon and Hou Hsiao Hsien

Brigitte Bardot on Trial for Her Contempt Towards Muslims

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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By Giulia RozziMaria Carolina, a prostitute in Chile, is donating proceeds raised from her work (yes, 27 hours of sex)  to a disabled children’s charity. The act (of charity, probably not the actual sex)  has made the sex worker a celebrity in this Catholic-country.Well, I guess it’s good to see her use her powers for good. Afterall it is the season of giving!Want to donate to a charity? Not sex per se, but goods, money or your time? Check out these sites:To find a place to volunteer in your city: volunteermatch.org To get info and ideas of where to make donations: charitynavigator.org To learn about tax-deductions, how to pick a cause, and more: soyouwanna.com/site/syws/charity/charity.html Miss Carolina, who charges $300 for a 90-minute session, estimated that she would raise more than $4000.

By Katie HalperWhen Spain’s King Juan Carlos asked Chavez to shut up at the Ibero-American Summit in Chile , he unwittingly turned himself into a pop star, attaining a level of fame no money or monarchy could buy. The King’s ¿por qué no te callas?”(why don’t you shut up?) has been branded on mugs and t-shirts, broadcast all over the globe, turned into a major YouTube hit and has even become a ring tone for cell phones. But the most creative representation of the fight between the Spanish King and the Venezuelan president is the Reggaetón music video featured below. Not only is the video fun, and the music great, but it contains an important political message. Reggaetón, the successful, popular, and appealing blend of hip hop, reggae, and Latin American Carribean music shows us that in-spite of the inter-iberic conflict displayed at the summit, inter-cultural cooperation is not only possible, but danceable.