This past weekend I sat down to watch Jessica Yu’s documentary Protagonist. I’ve been meaning to see the film for quite some time now (I’ve had it for at least 3 months from Netflix..eeek!) and I was excited to finally watch it. Yu’s unconventional doc combines the stories of 4 very different men,  reenactments performed by wooden-rod puppets modeled after Greek masks, animated title cards based on Euripides and more puppet performances also based on Euripides.

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Our second installation of the TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is here give you the very best of Katie, Nicole, Giulia, Gina and Kerry! More blogs means more to love this Valentine’s Day week, and more social action means a healthier and happier world for everyone. Check out our most popular posts of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

5 Ways to Take Action and Get Action On Valentine’s Day

Top 10 Guilt-Free Valentine’s Day Jewelry Gifts: Show Your Valentine You Have a Heart

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Nicole:

Kiva: Microlending to Change Lives

Top 10 New Releases to Inspire Social Change

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Giulia:

Alicia Keys Uses Grammys to Help Keep a Child Alive

V-Day Celebrates Its 10 Year Anniversary!

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Gina:

Top 10 Movie Characters That Make A Difference

Art As Politics In “The Silence Before Bach”

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Kerry:

Tap Project Gets Donations Flowing For Safe Global Water

Levon Helms’ “Dirt Farmer” Wins Grammy Gold

If you missed these excellent Top Ten recent releases to inspire social change, add them to your online video queue or head down to your nearest video store, grab some microwave popcorn, and let the inspiration begin!

Can movies inspire real change? Of course they can! Films change people, who in turn change the world. Although most folks go to the movies for entertainment, film can affect your tastes and preferences, your desires, your ethical and political views, and in some cases, even your perception of things like time and space. On a macro level, films can highlight important issues in a world where visual media has become a predominant source of knowledge and information.

Watching movies with a message makes your world a little bit bigger than it was before, but if you’re like me and have a busy schedule, it can be hard to make time to see every great film that comes out each week. Thank goodness for DVDs! Don’t forget to at Ecoencore.org to find out how you can donate your used DVDs to help out some of your favorite environmental causes.

1) Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington? - Frank Popper’s excellent documentary about Jeff Smith, a political science professor at Washington University who decides to run for congress in 2004. Popper follows the engaging young candidate on the campaign trail, and proves that an unknown individual with no financial backing can make a difference.

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