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 far so good! It’s my last day at Silverdocs but so far it has been nothing short of amazing. Here’s a little refresher on what I’ve seen and also a list of what’s to come. Stay tuned for more Silverdocs 08 and for a comprehensive write-up stocked full of TakePart links about how you can connect to the issues in the films.

Thus Far:

• Silverdocs 08 : Head Wind
• Silverdocs 08 : Meet the Paro (Mechanical Love)
• Silverdocs 08 : Opening Night and All Together Now

To Come:

• A look at Up the Yangtze : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/yangtze/
• A discussion of the DocuClub screening of my film Stages
  
• Some shorts : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/shorts-program-4-disconnections/
• Corridor 8 : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/corridor-8/
• Frederick Wiseman’s Law and Order : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/law-and-order/
• A film that’s all about Dust : http://silverdocs.com/festival/films/2008/dust/
• More video!!!!
• Lot’s of pictures

For now, here are some pictures from pal Cheryl - who also has a film in this years’ fest!

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/23166402@N06/sets/72157605653795062/
  

Last night was the premiere of the Media that Matters Film Festival! 12 awesome new short films that all inspire action and change were screened with many filmmakers in attendance. Two of those filmmakers were myself and fellow TakePart blogger Wendy Cohen - we made a short film with the Meerkat Media Collective about the disappearing honeybees and local beekeepers.

The films in this year’s fest are also up online now so and watch some of them!

Below are some pictures from the event and stay tuned for video from the premiere and more pictures and video from the awards ceremony tonight and the second screening that takes place tomorrow. And come back next week for profiles on some of the films that are a part of this years festival!

MORE PICS HERE >>>>

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Robert Redford wants you to use your cell phone to watch short films - more than that, he thinks you will. In Spain on Wednesday, with actress and now director Isabella Rossellini, Redford discussed how phones can help to make short films popular and viable source of income. The audience at the Mobile World Congress listened to Redford, Rossellini and a panel of others talk about the short film industry , noting that now was an exciting time, but that there were still challenges ahead, namely getting folks to invest:

“The question is, who’s going to be brave enough to support the innovators?” Redford said. He pointed out that funding also has to include a fair share for writers, whom he praised for their long holdout in the strike. “Most of the time over the years, they’ve gotten the short end of the stick. By going on this long, you have to have a lot of courage or be crazy.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

As someone who makes short films now and then, the idea of a new venue that could be a viable moneymaker for shorts sounds like a great idea! As for now, Redford’s Sundance Institute funded Rossellini’s new short film Green Porno and hopes that others follow suit in developing content that could be screened on mobile phones. The short was created specifically for mobile phones and looks at the bizarre sex lives of insects and other creatures.

Filmmakers should to learn more about Green Porno and the exciting world that could await folks interested in making shorts. And everyone should also and definitely take a look at Sundance’s ECO-MMUNITY a community for folks who love being green!