Film Festival 2010 Highlights

MY HERO's 15th Year Anniversary

Looking for hope, inspiration and cheer for the holidays? The MY HERO Project has an answer-- a collection of inspiring short films from around the world.

Fifteen years ago, a group of parents had a vision to build a venue where people from all countries could share stories of the heroes who touched their lives. The idea was to counteract the negative role models that were so prevalent in mainstream media with uplifting stories and captivating real-life heroes. This vision became The MY HERO Project and its award-winning website www.myhero.com.

MY HERO features films, essays, audio and artwork about those who make our world a better place. This year, MY HERO celebrated its 15th Anniversary at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Friends and filmmakers from around the globe gathered in the halls of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for the MY HERO International Film Festival’s Awards Ceremony.

Fauzia Minallah in pink (Funkor Childart Center)

Pakistani artist, activist and filmmaker Fauzia Minallah won the Ron Kovic Peace Prize for her film Let Them Bloom. Kovic, whose autobiographical novel Born on the 4th of July became a bestseller and Academy Award-winning film, gave a speech about the prize.

The Daniel Eldon Activist Award went to Pedal=Sight. Kathy Eldon, mother of the slain photojournalist, presented the honor to the filmmakers.

Teacher Rowena Gerber was recognized as a Global Educator for her model Solar Oven Program with a film made by Video Artists Skip Blumberg and Cheikh Seck from Senegal.

Rowena Gerber http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=RowenaGerber

Tommy Carroll, a blind skateboarder and star of Logan Cascia’s winning music video Believe, played drums with the jazz band at the ceremony.

Yair Landau was honored for his globally animated collaboration Live Music, a successful experiment in international digital storytelling.

Kenji Williams performed a moving excerpt from his Bella Gaia, a poetic vision of Earth from space.

Kenji Williams (http://www.meaningfulmedia.org/get_involved.php?id=74)

The Best of the Fest featured Nobel Prize-winner Wangari Maathai in the short film Hummingbird, from the makers of Dirt! The Movie.

Student Director Slater Jewell-Kemker, who has grown up with MY HERO, accepted the award for Best Feature in Development for her project An Inconvenient Youth.

Slater reporting and interviewing for MY HERO http://myhero.com/go/organizer/view.asp?pageid=282

This year’s collection of winning films can be viewed at www.myhero.com/2010. They are a wonderful way for families to focus on the goodness of humanity during the holidays. All are invited to share their hero stories, art and short films with this global learning community.