Press Release
December 2023
MY HERO Film Festival - Anthem Award FinalistMY HERO
MY HERO is proud to announce that they are finalists at the third Anthem Awards for their Film Festival in the ANTHEM COMMUNITY VOICE Education, Art & Culture - Awareness and Media (Non Profit) category. With approximately 2,000 submissions from 30 countries around the world, this is indeed a true honor and accomplishment and a tribute to the hard work of the team at MY HERO.
ANTHEM COMMUNITY VOICE amplifies the voices that spark global change and MY HERO is honored to be a finalist alongside worthy organizations such as The Kennedy Center, Sesame Workshop and Digital Promise. Participants and socially minded visitors are invited to show their support for the finalists by voting.
Help us get recognized and CONFIRM YOUR VOTES for MY HERO by following this link:
(You will need to create an account but we would so appreciate your vote)
Said the Anthem Awards organizers: “Inclusion as a finalist means your work not only demonstrates world-class talent, insight, leadership, and execution, it is also a best-in-class example of the work leading the way in the Impact Industry…Together we’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their communities.”
Said Jeanne Meyers, Co-Founder and Director of MY HERO: “We are truly honored to be selected as a finalist in this incredibly exciting and very competitive category. The MY HERO mission fits perfectly with the causes emphasized by the Anthem Awards and many of their categories are particularly pertinent to our work. Our mission is to empower people of all ages to realize their own potential to create positive change in the world using media, art and technology. Through our festival, website, salons, and media arts workshops, we train youth and adults to communicate their own stories and raise awareness of amazing local and global heroes working to solve the great challenges of our time.”
The Anthem Awards
The Anthem Awards was launched in response to the prevalence social good has taken within the national conversation and cultural zeitgeist in recent years. Said Anthem Awards General Manager, Patricia McLoughlin, “Since launching the Anthem Awards launch in 2021, we’ve seen incredible change and growth in the impact sector. The work that we have received in the 3rd Annual Anthem Anthem Awards is game-changing. From innovative projects fighting climate change to impactful calls for equal rights across the globe and best-in-class CSR and ESG efforts- the Anthem Community is a bright light in our uncertain world.”
The MY HERO Project
The MY HERO Project is a virtual learning platform and multimedia library that promotes global competence with stories of heroes from around the world. Founded in 1995, MY HERO draws more than 20 million visitors from 197 countries to a safe, non-commercial online venue where they can discover, create, and share essays, art, audio, and films about extraordinary and everyday people in their worlds who are making a difference.
The MY HERO International Film Festival, which is now in its 19th year, brings together professional and youth filmmakers who honor local and global heroes working for positive change in the world. Prizes and awards are awarded to primary, secondary and college students as well as professionals in a variety of categories including documentary, narrative, music video, animation and experimental.
Wendy Milette is the MY HERO Film Festival Director and, including this year (2023), Wendy has masterminded and guided the direction of 19 film festivals, 15 of which were hosted live in California and three that have been broadcast virtually, the last three being generously hosted by friend to MY HERO, Eva Haller in her Salon Series. Since 2005 Wendy has built an online library of thousands of hero-themed films from over 194 countries around the world. She has mentored young filmmakers and connected MY HERO to award-winning professional filmmakers, including those using VR and Immersive Technology. The featured winning short films shine a light on activists, peacemakers, environmentalists, humanitarians, artists & others who make a positive impact in the world.
Special AwardsMY HERO
The 19th Annual MY HERO International Film Festival Special Awards Ceremony showcased filmmakers and heroes from around the world. The event, which was held online on Saturday, November 18, 2023, honored this year’s special award winners in categories such as Women Transforming Media, sponsored by Eva Haller, The Sing for Hope Music Video Award, The Ron Kovic Peace Prize, The Dan Eldon Activists Award, The WOJ Youth Reporter Award sponsored by Esther Wojcicki and Tract, the Mattie Stepanek Poetry Prize, The Sylvia Earle Ocean Award sponsored by MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation and the Relationships First Award, sponsored by The Foundation for the Contemporary Family, to name a few.
View all winners here: myhero.com/films/winners2023
Previous winners include prominent filmmakers such as Louis Schwartzberg, Jamy Wheless, Ryan Coogler, Tiffany Shlain, Frank Marshall, Kayla Briët, Gabrielle Gorman, Abigail Disney, Corey J Gilbert and Albert Maysles.
For further information go to: hero.myhero.com/Films/festival
MY HERO ALUMNI
AlumniMY HERO
Mohamed Sidibay - Law graduate, Mohamed Sidibay was once forced to be a child soldier, he then became a youth reporter for MY HERO, committed to making a difference in the world. Said Mohamed: “In a world where the media sensationalizes violence, the importance of organizations like MY HERO cannot be understated. MY HERO came at a time in my life when my world was in complete disarray. Unable to understand the world outside of the one I had grown up in, MY HERO taught me the true meaning of life by empowering me through the use of media and storytelling.”
Geeta Malik - Geeta is now a feature film director but her passion for film began when she interned with MY HERO: "After being behind the camera for MY HERO, I realized I loved telling stories through film, so I decided to go to film school. I received my M.F.A. in Producing/Directing from UCLA, and made several short films that have played in festivals around the world."
Gabrielle Gorman - Gabrielle is a hugely successful film writer, producer, director, and activist and was the 2016 MY HERO International Film Festival Student Honoree who went on to study filmmaking at UCLA.
Slater Jewell-Kemker - Slater is an award-winning director who has introduced her generation to the international youth climate movement. Slater grew up as a youth reporter for the MY HERO Project. On this journey, she discovered her passion for filmmaking and continues to use media to express her activist voice.
Trey Carlisle - Trey won the 2016 Emerging Artist Award and is now a successful Actor and Director. Watch Trey's film HERE explaining how MY HERO has been an inspiration and 'a gift' to his life.
St George Thompson - St George is an incredibly talented digital media production artist, animator and illustrator who has been a contributor to MY HERO since 2005.
Kitty Richardson - Kitty is an award-winning filmmaker and singer-songwriter who has created multiple content for MY HERO and is now hosting and editing the Eva Haller Salon Series. She writes prolifically and can be found on Spotify.
Winners for the 3rd Annual Anthem Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024. Finalists can be celebrated online from December 5th to December 21st at Celebrate.Anthemawards.com.
For further information go to: www.anthemawards.com
Page created on 12/6/2023 12:28:05 PM
Last edited 12/8/2023 7:10:20 PM
