Last night I attended the premiere launch party for the 6th annual Media That Matters Film Festival put together by the awesome mamas at MediaRights. If you are unfamiliar with MTM, it is a selection of short films that deal with a variety of social issues. Some are created by youth producers, some are shorts derived from longer works, all are engaging and interesting on some level. The very cool thing about this particular film fest is that the films stream online all year long, in addition to screenings around the country of the festival and of the shorts as part of social campaigns. If you have an idea about how to utilize the films to engage an audience, MediaRights wants to help you do it!

Click on “Watch” from the top menu to see the films. My favorites were A Girl Like Me, a heart-breaking look at how young women of color see themselves; Slip of the Tongue, an awesome girl-power-poetry-slam; No Child, a young musician challenges the military recruiters who want to sign him up; How Wal-Mart Came to Haslett, a funny yet oh-so-true account of what Wal-Mart will do to communities; and Eyes on the Fair Use Prize, a look at what will be lost if filmmakers don’t start using their rights. All of the projects are really great and they are short so it’s easy to watch them all.