Great Movies
The following reposted article features the official video for the No Malice Film Contest, which has extended its deadline for entries to Monday, May 31st.
The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation is joining the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation in presenting the inaugural No Malice Film Contest for Illinois youth and young adults. Young filmmakers between the ages of 11 and 21 are invited to create short films that explore and promote racial healing. The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation will help run the contest and select winners in three age groups. The project is funded through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation with a grant from Healing Illinois, a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services in partnership with The Chicago Community Trust.
Students will compete as individuals or in groups in three age brackets: 11-14, 15-18, and 19-21. Entries are due by Monday, May 31st. Live action films must be between three minutes and seven minutes long. The minimum length for animated films is 45 seconds. Cash prizes will be awarded at a red-carpet debut to be held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois on July 31st of this year. First place winners in each age bracket will receive $2,000; second place winners in each age bracket will receive $1,000; and third place winners in each age bracket will receive $500. The winning films will also be shown at the Ebertfest Film Festival at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Illinois schools will use the films, and supplemental curriculum created by educators, to talk about race and the harmful impact of bias and injustice.
As part of the No Malice Film Contest, contestants and anyone interested in filmmaking have access to prerecorded sessions led by expert writers, producers, and directors. The sessions highlight the art of telling powerful stories using the medium of film. Guest speakers have included Pamela Sherrod Anderson, founder of Graceworks Theater and Film Productions and an award-winning writer, filmmaker and playwright; Rita Coburn, a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning writer, producer and co-director of "Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,"; Oscar-nominated documentarian Steve James, who directed the famed movie “Hoop Dreams” and "Life Itself," about Roger Ebert; Troy Osborne Pryor, a Chicago-based producer, host, and actor and founder of Creative Cypher; and T. Shawn Taylor, a writer, journalist, consultant and documentary filmmaker.
You can find all the videos in the official YouTube channel of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Also be sure to visit the official site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. In the video below, RogerEbert.com publisher Chaz Ebert introduces the No Malice Film Contest along with YouMatter Studios founder & CEO Jewel Ifeguni.
