December 1, 2011 Leave a Comment

DETROIT -- Approximately 200 community members turned out to attend EMEAC’s Fifth Annual Green Screen Youth Environmental Film Festival on November 17 inside the General Motors Theater of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. “The Launch of the Detroit Youth Food Justice Taskforce” presented by The Five Elements Gallery took home top honors while “The Defenders,” presented by the Ashante Moja Class of Nsoroma Institute, about community members waging a legal campaign against the Detroit Incinerator took home second place honors. 

“We had a record number of supporters for this year's Green Screen and for that we are extremely grateful,” said EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady. “This was a very exciting Green Screen as we were celebrating its 5th anniversary which is a milestone of sorts! The decision to hold it at the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History reflected our commitment to supporting Detroit and was exciting for the young people to have their work showcased in such an elegant setting. From the responses I got, Green Screen V was a hit for youth and adults alike.”

Also winning awards during Green Screen V were the Ruth Ellis Center for “Not Alone and Our Shoes” in the Best Environmental Justice Documentary Media category about anti-bullying efforts on behalf of Lesbian Bi-sexual Gay Trans-gender and Queer youth. EMEAC’s Young Educators Alliance won the Innovative Media EJ Media Award for “The Liquor Store and the Green Pepper” about access to quality food outlets in Detroit. The Most Creative Food Justice Music Video went to The Heru Organization and Five Elements Gallery featuring the Gardening Activism Media and Education Summer Camp for “Bootleg Food.” The Inter-Generational Media Award went to the Palmer Park Academy Environmental Lab for their oral histories project featuring the Gardening Angels of Hannan House. 

Detroit Summer’s LAMP Project won the Innovative Environmental Solutions Category for “Another Detroit is Happening.” The Innovative Food Justice Media category was won by The Lathrup Village Children's Garden 4H and Video Club  for “Green Fridays” on the subject of healthy eating choices. Project Achieve’s “Green Screen Project” on relandscaping Southwest Detroit won for Best Innovative Environmental Justice Media. The Innovative Environmental Media Solutions and Best Youth Artistic Approach to EJ Media went to Nosroma Institute for “The Pollution Haters,” “The Pollution King,” “From the Present to the Past,” and “Stop Polluting My Earth!” The Nsoroma MC’s also won the Best Environmental Justice Video for “Pollution! Solution! Revolution!” which was also themed around the Detroit Incinerator. 

The Defenders

“I know the group Zero Waste Detroit was very excited to see so much youth media around the incinerator and it was very encouraging to see the work being undertaken by Project Achieve to build awareness around environmental justice issues in River Rouge,” Spady said. The Lathrup Village Children's Garden 4H and Video Club never disappoints, and their entry, Green Fridays, which ‘turned over a new leaf’ for school lunches was well received. 

“It was very exciting to see how our young people express themselves through music and song and the music video category was rocking with all hands in the air to Bootleg Food and Pollution! Solution! Revolution! But what I feel is one of the key evolutions of Green Screen is the definition of ‘environment’ and recognizing that it is all of the elements that comprise where you live, work, play, and learn and your ability to be safe, happy, and healthy there. The entries from Ruth Ellis Center reflecting the challenges LGBTQ youth face around bullying really shared a timely and sensitive look at safety as environment.”

Sponsors for the 2011 Green Screen V event were Alldrink, Allied Media Projects, Avalon Bakery, Barnes & Noble College WSU Campus, Boggs Center, Building A Movement, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Detroit Food Policy Council, Detroit Future Youth Network, Earthworks Urban Farms and Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Great Lakes Bioneers, Gregg Newsome, Detroit City Council Member Kenneth Cockrel Jr and the Detroit City Council Green Task Force, Hugh McDiarmid, IHM Sisters of Monroe Michigan, John King Used and Rare Books, Kathryn Lynch Underwood, Laura Lein, Lou Novak, Marwil Bookstore, Inc, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Mike Spencer, Motor City Brewery, People's Community Kitchen Detroit, Project South, Robinson Oil Company, Inc, Starbucks, Sugar Law Center, WSU Blimpie, WSU La Pita Mediterranean and Zero Waste Detroit. Together these individuals, organizations and businesses donated over $2,400 to support EMEAC’s environmental justice work in Southeastern Michigan. 

The Nsoroma MC's Michael, Antonio and Sean in Pollution Solution Revolution!

Having established Green Screen as a Detroit-based event, EMEAC plans to host next year’s youth film festival inside the David Blair Grassroots Community Theater at EMEAC’s new home inside the Cass Corridor Community Commons, formerly the First Unitarian Universalist Church, at the corner of Forest and Cass Avenue. The facility is currently being refurbished under the direction of long-time Detroit cultural arts organizer Oya Amakisi, who has organized the annual Detroit Women of Color Film Festival and run the Detroit Grassroots Community Arts Theater. 

“By Green Screen VI, we will be housed in the David Blair Grassroots Community Theater in the Cass Corridor Commons. Green Screen will have landed so to speak,”  Spady said. “I see that leading to more community screenings throughout the year as well. Our media production workshops keep growing in reach so, I look forward to having at least one entry for each of our collaborative partner workshops next year!”