AwareGuide - Your Guide to Life Changing Media

PUMA.Creative and The BRITDOC Foundation today announce the five finalists for the 2012 PUMA.Creative Impact Award. The €50,000 award honours, celebrates and supports the documentary film that has made the most significant positive impact on society or the environment. The top films cover topics ranging from global conflict and non-violent resistance to environmental degradation and protection. All of the projects have prompted impressive and measurable change in their wake – from changing consumer behaviour to affecting political debate and creating legislative change.

The annual EMA Awards honor film and television personalities, productions, musicians and musical tours that convey environmental messages in the most creative and influential ways.  This year's awards will be presented on September 29th.
Since 1991, the EMA Awards has been the only program solely devoted to celebrating the entertainment industry’s environmental efforts. A pioneer in linking the power of celebrity to environmental awareness,

For many people the summer ends on Labor Day, while I have always been one of those people who hold on until the Fall Equinox to declare that summer is over. This year its not been a summer vacation, but we have been quiet and in a reconstruction mode with the AwareGuide and I am very excited to start this new season with some of the new people and technologies. Stay tuned for exciting announcements over the next few weeks, both about the AwareGuide and many exciting new films that are launching!

Samsara, the new visual music masterpiece from the makers of Baraka, is doing exceptionally well at the box office and is opening in 15 cities this weekend including; San Francisco, Portland, Philadelphia, San Diego, Atlanta, Boston and more.

Next week the WestDoc Conference features Big Boys Gone Bananas and Off Label, while looking forward to a panel on Documentaries as the New Journalism. For more information check out their website at WestDoc

Coming up is the Santa Rosa Film Festival which is featuring the World Premier of Ground Operations. Also being shown are: Waking the Green Tiger, Pipe Dreams, Greenhorns, Urban Roots and Who Bombed Judi Bari.

Mark your calendars for:

• Sept 19th - Hollywood Health & Society Sentinel of Health Awards
• Sept 22nd – Center for Conscious Creativity State of the Arts Symposium
• Sept 29th - Environmental Media Associations Annual EMA Awards

Ten finalists for the Sentinel for Health Awards were announced by Hollywood, Health & Society, a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. In its thirteenth year, the Sentinel for Health Awards recognize exemplary television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives.

Happy Earth Day!

What a great time for not just environmental films, but so many films launching about raising awareness of so many subjects.  One Day on Earth premiered on Earth Day to show what is happening around the world on a single day. To show how the world is changing NYC hosted its first Green Festival which was livestreamed, and Earth Day Dallas was one of the country's largest events highlighted by the Artfully Green Film Festival.

Another Earth Day premiere was The First 70, a beautiful exploration of the 70 state parks that California is looking to close in its attempts to cut budget.

Surviving Progress is a really thought provoking film that looks at how technology is growing at such an astronomical rate, as is the economy, but our biology and culture have not changed nearly as much. Interviews with renown thought leaders such as David Suzuki and Jane Goodall highlight the discussion of how practical it is to run such modern technology with an ancient operating system. In SF and Berkeley and coming soon to other cities.

There were several previews of Last Call at the Oasis this weekend, including the SF Intl Film Festival and the Artfully Green Film Festival in Dallas. This is a powerful film by Participant Media hoping to bring a spotlight to the coming water crisis in the manner they highlighted food issues with Food, Inc. The film opens nationally May 4th.

Kenji Williams has produced an amazing work of art called Bella Gaia, at which he performs live on the electric violin.  Stunning cinematography and music make this a true experience, and its mixed with NASA data showing what is really happening to the earth to show how interconnected everything is and move people to see our world differently.

The People V The State of Illusion was held over in San Francisco.

The Eyes of Thailand makes its World Premiere this coming week at the Newport Beach Film Festival. More about this film and the film festival soon.