The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premier showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, it engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action. From gay rights to global warming, the jury-selected collection represents the work of a diverse group of independent filmmakers, many of whom are under 21. The films are equally diverse in style and content, with documentaries, music videos, animations, experimental work and everything in between. Join a screening and discussion of some of the films from this festival.

A sad comedy about Joe Lieberman's n'er do-well son, so angered by the 2000 election that he seeks to impress a French woman, Charlie Rose and radical religious zealots by attempting to blow up a building in New York City. Written and shot in the months before 9-11-01, this film remained unfinished until 2008. Stars Sam Seder, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman and Ross Brockley.

Academy Award® winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) will for the first time show footage from his upcoming film Casino Jack And the United States of Money. The film focuses on disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Gibney will be joined by experts discussing transparency in government and how the internet has changed the way Washington DC works. Panelists include: Roy Sekoff (Founding Editor of the Huffington Post); Michael Silberman (EchoDitto); Naomi Seligman Steiner (Deputy Director Of CREW); Jim VandeHei (co-Founder of Politico). Breakfast will be served.

We have seen the way the traditional media has failed the public, from the run-up to the Iraq War to the shortcomings in coverage of the Presidential election. At the same time, a crop of documentary films and alternative news sources have given us insights that have expanded our understanding of the world around us. Can film take over where traditional media has left off? Or do films serve a fundamentally different purpose? A discussion with filmmakers, journalists and experts in the field invites you to share your views on the subject.

How can humor help your video message go viral? Clearly, laughter plays a role in promoting progressive values—on TV and on the web. Comedians and online activists from The Onion, 236.com and Comedy Central discuss what makes humor work online, showcase their examples of successful video and offer feedback on videos brought by attendees.

What happens to the 705 people of Crawford, Texas when George W. Bush moves to town? This award-winning documentary takes on the town the President "claims" as home and looks inside the lives of the residents and their mixed feelings toward their presidential neighbor. With Austin-based director David Modigliani.

Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner Trouble the Water takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. Directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, the film features an aspiring rap artist who survives the flooding of New Orleans by any means necessary, recording her experience in a chilling video diary which opens the film. "Captures a tale of thrilling human drama, terrible tragedy and unbelievable heroism among some of America's most stigmatized and downtrodden people." —Andrew O'Herir, Salon.com

Even before 1960, when Kennedy trounced Nixon in the first televised presidential debate, video has played an important role in politics and elections. With the advent of the Internet and YouTube, video escaped the confines and control of mainstream media networks and suddenly anyone with a camera and PC can produce and distribute video to a worldwide audience. Today, viral videos can be downloaded, viewed and shared via the Internet and a wide variety of mobile devices. This panel will explore how viral videos are being used to further progressive causes.

Building social connections around our shared politics is core to our movement. And just as there are social clubs, book groups and a host of other gatherings that allow people to make politics part of their every day lives, there is an increasing number of film clubs that share their politics while they share their love of cinema. This roundtable discussion looks at the effective ways of organizing these communities and how to turn reel action into real action.

A screening of shorts produced by Live Earth on climate change, sustainability and taking action to save our planet. Discussion will accompany the screening.

For more than thirty years, exit polls accurately predicted election results. Over the last ten years, that reliability has disappeared. What's going on? Employing first-person accounts, extensive research and telling clips gleaned from the nightly news, Emmy Award winning and Academy Award nominated filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman shines a spotlight on the gritty reality of the last decade's most egregious incidents of US electoral insecurity. Visit www.stealingamericathemovie.org.