The Shortie Awards Salute Youth Filmmakers on June 1

FALLS CHURCH, VA- With over 250 films created by over 1,300 student and teacher filmmakers from all over the world, The Shortie Awards: Student Film and News Festival celebrate 2008 as the seventh annual event.

The Shortie Awards will be held Sunday, June 1, 2008 at The Media & Public Affairs Buidling, lower level, The George Washington University campus. The event is co-sponsored by the University's Documentary Center.

Pre-festival activities begin at 2:15, with the festival running from 3 to 5 pm.

Eighteen finalist films, including a segment highlighting all news entries, will be screened during the festival on the main screening space, hailing from places as near as Fairfax and Arlington, VA to as far away as Australia and Kenya.

Pre-festival activities include a “Color Me Shortie” station, a raffle station, and "Shorties on the Small Screen," as well as a “Be on TV” station.  The area will allow students, teachers and parents to be interviewed on their thoughts about Shortie and youth filmmaking. 

The interviews will be aggregated into a short documentary about The Shortie Awards to air on MHz Worldview, the national channel of MHz Networks, available in 15 million households throughout the US.

The festival closes with refreshements and additional viewing of additional "Shorties on the Small Screen."

Filmmakers attending the festival will receive a Certificate of Participation, and a press release about their involvement in The Shortie Awards to use with their local newspaper and/or school.

The event is open to the public, with select availability. To reserve your seat, please email abaer@mhznetworks.org.

The Shortie Awards t-shirts are available to help celebrate the event in style! To pre-order your t-shirt at the early-bird price of $15 USD, please send a check or money order made out to:
MHz Networks
Attn: The Shortie Awards – Film & News Festival
8101A Lee Highway
Falls, Church, VA   22042

In your mailing, please include your requested sizing (Adult S, M, L, XL, or 2XL), quantity and the shipping/receiving address. T-shirts will be mailed around the June 1st festival date.

Next year’s festival call for entries deadline is April 3, 2009.

Contact:
Alyssa Baer or Agatha Jenkins
8101 A Lee Highway
Falls Church, VA 22042
703-770-7100
www.mhznetworks.org

MHz Networks is an independent, non-commercial television broadcaster delivering international educational and arts programming and providing diverse cultural perspectives for a globally-minded audience.

MHz Worldview, MHz Networks flagship channel, brings programming to globally-minded audiences in the US though affiliates, including cable, satellite and online. Serving the Washington, DC area’s 4.9 million residents with eight local broadcast channels, MHz Networks features programs from around the world on-air in more than 20 different languages.

A division of Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation headquartered in Richmond, VA, MHz Networks is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. MHz has studio facilities in Falls Church, VA and at Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.