Reclaim the Media presents a group of exciting new films documenting and celebrating the power of community media to deepen social justice and expand the power of the people.

On Sun. Oct 21, Radios Populares (Chicago) will conduct a workshop on community radio and social movement organizing ((Details here).

Featured films:

• Pirate Radio USA (SEATTLE PREMIERE Sun. Oct. 21, 7pm and 9:30pm; presented by filmmakers Jeff Pearson and Mary Jones)

Seattle-based filmmakakers "DJ's Him and Her" take you on a live tour of the underground world of illegal broadcasting in the USA. Radio Davids battle Media Goliaths and find out the real price of freedom.

• Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad/A Little Bit of So Much Truth (Mon. Oct. 22, 7pm; presented by filmmaker Jill Friedberg)

When the people of Oaxaca decided they'd had enough of bad government, they didn't take their story to the media...They TOOK the media. In the summer of 2006, a broad-based, non-violent, popular uprising exploded in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Some compared it to the Paris Commune, while others called it the first Latin American revolution of the 21st century. But it was the people’s use of the media that truly made history in Oaxaca. A Little Bit of So Much Truth captures the unprecedented media phenomenon that emerged when tens of thousands of school teachers, housewives, indigenous communities, health workers, farmers, and students took 14 radio stations and one TV station into their own hands, using them to organize, mobilize, and ultimately defend their grassroots struggle for social, cultural, and economic justice.

• Making Waves (SEATTLE PREMIERE Mon. Oct. 22, 9pm)

PREMIERE. If the public took back the airwaves, what would they sound like? Armed with the First Amendment, Tucson radio pirates use unlicensed radio as a form of civil disobedience, protesting the lack of individual expression and diversity on the airwaves and the FCC regulations that make getting licensed a nearly insurmountable challenge. For one station, this means providing real alternatives to 'alternative' music. For others, it means educating the public about its Constitutional rights. aking Waves takes a frank look at these pirates and their motivations, both political and personal.

• Paper Tiger Reads Paper Tiger Television (SEATTLE PREMIERE Tues. Oct. 23, 7pm; presented by Paper Tiger cofounder DeeDee Halleck)

Paper Tiger Television (PTTV) has been creating fun, funky, hard-hitting, investigative, compelling and truly alternative media for 25 years, and its groundbreaking productions have influenced generations of media artists and activists around the world. Paper Tiger Reads Paper Tiger TV tells the story of how this NYC video collective has grown and evolved since 1981. It’s a jubilant mosaic of archival footage featuring interviews with media critics and historians as well as current and past Tigers.

• Waves of Change: a panel discussion
(Tues. Oct 23, following Paper Tiger)

a panel discussion on the future of community media broadcasting. Guests include DeeDee Halleck (Deep Dish TV), Jill Freidberg (Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad), Joaquin Uy (KBCS 91.3FM Community Radio), Marissa Chavez (Youth Media Institute), Jeff Reifman (NewsCloud.com), Marshall Parker (SCAN-TV), Jonathan Lawson and Karen Toering (Reclaim the Media), and other community media practitioners, evangelists and pioneers.

Film screenings will take place in Seattle's coolest microcinema/restaurant, Central Cinema in Seattle's Central District. Check this page for details.

The Reclaim the Media Community Media Film Festival is cosponsored by KBCS 91.3FM and the Northwest Community Radio Network.