ABOUT

Our organizational Mission:

Our mission is to produce, distribute and screen film and video made in the Americas by community media organizations and independent filmmakers. Through screenings at universities, cultural institutions, community media centers, film festivals and online our goal is to broaden the U.S. audience’s understanding of issues faced by marginalized populations and encourage further investigation through cultural exchange.

Americas Media Initiative (AMI) works in both Mexico and Cuba. In Mexico AMI is working with its sister organization, ProMedios to create the Center for the Preservation of Community Audiovisual Archives (CEPAAC) in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. CEPAAC houses the over 1400 tapes documenting the work of the Chiapas Media Project/ProMedios since the organization began in 1998. Along with ProMedios AMI is developing the feature documentary, IF WE FILM IT, IT’S THE TRUTH about the creation of the Chiapas Media Project.

AMI is the only U.S. organization working nationally to bring the work of emerging Cuban filmmakers to diverse venues and audiences - from elementary schools in Baton Rouge to urban farmers in Detroit. In Cuba, AMI is the first U.S. organization ever given permission to tour the provinces with U.S. documentary films. Our Closing Distances/Cerrando Distancias Documentary Program has traveled to 14 towns in the Cuban provinces and reached more than 1000 Cuban citizens, sparking critical and meaningful discussions on immigration, the Iraq War and racism.

Since 2011, AMI has invited 25 Cuban filmmakers, journalists and scholars to the U.S. and distributed DVDs of Cuban independent and community media to more than 100 universities, as well as to individuals in the U.S. and Canada. AMI now has 14 films in its Cuba DVD catalogue; a distribution collaboration with Icarus Films.

ALEXANDRA HALKIN
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In 1998, Alexandra co-founded the Chiapas Media Project (CMP) an award winning bi-national organization that trained over 200 indigenous men and women in video production in Chiapas and Guerrero, Mexico. Alexandra has consulted with various organizations such as Witness, and CLACPI (Latin American Coordinator for Indigenous Film and Communication)…

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

María Isabel Alfonso Associate Professor, St. Joseph's College
Deb Ellis Filmmaker & Associate Professor, Film & Television Studies, University of Vermont
Andrés Caballero Documentary Filmmaker and Radio Journalist, Los Angeles
Catherine Murphy Filmmaker and Literacy Expert, Maryland
Gabriela Dematteis Filmmaker and Journalist, New York

ADVISORY BOARD

Gustavo Arcos Cuba
Sarah Doty U.S.
Sujatha Fernandes Australia
Ernesto Granado Cuba
Katrin Hansing U.S.
Simon Kilmurry U.S.
David Leitner U.S.
Gordon Quinn U.S.
Mónica Rivero Italy
Marisol Rodríguez Mexico