As we approach the last day to submit on videos (midnight EST, tomorrow Jan 21st!) for I AM THIS LAND, our contest on diversity, we are overwhelmed with the creativity and thought behind the submissions.

From a young girl challenging our tendency to categorize people, to an Indian-American man trying to come out to his parents, to a young Muslim girl defining what it is to be American, I AM THIS LAND has managed to highlight important issues in the debate on diversity in the United States.

This past November, Breakthrough launched the I AM THIS LAND contest.  We asked people to make a video on diversity using the phrase “I AM THIS LAND,” and enter to win a grand prize of $2,500 and more (including a day’s internship at SPIN magazine).

The resulting characters in these videos are rich: a young man literally hungry for diversity, a student trying on many different identities to prove the different kind of people there are in this land, a girl with multicultural backgrounds.

Through parodies, documentary, and feature film style videos; videos featuring original songs; videos with poetic narration and graphics, filmmakers across the country have responded to our call!  Through a truly ingenious use of their time, budget and skills, I AM THIS LAND’s filmmakers have explored the role national and religious identities, sexual orientation, language and more have in uplifting diversity.  We are also proud of the hundreds of viewers that have contributed to the project tenfold by leaving comments with their thoughts on the issues and how diversity only makes America stronger.

Watch the videos, vote and comment at http://iamthisland.org/watch-and-vote. We are thrilled to see the amount of interest these videos have generated online, and hope they continue to foster debate and discussion.

We are also very happy that stars like Michael Urie (Ugly Betty), Sharon Jones (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings), Lisa Brescia (Mamma Mia)  and writers such as Ishmael Beah and Maria Hinojosa and more have lent their support to us for I AM THIS LAND.

Stay tuned for more contest details at I AM THIS LAND.org! There’s still time to enter!

January 20, 2011 by Zebunnisa
Tags: b-listed, breakthrough, contest, diversity, film, I AM THIS LAND, lgbt, Lisa Brescia, Mamma Mia, Michael Urie, Muslim, Sharon Jones, Spin Magazine, Ugly Betty, video
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