Anupama Narayanswamy

NEW YORK, Jun 21 2005 (IPS) — At first there is nothing odd about the picture on-screen: a cyclist on the bustling streets of Manhattan, protected by a helmet, gloves and a cycling suit. Then the camera captures a wider angle, and the audience sees that the cyclist has only one leg.

The rider keeps pace perfectly in the traffic, neck-in-neck with speeding taxis. It is Dexter Benjamin, on one of his errands for B & L Courier Service.

Benjamin’s story in the film ‘Fast and Reliable’ plays out in the next few minutes. In a first-person narration, he talks about his life after he moved to New York from Trinidad and Tobago.

“I came to New York in 1986 and ’87 to compete in the New York marathon on crutches,” he says. In 1988, when he returned for a third time, he decided to stay.

‘Fast and Reliable’ is part of a series of 16 short movies by young filmmakers that won awards at the fifth annual Media That Matters Film Festival. The aim of the festival is to make audiences think about social issues – from gay rights and racism to environmental justice.

“We want the films to inspire, create debates and make people take action,” said Shira Golding, director of education and outreach at MediaRights, which organises the festival.

Launched this month and continuing all year, the festival features hip-hop activists, dancing peanuts and “claymation” teenagers tackling today’s most pressing social issues. The 16 films by independent and youth producers will also stream online, tour the country through community screenings, be broadcast on TV and distributed as a jam-packed DVD to teachers and activists.

Benjamin says he hopes ‘Fast and Reliable’ inspires other disabled people. Completing the marathon was certainly a challenge, but Benjamin, who lost his leg at 18 rescuing a baby from a speeding truck, had other trials to overcome.

He worked at a few odd jobs and was even homeless for a while. In almost a fairy tale ending to his story, he met a woman who gave him money and food. Today, he has a successful courier business in Manhattan.

The other films in the series are equally inspiring, with a hyperbolic and satirical edge and a moral axe to grind. From a hip-hop band in Minneapolis that eggs a senator on to spin the turntable, in ‘Battleground Minnesota’, to a peanut singing the sad tunes of trade liberalisation with a southern drawl in ‘The Luckiest Nut in the World’, they all have a humorous streak.

‘The News Is What We Make It’ is an animated film by Nickey Robare. As she says, “the film is about how mainstream media is not a reflection of reality and (aims) to encourage youth to go to independent news sources as well for their news.”

The festival is an attempt to interweave youth culture with social issues in a contemporary package. The films were judged for their aesthetic appeal as well as the messages they conveyed.

“The movies will appeal directly to the progressive left as they cover issues of diversity and varied ethnicities,” says Martin Rowe, a jury member.

As Benjamin says in his film, he once saw a woman with a child point to him and say, “You see that guy. When I tell you to do something and you tell me you can’t I want you to remember this guy.”

After its New York debut, the Media That Matters Travelling Festival will hit a different city every month, with screenings and discussions hosted by one of its partners.