Lights, Camera, Do Your Part!

A new Texas nonprofit organization, Lights. Camera. Help., has just held what it bills as "the world's first nonprofit film festival."

The festival, held July 31 to Aug. 2 in Austin, is a way for organizations and filmmakers to get the word out about their causes and grow their communities of supporters. It also serves to expand the innovative "film-for-a-cause" genre.

Out of 140 entries, the judges selected Art From the Streets, a documentary directed by Layton Blaylock, for the festival’s top prize. The film tells the story of an Austin-area nonprofit, also called Art From the Streets, which runs an art program for the city's homeless and mounts an annual art show at which the program's participants display and sell their work. The show is scheduled every year to coincide with National Homeless Awareness Week and takes place at Austin Resource Center for the Homeless.

See an intriguing trailer for the winning film here:

Image courtesy of stock.xchng