From February 19-22^nd, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center held its first ever video fest at Carnegie Mellon University’s Porter Hall. The four-day extravaganza featured 12 films on a variety of topics typically misrepresented by the mainstream media, topics such as protests against trade agreements like the FTAA, AIDS activism and gentrification. Each day featured a set of films grouped together based on some overall themes including; Historical perspectives, War and Empire, The FTAA, and Life and Liberty. All proceeds from the event benefited the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center.

The Pittsburgh Independent Media Center is part of a global network of collectives (IMCs) whose purpose is to provide alternative media outlets to citizens, in opposition to the disempowering and elitist nature of the corporate media. Each collective maintains a website and some collectives are able to maintain newspapers and physical spaces where people can obtain the resources they need to create and learn to create their own media, as well as make it public. All collectives encourage people to be part of the process of creating their own photos, stories and video of events, both activism and otherwise related, and to be a part of the process of organizing the IMC. The online site run by Pittsburgh’s collective (www.pittsburgh.indymedia.org) allows anyone to publish news and also contains resources to media activism.

The showcase of the weekend was Friday’s screening of "The People, United: A Pittsburgh Anti War Retrospective," a documentary about the anti-war convergence in January of 2003. This convergence brought more then 5,000 people into the streets of Pittsburgh for protests against the impending Iraq War. The documentary is now available for purchase on DVD by visiting www.video.indypgh.org. Pittsburgh’s own Independent Media Center produced the inspiring film with assistance from Cleveland Indymedia and Carnegie Mellon University. Footage included segments from pre-convergence legal trainings, concerts, the January 25^th parade for peace on the Southside, Sunday’s mass march, rally, die-in, and break-away march as well as corporate media coverage.

IMC volunteers around the world captured footage of national and international convergences as well as the soundtrack of rousing songs by local punk favorites Anti-Flag. While not an exhaustive account of Pittsburgh’s convergence, the film clearly conveyed the historic nature of the largest local peace protests since Vietnam while providing viewers with a sense of the real diversity of events and participants. Audience reaction was decidedly positive, as the classroom-sized gathering laughed out loud at outlandish statements from the corporate media and rightwing talk radio hosts.

- By Alexander Bradley and Toni Bartone