Our friends at Arts Engine just held their Eighth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival last week at IFC in New York. This year’s festival showcases twelve jury-selected shorts tackling a broad range of social issues with humor, humanity, and honesty. The films include Anwar Saab’s Hammoudi about an optimistic young boy in war-torn Lebanon, and Randy Vasquez’s Something’s Moving, which explores the untold story of Native Americans forced into boarding schools in the 1970s. Other films highlight the role of hip hop in African politics, new solutions for dealing with electronic waste, the impact of harsh drug laws, the plight of the world’s honeybees, and one teen’s efforts to inspire activism among his peers. All of the shorts, which range from traditional documentaries to animated films, are 12 minutes long or less. If you missed the screenings in New York, just watch them online.