By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --The Sundance Institute is announcing a new element to the Sundance Film Festival: A global call for short films about overcoming poverty and hunger.
The executive director of the institute made the announcement Tuesday during the festival. Keri Putnam is inviting documentary and narrative filmmakers from around the world to submit short films that tell empowering stories about individuals or communities conquering hunger and poverty.
She says the aim of the contest is to inspire ideas, discussions and solutions through films "that inform and engage audiences in ways that are as innovative and imaginative as the solutions people are putting into action every day."
Five winners will be shown at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and the filmmakers will receive $10,000 each. The Short Film Challenge is separate from the festival's regular short-film competition.
The new contest will formally launch Tuesday afternoon with a private screening of five films made with production grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is supporting the Short Film Challenge.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More