News Briefs News Briefs (April 01, 2005)

Filmmaker invited to Berlin festival

Chike Nwoffiah, executive director of Mountain View's Oriki Theater and an award-winning filmmaker has been invited to showcase his film at the 20th Black International Cinema Festival in Berlin from May 3 to May 9.

Nwoffiah's film is a 90-minute documentary called "A Killing in Choctaw." It's based on the true-life story of a race killing in Alabama in 1962. The film is also scheduled to play at the Black Film Festival at Stanford on May 21 and at the 26th Durban International Film Festival in Durban, South Africa from June 15 to June 26.

Students raise money for tsunami relief

A group of students at Huff Elementary are well on their way to reaching their fund-raising goal of $10,000, which will be used for tsunami relief. So far, they have raised over $8,000 through school bake sales, T-shirt sales, initiating individual fund-raising, and sales of a digital yearbook they created.

The money raised will be donated to Seacology, a locally-based environmental organization, to be used for their tsunami-relief efforts for Earth Day.

Zimbabwe run raises $17,000

The sixth annual Run for Zimbabwe Orphans raised $17,000 on March 12. The Sustainable Living Foundation sponsored the run, which took place at St. Joseph School.

The run raised $1,000 more than last year's event. The funds are used to help the 90 children, many who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic, at the Makumbi Children's Home in Zimbabwe. It takes about $350 a year to feed, clothe, house and educate each child.

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