February 26, 2010

MPAC today announced two of its honorees for the upcoming 19th annual Media Awards Gala honoring voices of courage and conscience, which will take place on Saturday, May 1st in Los Angeles. They are the award-winning & groundbreaking independent film "Amreeka" and Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Dave Eggers for his astounding non-fiction book "Zeitoun."

The Media Awards honors artists, actors, activists and executives who use art and media to create enriching and humanizing portrayals of Islam and Muslims, promote diversity and social justice issues, and inspire action.

Cherien Dabis

MPAC will honor writer/director Cherien Dabis and National Geographic for the groundbreaking film "Amreeka." The film is a complex, funny, and moving story of Palestinian immigrant families making their way in the U.S. across multiple generations. The groundbreaking film is a milestone in the portrayal of Arab Americans, and received glowing reviews from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Hollywood Reporter raves: "Dabis, a Palestinian-American, has thoroughly re-energized the genre with refreshing wit, honest emotions, incisive observations and a perfect cast she literally flew around the world to find."

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers phenomenal 3rd non-fiction book "Zeitoun" examines the intersection of Hurricane Katrina, post-9/11 national security policies, and life as a Muslim American family all at the same time. Centered around the real and extremely moving story of the Zeitoun family, the book was dubbed by the New York Times as "great narrative nonfiction," which goes on to say "50 years from now, when people want to know what happened to this once-great city during a shameful episode of our history, they will still be talking about a family named Zeitoun."

"The ability of the artist to conjure emotion, challenge deeply held ideas, and inspire thought and action are unmatchable," said MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati. "We are thrilled to be able to recognize talented and inspirational voices for bringing humanizing and multi-dimensional portrayals of Muslims to millions of television and film viewers."

Stay tuned for more honoree announcements plus some other great surprises...

Call (213) 383-3443 to reserve your tickets or find out how you can sponsor the Media Awards today!

Since 1991, MPAC's Media Award has honored artists, actors, authors, and activists for their artistic contributions to promoting diversity and inspiring action. Past recipients include:

• Fox Searchlight --- for Academy Award winning "Slumdog Millionaire"
• Executive Producer --- for "The Simpsons" episode "Mypods & Boomsticks"
• Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now!"
• Producer Lawrence Bender for "An Inconvenient Truth"
• Co-creator David Guarascio & Moses Port for the CW sitcom "Aliens in America"
• Producer Omar Amanat for "The Visitor" and "Darfur Now"
• Alec Baldwin for his outspoken support for civil liberties post 9/11
• Warner Independent Pictures and director Hany Abu-Assad for "Paradise Now"
• Warner Brothers & Section Eight Productions for "Syriana"
• Morgan Spurlock for the documentary "Where in the World is Osama bin Laden" and the FX show "30 Days"
• Michael Moore for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine"
• Spike Lee for "Malcolm X"

MPAC's Media Awards is a production of its Hollywood Bureau, which serves as a resource and ally to television networks, film studios, screenwriters and the creative community at large.