The Hip-Hop Association (H2A) has officially partnered with Third World Newsreel (TWN) to form, H2O NEWSREEL, a distribution label offering the best in Hip-Hop Media, Education, and Culture.

TWN will continue to acquire, distribute and market independent media under the TWN brand. This includes more than 350 social issue titles, including historical Newsreels from the sixties. H2O NEWSREEL will operate as a separate initiative targeting the Hip-Hop culture and demographic.

The mission of the H2O NEWSREEL is to build an alternative media outlet that provides a cultural and educational balance, economic sustainability, and industry longevity by creating distribution opportunities to independent and established Hip-Hop artists, educators, and filmmakers that display and define the variety of images and stories that depict Hip-Hop culture. The H2A and TWN demographic reach combined is over 30,000 international educators, administrators, librarians, students, curators, organizers, writers, conference and festival programmers, social and health service providers, television programmers, and media artists.

TWN is an alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation and dissemination of independent film and video by and about diverse communities, with a focus on people of color and social justice issues. It supports the innovative work of diverse forms and genres made by artists who are intimately connected to their subjects through common bonds of ethnic/cultural heritage, class position, gender, sexual orientation and political identification. TWN promotes the self-representation of traditionally marginalized groups as well as the negotiated representation of those groups by artists who work in solidarity with them.

Under this new strategic partnership, the H2O International Film Festival will expand from an annual event, to year-round exhibitions at different venues throughout the US and internationally. Through online partnerships, we will promote upcoming screenings, trailers and shorts. Filmmakers will also have a space to create their own profile page. Filmmakers whose projects are aligned with the H2O NEWSREEL mission will be selected to work closely with staff members on their marketing campaigns, programming and distribution goals, so that the H2A can offer more cultivation and resources. The Odyssey awards honoring our best filmmakers will resume in June 2009.

H2O NEWSREEL is poised to be the leading Hip-Hop multi-media independent developer and distribution outlet. It will acquire media projects and facilitate the creation of curriculums and study guides for the education and urban entertainment markets. H2O NEWSREEL will offer the most competitive percentage agreement to independent filmmakers and will split profits on a non-exclusive agreement.

Starting September 2008, H2O NEWSREEL will begin releasing its titles to the international educational sector. H2O NEWSREEL will launch with the release of ten documentaries including, Masizakhe: Building Each Other (US/S. Africa), Frekuensia Kolombiana (Colombia), and the H2O NEWSREEL award winning short series collection.