Since it's inception in 1989, the Red Hot Organization has worked with everyone from David Byrne and Patti Smith to Wu Tang Clan, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bon Iver and Grizzly Bear. Their catalogue of compilation albums includes genres from Bossa Nova to country, and to music legends like Cole Porter and Fela Kuti, as well as a tribute to love letters. All told, they've put out 15 albums and raised and donated $10 million for AIDS relief worldwide.
Now they are making their catalogue available to aspiring filmmakers with a contest to create short films and PSAs about HIV/AIDS. The winner will recieve $2,500 and a trip to New York City.
The organization issued this call:
More than two decades after the HIV/AIDS crisis began, our generation has its own stories to tell. Love stories and elegies, tales of quiet defiance, stigma, and public confrontation. Through short films and PSAs, the Red Hot+ contest aims to provide the catalyst (and the soundtrack) for a new conversation about HIV and AIDS. It's time to take a new look at HIV and AIDS through a contemporary lens. This is about young people. It's about you. It's about Red Hot + us.
More details about the contest can be found on Red Hot's website, but before you check that out, check this video of Mio Doi Todd and Jose Gonzalez performing a track off Red Hot's newest release, the tropicalia-inspired "Red Hot in Rio 2."
RH Loft Party: Mia Doi Todd + José González from Red Hot on Vimeo.