NEWS

The Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab supports social justice documentaries with a focus on Black storytelling. Co-designed and coordinated by Working Films, in partnership with Cucalorus, participating artists receive feedback on their work-in-progress and explore audience engagement strategies through workshops, consultations, and community screenings during a weeklong residency at Cucalorus’ campus. This year’s Lab takes place from April 22- April 29. Now in its sixteenth year, the Works-in-Progress lab was launched in 2008 through a partnership between Working Films and Cucalorus. We will be accepting applications through January 15th, 2025! Program and…

Working Films strives to make all of our events and programs accessible, including our application processes. To request an accessibility accommodation or adjustment, please email amyers@workingfilms.org, or call us at 910-342-9000. Across the US we are seeing stronger and more frequent climate-fueled disasters, exposure to environmental racism, and threats to our democracy. These challenges – all compounded by the breakdown of civil discourse and community relationships – make face to face dialogue critical for building resilience and civic engagement. We also know that changemakers in rural areas and small towns…

Race Forward and Working Films are thrilled to announce the 2024 Race Flicks film track of Facing Race: A National Conference, being held in person in St. Louis, Missouri, November 20-22. Race Flicks is a micro-film track during the conference that lifts up critical issues and stories of community organizing for racial justice. This year’s program maintains a focus on accountable and care-centered filmmaking that respects and reflects the people and places featured, and holds great potential to build power among those represented in the stories at hand. The selected…

Launched in 2023, Beyond Walls is an organizing initiative featuring documentary films that define and amplify what prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition means, while inspiring people to imagine and take action toward a world without policing. This year, Beyond Walls continues to resonate across communities and a recent screening at Dartmouth College stands out as a pivotal moment. Held on May 8th in Hanover, New Hampshire, the event not only showcased powerful narratives for Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, but also sparked profound reflections and conversations among attendees. Dr. Bench Ansfield,…

For a documentary film to make a difference, a solid strategy for audience engagement and strong partnerships are key. Filmmakers often lack time to do this work themselves or the expertise and the funds to pay for it. Emerging filmmakers, creators of color, and underrepresented artists can face the biggest hurdles, despite the potential of their projects. Working Films’ response to this challenge is Impact Kickstart, a program offering in-kind partnership and strategy development to underrepresented filmmakers with feature-length films that hold great promise to catalyze action to address important…

Now in its sixth year, Working Films’ Impact Kickstart program has resourced underrepresented filmmakers to pursue strategic plans for impact and engage audiences, partners, and supporters in meaningful ways. This year, we will be providing in-kind partnership and strategy development, expert 1:1 mentorship, and $60,000 of impact campaign funding to each awardee. In reflection on the growth and evolution of Impact Kickstart, Gerry Leonard, Director of Filmmaker Services, says, “Each year, we have been able to reflect on and refine Impact Kickstart – from the initial call for applications to…

Artist: Eryon Shondiin Greenburg | Instagram: @shondiin.art Working Films strives to make all of our events and programs accessible, including our application processes. To request an accessibility accommodation or adjustment, please email amyers@workingfilms.org, or call us at 910-342-9000. Across the United States environmental disasters and climate change are impacting all areas of life. While landmark climate victories have taken place at the national level, changemakers in rural areas and small towns are consistently under-resourced and must exercise everything in their toolbox to achieve wins locally. Film screenings are a powerful…

Race Forward and Working Films are thrilled to present Race Flicks, a micro-film festival and track of Facing Race: A National Conference being held in person in St. Louis, Missouri, November 20-22, 2024. Race Forward is pleased to be co-curating the Race Flicks track with Working Films, a national leader in the use of documentaries for social change and environmental justice. Race Flicks lifts up critical issues of racial justice through film and opportunities for activists, organizers, nonprofits, and others to use them to advance their work. The Facing Race…

While there is a long history of labor organizing in the United States, the present surge of worker-led organizing is remarkable. Workers are fed up and embracing self-organizing at unprecedented levels, especially in workplaces where the odds are stacked against them. This is all happening at a time when they are being called ‘essential’ but treated as disposable, and wealth inequality and union busting are on the rise. Workers are fighting back by reigniting and reimagining union organizing. We can meet this moment by sharing the stories of workers across…

Since Impact Kickstart‘s creation six years ago, we have had the privilege of supporting underrepresented filmmakers in developing impact campaigns that address some of the most critical issues of our time. We’re thrilled by what’s recently unfolded for some of our past grantees! Following a BlackStar Film Festival win for Best Feature Documentary in August, Fire Through Dry Grass‘ Vince Pierce (Musician, Impact Strategist, Reality Poet), was celebrated on Good Morning America and awarded $1 million for his organization Open Doors. Fire Through Dry Grass offers a rare look inside…