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Four documentaries are getting an IMPACT KICKSTART from Working Films! Congratulations to the film teams selected for this inaugural round of in-kind impact campaign support:   ALWAYS IN SEASON by Jacqueline Olive As the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present, Always in Season follows relatives of the perpetrators and victims seeking justice and reconciliation in the midst of racial profiling, police shootings, and heated national debate about the value of black lives. >> > >> > CRIP CAMP by Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham Down the road from Woodstock, in the early 1970s, a parallel revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers. Crip Camp explores summer camp awakenings that would transform lives and shape the disability rights movement, and America, forever. Told from the point of view of former camper Jim LeBrecht, and steeped in the humor and music of the era, the film traces the journeys of campers up to the present day, in this untold story of a powerful journey towards inclusion.> DECADE OF FIRE by Vivian Vazquez, Gretchen Hildebran, Julia Steele Allen and Neyda Martinez As cities today struggle with gentrification and social inequity, Decade of Fire offers an intimate historic portrait of the burning of the Bronx in the 1970’s, transcending era and geography. Set against irrefutably insurmountable odds, and told from the perspectives of the people who survived it, the film’s heroes demonstrate the lengths to which everyday people will go to save their communities; in this case – defending and rebuilding their neighborhoods with their bare hands. >  NAILED IT by Adele Pham Nailed It chronicles the genesis and 40 year legacy of the Vietnamese nail salon and its influence on an $8 billion-dollar American industry. For mixed-race Vietnamese filmmaker Adele Pham, it’s personal as she confronts her conflicts with the culture and discovers a place within a trade seen by everyone but known to few.   Impact Kickstart is a project of Working Films supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The program was launched with the understanding that a solid strategy for audience engagement and strong partnerships are critical for a documentary film to make a difference. Filmmakers often lack time to do this work themselves or the expertise and the funds to pay for it. Emerging artists, creators of color, and other underrepresented artists can face the biggest hurdles, despite the potential of their projects. To respond to this challenge, Working Films is offering this support free of charge to the selected films,  which hold great promise to shift understanding and catalyze action that addresses critical issues of our time.

With generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, we are now funding the creation of new work to expand the canon of films available for grassroots groups and NGOs to enhance their programs, extend their reach, and move their missions forward. We are pleased to launch an inaugural Request for Proposals (RFP) for Working Films' Docs in Action Fund.  We're looking for documentaries that illuminate and demonstrate community-centered solutions in response to climate disasters. We will award at least two grants of up to $30,000 each in support of the production of short non-fiction films (up to 30 minutes in length) that can be used to mobilize residents who have been impacted directly, as well as audiences across the United States, to demand “just recovery”. We are defining just recovery as the long-term cultural changes, planning, partnerships, investment, and infrastructure needed to build intersectional models and alternatives for communities hit first and worst by the catastrophic impacts of climate change.   Filmmakers can submit proposals for new work, works-in-progress, or cut-downs of longer-form documentaries. Read the Request for Proposals and Apply!

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 artists, creators of color, and other underrepresented artists can face the biggest hurdles, despite the potential of their projects. Working Films responds to this challenge with Impact Kickstart, a program offering in-kind strategy development to underrepresented documentary makers with feature films in progress that hold great promise to catalyze action to address critical issues of our time. Up to four filmmakers receive an Impact Kickstart from Working Films each year. We strongly encourage artists of color, women, LGBTQ, gender nonconforming, and differently abled creators to apply. Selected filmmakers will work with Working Films to customize a package of services that best meet the needs of their individual project and that will leave them well positioned to fully fund and carry out an impact campaign. Service options include but are not limited to: – Planning, facilitation and reporting out from a one-day strategy summit for the film – Partnership Development – Funding Research, Strategy, and Materials – Creating an Impact Campaign Budget – Online and Promotional Strategy As a result of our work, filmmakers will have a fully developed impact strategy that advances their goals and leaves them prepared to engage future partners, funders, and audiences in meaningful ways. APPLY HERE BY FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Eligibility This opportunity is open to filmmakers with feature length documentaries in late production or post-production that address issues of social or environmental justice. Films may feature stories from anywhere in the world, but the applicant must be living in the  United States and planning an impact campaign to be carried out in the U.S. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age as of the RFP application deadline. Decisions will be based on: quality of filmmaking and content of storytelling; background of the filmmaker and their connection to the issues; the filmmaker’s commitment to social justice; financial need; and timeliness of the topic. Filmmakers must be prepared for the impact strategy development to take place between February and July 2019. This does not mean that your film must be complete in this time period. Email info(at)workingfilms.org with questions. Impact Kickstart is part of Docs In Action, a program of Working Films supported by the  John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

  Working Films is looking for short documentaries to inform and mobilize residents from coast to coast to stop offshore drilling! And no, you're not having Déjà vu. The original compilation of shorts, Shore Stories, helped support the resistance to opening the East Coast to drilling in 2016. And now we're back at it again as the Trump Administration looks to expand offshore drilling to new areas including the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Communities across the country are standing up against these plans, and we’re looking for powerful short films that can be a resource in these efforts. Together with our partners at the Surfrider Foundation, Oceana, and dozens of grassroots groups, Working Films will coordinate a tour of Shore Stories in coastal communities across the nation starting early 2018. We will consider shorts, excerpts from feature length films, and multi-platform film projects. Screening rights fees will be paid and we will provide free impact consultation to selected filmmakers and offer peer-to-peer networking and support opportunities. An emphasis will be placed on films that feature personal stories, as well as media made by and about people of color. We will consider works-in-progress if it’s at a strong stage, is reasonably audience-ready, and is short. If you have a work-in-progress, we suggest offering one selection, rather than a full rough cut. Please do not apply if your film is not available for public use. We're looking for films that tackle the following: - Stories of impacts and/or resistance to offshore drilling and seismic airgun blasting from the West Coast and Arctic. - Reaction to government proposals to expand offshore oil and gas development in the Atlantic, Pacific, and/or Arctic Oceans. - Coastal tourism, recreation, fishing, culture and economic drivers that could be negatively impacted by offshore oil and gas development. - The impacts of offshore oil and gas development on the marine ecosystem and communities dependent upon it, including stories from the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster or the West Coast after the 1969 Santa Barbara disaster. - The beauty of coastal communities, and the unique ways of life that could be threatened or lost. - Clean energy alternatives. - The importance of public engagement and activism, and examples of how to get meaningfully involved. - Success stories of standing up to Big Oil. Submit your film here by December 22nd to be considered for Shore Stories.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/211346285[/embed] We’re excited to partner with Appalachian Voices, Clean Water for North Carolina, and the NC Sierra Club to present a tour of Water Warriors throughout North Carolina. Water Warriors, a short documentary directed by Michael Premo, honors one native community’s struggle, against seemingly insurmountable odds, to protect their land, water, and way of life. When an energy company began searching for natural gas in 2013, these unlikely warriors united to drive the company out. Their efforts eventually contributed to the election of a new government and a conditional moratorium on fracking. Each screening will be followed by a discussion among residents and with local leaders to learn how the communities in Water Warriors stopped the gas industry in its tracks and how those strategies can support opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline; a 600-mile pipeline proposed by Duke Energy and Dominion Power that would bring fracked gas from West Virginia across Virginia and through eight North Carolina Counties. The events are free and open to the public, but hosts ask that participants RSVP in advance using the links below. Thursday November 16th at 6:30pm UU Fellowship of Raleigh 3313 Wade Ave. Raleigh, NC 27607 Hosted by: Capital Group Sierra Club Monday November 20th at 6:30pm Englewood UMC 300 S. Circle Drive Rocky Mount NC   27804 Hosted by: Medoc Sierra Club and Nash Stop the Pipeline Thursday November 30th at 7pm ECU - Willis Building Auditorium 300 E 1st St. Greenville, NC 27858 Hosted by: Sierra Club Cypress Group and the ECU Sustainability Film and Discussion Series Thursday November 30th at 7pm United Church of Chapel Hill 1321 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Hosted by: 350 Triangle, United Earth Ministries at United Church of Chapel Hill, and Clean Water for North Carolina Thursday December 7th at 6pm Revolutionary Coworking 100 Hay St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 Hosted by: Sustainable Sandhills

Even before the Trump Administration took office, some 11 million undocumented immigrants were subject to a brutal detention and deportation machine. Since then, an even more drastic shift in rhetoric around immigration, a sharp rise in raids, the travel ban, and the rescindment of DACA indicate a harder stance and antagonism intended to push some of the country’s most vulnerable residents out. A new film called Out of Reach, part of the Epix America Divides series, follows actress America Ferrera as she travels to Texas in the final months of the Obama Administration to find out how immigration policies are affecting the 1.65 million undocumented people currently living in the state.

Texas Senate Bill 4 is a controversial measure designed to crack down on "sanctuary cities." If implemented, the bill, commonly referred to as the "show me your papers" law, would give local law enforcement the authority to ask about a person's immigration status during routine interactions such as traffic stops and force local law enforcement to comply with federal immigration officials. Although a federal court issued an order temporarily blocking the majority of the law from going into effect on September 1st, a federal appeals court recently limited that federal court’s decision. The next court hearing on SB4 will be scheduled in early November. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsv7ueOFIiI[/embed] To build public awareness of the bill and mobilize opposition to stop it, we've partnered with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) and local organizations throughout Texas to hold a statewide screening tour of Out of Reach beginning in Austin on October 23rd. Each screening event will be followed by a Q&A and discussion with local leaders to share the ways audiences can support opposition to policies like SB4. If your city is not on the list and you would like to host a screening of Out of Reach, please contact Andy Myers at [email protected]. Austin - Monday October 23rd at 7pm Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Mueller 1911 Aldrich St. Suite 120. Austin, TX 78723 Hosted by: Indivisible Austin, Workers Defense, and RAICES Dallas - Tuesday October 24th at 7pm The Texas Theatre 231 W Jefferson Blvd. Dallas, TX 75208 Hosted by: Dallas SURJ, North Texas Dream Team, Texas Organizing Project, and RAICES MacAllen - Wednesday, October 25th at 6pm South Texas College Pecan Campus Building D Auditorium 3201 Pecan Blvd McAllen, TX 78501 Hosted by:  Fuerza del Valle Workers Center and Women's Studies Committee at South Texas College and National Domestic Workers Alliance San Antonio - Wednesday October 25th at 7pm Santikos Bijou Cinema & Bistro 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. San Antonio, TX 78201 Hosted by: Pro Immigrant Coalition and RAICES Denton - Saturday October 28th at 7pm Movie Tavern 916 W University Dr. Denton, TX 76201 Hosted by: North Texas Dream Team, Indivisible Denton, MUEVE, and Thin Line Film Festival Waco - Thursday November 2nd at 7pm Common Grounds 1123 S 8th St. Waco, TX 76706 Hosted by: Waco Immigrants Alliance Arlington - Thursday November 9th at 7pm UT Arlington-MAC Lone Star Auditorium 500 We. Nedderman Dr. Arlington, TX 76019. Hosted by: Mavericks United Houston - Wednesday November 15th at 7pm Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Mason Park 531 Mason Rd Katy, TX 77450 Hosted by: Fe y Justicia Workers Center, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, RAICES, United We Dream, and Houston SURJ. El Paso - Friday November 17th at 5:30pm UTEP College of Health and Sciences - Room 217 1851 Wiggins Way El Paso, TX 79902 Hosted by: Comité de Justicia Laboral and UTEP Department of Social Work Fort Worth - Thursday November 30th at 7pm Funky Town Creative Arts Lounge 1549 North Main St. Fort Worth, TX 76164 Hosted by: RAICES, United Fort Worth, and North Texas Dream Team.

A border and barbeque aren't the only things Virginia and North Carolina have in common. The two states also have some of the most gerrymandered districts in the country. Cozy relationships between regulators and industry are another commonality. A new film called Democracy for Sale featuring NC native and comedian Zach Galifianakis puts a spotlight on the ways big money political interests have influenced the drawing of district lines and led to a lack of environmental protection and tax cuts for the upper class and corporations, education cuts, gerrymandering, and laws designed to decrease voter turnout. After a successful tour of Democracy for Sale in North Carolina, we're excited to bring the film to Virginia on a statewide tour beginning on September 19th. The showings are presented by the Virginia Civic Engagement Table in partnership with local organizations throughout the state. Each screening event will be followed by a Q&A and discussion with local leaders. While the film focuses on NC as a case study, the parallels to Virginia are innumerable. We hope these screenings will shed light on the similarities and show audiences how to get involved in demanding reform. The full schedule of film showings is below. All screenings are free and open to the public. No ticket is needed, and seating will be given on a first come first serve bases. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9DYdm-Dw3o If your city is not on the list and you would like to host a screening of Democracy for Sale, please reach out to Andy Myers at [email protected]. Tuesday September 19th at 6:30pm - Norfolk Slover Library 235 E Plume St. Norfolk, VA 23510 Hosted by: SEIU Virginia 512. Wednesday September 20th at 6:00pm - Newport News Young Virginia Votes Center 12448 Warwick Blvd. Newport News, VA 23606 Hosted by: Young Virginia Votes Center Thursday September 21st at 7:00pm - Burke Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church 10125 Lakehaven Ct. Burke, VA 22015 Hosted by: Social Justice Committee of AUUC and the Bull Run Unitarian Universalists.  Thursday September 21st at 7:00pm - Charlottesville (first screening) Vinegar Hill Theatre 220 West Market St. Charlottesville, VA 22902 Hosted by: Appalachian Voices and Climate Action Society. Thursday September 21st at 7:00pm - Virginia Beach Central Library Auditorium 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. Virginia Beach, VA 23452-1767 Hosted by: Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Monday September 25th at 7:00pm - Charlottesville (second screening) University of Virginia Newcomb Hall Theatre 180 McCormick Rd. Charlottesville VA Hosted by: Appalachian Voices and Climate Action Society. Tuesday September 26th at 4:00pm (first screening) - Woodbridge NOVA - Woodbridge Campus Lakeside Theatre 2645 College Dr. Woodbridge, VA 22191 Hosted by: the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Action (HOLA), the League of Women Voters, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.  Tuesday September 26th at 7:00pm (second screening) - Woodbridge NOVA - Woodbridge Campus Lakeside Theatre 2645 College Dr. Woodbridge, VA 22191 Hosted by: the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Action (HOLA), the League of Women Voters, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.  Tuesday September 26th at 7:00pm - Roanoke South County Library 6303 Merriman Rd. Roanoke, VA 24018 Hosted by: The League of Women Voters of Roanoke Valley. Wednesday September 27th at 7:00pm - Arlington Arlington Cinema & Draft House 2903 Columbia Pike Arlington, VA 22204 Hosted by: The League of Women Voters of Arlington. Thursday September 28th at 7:15pm - Richmond The Byrd Theatre 2908 W Cary St. Richmond, VA 23221 Hosted by: the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. Friday September 29th at 7:00pm - Williamsburg Kimball Theatre 428 W Duke of Gloucester St. Williamsburg, VA 23185 Hosted by: Peninsula Indivisible.

What will you do when the lights come up? One of our earliest taglines and our charge from day one is now ubiquitous in the field of documentary for change. And over the last eighteen years, we’ve remained committed to answering this question in ways that are meaningful for documentary film audiences and that serve the broader movements for social and environmental justice. We’ve changed a lot over the years. We’ve taken big risks, we’ve failed forward, and we’ve followed our hearts. We have been privileged to work with many of the most renowned and talented documentary filmmakers and social change makers of our time. And we’ve evolved nuts and bolts methodologies to hold the two together and help them reach beyond the choir in the places that matter most. In the last 5 years, we have worked to strategically flipside our approach, with a focus on serving movements. We have partnered with hundreds of organizations across 18 states to distribute compilations of short films that support issue education, organizing, and advocacy. Today we are thrilled to announce Docs in Action, the next evolution of our work made possible by generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, whose grant will allow us to: Move beyond curation to creation We are launching a new fund to support short documentaries that address critical issues of social and environmental justice in states across the nation. We will be a new source of finishing funds for the makers of shorts that are responsive and accountable to the needs of changemakers, while maintaining the highest caliber of cinematic quality and journalistic integrity. Scale up our thematic issue campaigns and increase the benefits to participating filmmakers Working Films compiles short films on a single issue and deploys them across states to inform and involve the public at critical policy and regulatory moments. We are now going to work in more states and diversify the issues our campaigns address. We are also increasing the consultation with and compensation to filmmakers whose projects are featured in our campaigns. Offer free impact campaign development to under-resourced and underrepresented filmmakers We are offering impact campaign strategy free of charge to four films annually that hold great promise to serve as tools for civic engagement. We’re prioritizing underrepresented creators, including filmmakers of color, women, non gender conforming artists and emerging creators. Field Building We will share our best practices with the field, providing trainings and workshops at documentary convenings and gatherings of advocates who can and apply our methodology and lessons learned to their work. Working Films is deeply grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for providing this support, and to our allies in communities across the nation with whom we partner. We are proud to be among a stellar cohort of fellow grantees whose work is supporting professional nonfiction media makers from diverse backgrounds. Read Working Films' official press release here. Read the MacArthur Foundation's announcement here.