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Working Films, the NC-NAACP, and state and local organizations from around North Carolina are partnering to present MORAL MOVIES - a four month series of award-winning films to jumpstart community dialogue and action on social, economic, and environmental issues relevant to the state. The series of free screenings will kick off with American Teacher, a documentary that follows the  lives and careers of four teachers and offers an opportunity to spotlight teacher pay and public education in North Carolina, which recently dropped to 46th nationally in rankings of teacher salaries.

MORAL MOVIES will take place the last week of each month from April through July in Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, and Wilmington  (See the schedule below for details on exact locations in each city). In addition to Working Films and the NC-NAACP, collaborating organizations include: The North Carolina Association of Educators, the Tarheel Alliance of Classroom Teachers, the NC AFL-CIO, Democracy NC, the NC Justice Center, The Durham People’s Alliance, The Mountain People’s Assembly, Beloved Community Center, Action NC, Pitt County NAACP, New Hanover County NAACP, and the Black Arts Alliance. Films that are part of the series include: American Teacher - April screenings presented by the NCAE and Tarheel Alliance of Classroom Teachers American Winter - May screenings presented by the NC AFL-CIO Freedom Summer- June screenings presented by Democracy NC Inequality for All- July screenings presented by NC Justice Center Working Films was inspired to pursue this series by the unprecedented civic engagement sparked by the Moral Monday demonstrations that began at the NC state capitol last year. As an organization that has worked nationally for over a decade to use film to raise awareness and catalyze community and civic engagement, we see an opportunity to use great films to inspire community dialogue and citizen action around the critical issues at play in our home state. The series will offer people a way to actively participate and have their voices heard when the legislature reconvenes, even if they can’t make it to Raleigh every Monday to protest. Working Films is co-presenting the Moral Movie Film Series with the North Carolina NAACP, which is nationally recognized as the leader of the Moral Monday / Forward Together movement. Below is a list of all Moral Movies Screenings across the state, organized by city. Asheville Hosted by The Mountain People's Assembly American Teacher: Friday, April 25th, 7pm Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place. Asheville, NC 28801 American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place. Asheville, NC 28801 Freedom Summer: Thursday June 26th, 7pm Jubilee! 46 Wall St. Asheville, NC 28801 Inequality for All: Friday July 25th, 7pm Ferguson Auditorium at AB Tech, 340 Victoria Rd. Asheville NC 28801 Charlotte Hosted by the NC Association of Educators(NCAE) American Teacher: Thursday, April 24th, 7pm American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Freedom Summer: Tuesday, June 24th, 7pm Inequality for All: Thursday, July 31st, 7pm All screenings will be held at the NCAE, 301 S McDowell ST. Suite 1200, Charlotte, NC 18204 Parking is available in the lot beside the building and your parking pass will be validated once you come upstairs Durham Hosted by the Durham People's Alliance American Teacher: Tuesday, April 29th, 7pm Motorco, 723 Rigsbee Ave. Durham, NC 27701 American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Full Frame Theater in the center of the American Tobacco Campus, 320 Blackwell St. Durham, NC 27701 Freedom Summer: Thursday June 26th, 7pm Hayti Heritage Center 804 Old Fayetteville St. Durham, NC 27701 Inequality For All: Thursday July 31st, 6:30pm Durham County Public Library Auditorium, 300 N Roxboro St. Durham, NC 27701 Greensboro Hosted by The Beloved Community Center American Teacher: Thursday, April 24th, 7pm Joseph M Bryan Jr. Auditorium, 5800 West Friendly Ave. Greensboro, NC 27410 American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Weatherspoon Art Museum, 500 Tate St. Greensboro, NC 27412 Freedom Summer: Tuesday, June 24th, 6:30pm International Civil Rights Center and Museum, 134 S Elm St. Greensboro, NC 27401 Inequality for All: Thursday, July 31st, 7pm Central Library Nussbaum Room, 219 N Church St. Greensboro, NC 27405 Greenville Hosted by Pitt County NAACP American Teacher: Tuesday, April 29th, 7pm ECU Mendenhall Student Center, Hendrix Theater, Greenville NC American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Ctr. 1100 Ward St. Greenville, NC 27834 Freedom Summer: Tuesday June 24th, 7pm Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 131 Oakmont Dr. Greenville, NC 27858 Inequality for All: Tuesday July 29th, 7pm Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 131 Oakmont Dr. Greenville, NC 27858 Raleigh Hosted by Action NC American Teacher: Tuesday April 29th, 7pm NCAE Headquarters, 700 S. Salisbury St. Raleigh, NC 27601 American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Kenan Hall at William Peace University, 15 E Peace St. Raleigh, NC Freedom Summer: Tuesday, June 24th, 7pm Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, 3313 Wade Ave. Raleigh, NC 27607 Inequality for All: Tuesday, July 29th 7pm Community UCC, 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh, NC 27607 Wilmington Hosted by The Black Arts Alliance and the New Hanover County NAACP American Teacher: Thursday, April 24th, 7pm Cameron Art Museum, 3201 S. 17th St. Wilmington, NC 28412 American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm Hannah Block Community Arts Center, 120 S 2nd St. Wilmington, NC 28401 Freedom Summer: Tuesday, June 24th, 7pm New Beginning Christian Church, 3120 Alex Trask Dr. Castle Hayne, NC 28429 Inequality for All: Thursday, July 31st, 7pm Cameron Art Museum, 3201 S. 17th St. Wilmington, NC 28412

With extreme energy disasters like the West Virginia chemical leak and the exploding tar sands trains fresh on people’s minds, many of us are searching for ways to ensure the safety and health of our communities. The national television broadcast of Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek on April 29th offers an opportunity for you to spark discussion and action among your friends and neighbors about how to forge a sustainable and just future. 

Come Hell or High Water tells the story of a Gulf Coast community threatened by urban sprawl, hurricanes and an unprecedented manmade disaster. Sign up today to host a watch party of Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek when it premieres on April 29th or within 30 days following the television premiere. You can access the film by finding your broadcast on a local station, or watch when it streams for free online through America ReFramed. After you register your event, we’ll provide you with a guide to host a successful party.     

Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face ordeals that include Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice. This is an inspirational story of how one community banded together to save their land and culture. After watching the film with your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues, have a conversation about how the film moved you and encourage everyone to get involved locally. Sign up to host a house party today!

Come Hell or High Water Watch Parties are a partnership with Working Films’ Reel Power.

“This intimate film tells a gigantic story — about race, about power, about so-called development. But it is also a saga of community, resilience, resistance, and hope. It’s about everything that matters in our society.” – Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Schools

Reel Power collaborating film Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek will host it’s D.C. premiere at the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker, the film’s protagonist, Derrick Evans, and special guests Brentin Mock, regular Grist contributor; Reilly Morse, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice; and Leslie Fields, national environmental justice director at the Sierra Club. The discussion will focus on social and environmental justice challenges on the Gulf Coast and will include frontline community leaders working for change through strategic alliances and the use of independent media. If you're in the area, please join us! Sunday, March 30th, 2014 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Carnegie Institution for Science 1530 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005 Free tickets: http://comehellorhighwater.bpt.me/ THE PANELISTS

Derrick Evans is director of Turkey Creek Community Initiatives and a managing advisor to the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health. Before returning to his native coastal Mississippi community he taught for many years in the Boston Public Schools.

Leslie Fields is national environmental justice director at the Sierra Club. She teaches international environmental law at Howard University and serves as a Commissioner on the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies’ Commission to Engage African Americans on Energy, Climate and the Environment.

Leah Mahan is an independent filmmaker. She spent a dozen years making Come Hell or High Water and was invited to work on the rough cut at the Sundance Institute Documentary Editing and Story Lab. Her first film was Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street.

Brentin Mock writes regularly for Grist about the connections between environmental policy, race, and politics. He was lead reporter on Voting Rights Watch, a reporting partnership between Colorlines and The Nation. Before moving to D.C., he worked from New Orleans with The Lens and Bridge the Gulf.

Reilly Morse is president of the Mississippi Center for Justice. He worked for many years with grassroots leaders in the Turkey Creek watershed and collaborated with the Sierra Club and Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights on legal strategies.

Come Hell or High Water held its national premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Documentary Feature. It will broadcast on PBS’ America ReFramed on April 29th. This date was just chosen, so stay tuned for more details. The community media site Bridge the Gulf places the Turkey Creek story in a broader context, connecting viewers to a network of Gulf Coast community journalists with deep roots in diverse communities and fields who report on pressing social and environmental issues. A redesign of the site will be launched in March and celebrated at the Washington, D.C. film premiere.

The New Public, a film by Jyllian Gunther is the most recent addition to the Reel Education co-hort. The film follows an ambitious group of teachers who create Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School (BCAM) a small, public high school in an under served neighborhood of Brooklyn. The film provides a close-up look at the struggles teachers face in and  outside of school. In North Carolina, a state where teacher pay is ranked at 46th in the nation and public funds are being diverted to private schools, Working Films connected The New Public to the Tarheel Alliance of Classroom Teachers (tACT).  TACT is a new organization that works to unite public educators in North Carolina in order that they might assume a more active role and voice in the decisions made that impact public schools and the students enrolled in them. They seek to promote teacher respect, recognition, compensation as well as improvements in public education as a whole. With support from Working Films tACT held screenings of The New Public in key cities across the state. In addition to promoting awareness of the struggles and triumphs in public education, the screening series raised tACT's profile and helped grow its membership. Specifically the screenings resulted in Sixty new members joining this new and growing organization.  TACT staff and board members said that putting the series together helped them to establish or strengthen existing  alliances with prestigious, well established state and national organizations including the American Association of University Women (AAUW), UNC CH Education Law & Policy Society, Public Schools First of NC, Women AdvaNCe, NC Justice Center, and the NC Association of Educators. The screenings were also used to collect audience information on working conditions and challenges for North Carolina teachers to help inform tACT's agenda for the school year. Sandy Younce, a board member for tACT, said the discussions following each screening were overwhelmingly fruitful. Participants "agreed that a free public education for all children is basic to the maintenance of a free and democratic society." Out of the many complex issues depicted in the film, one of the major takeaways is the incredible burden on public school teachers to be all things to all people. According to Younce, "Public educators are expected to do everything for their community. Teachers are expected to be mothers, fathers, moral guides, nursemaids, and administrators." tACT is working hard to create recognition of the challenges educators in NC and across the country face and to assure that teachers are given credit for their commitment to their students, knowledge and professionalism. Working Films is proud to have been able to support them in using film to advance these goals. Keep your eyes open for further collaboration with tACT on additional screenings of education films this spring!

Working Films is excited to be a Community Partner of the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI)’s 10th Annual Media That Matters Conference in Washington, DC February 6 -7, 2014. Media That Matters is an annual symposium presented by the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. It is designed for established and aspiring filmmakers, nonprofit communication leaders, funders, and students who want to learn and share cutting-edge practices to make their media matter. The conference opens Thursday February 6th with workshops on fair use of copyrighted material, designing for impact, and incorporating transmedia theory into media projects. Friday’s agenda will include a keynote address by Alden E. Stoner, Vice President of Social Action Film Campaigns at Participant Media. The conference will also feature networking opportunities and sessions focused on digital games, using play for social impact and graphically visualizing policy, history, news and more. Register now to be a part of this awesome opportunity! https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6474/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=69510 The Center for Media & Social Impact at American University, formerly the Center for Social Media, is an innovation lab and research center that studies, designs, and showcases media for social impact. CMSI focuses on independent, documentary and public media, the Center bridges boundaries between scholars, producers and communication practitioners across media production, media impact, public policy and audience engagement. The Center produces resources for the field and academic research; convenes conferences and events; and works collaboratively to understand and design media that matters. To learn more about Media That Matters and the Center for Media & Social Impact: •   Read the Rapporteur's Report from the 2013 conference. •   Visit the Center for Media & Social Impact's website. •   Follow CMSI/Media Matters on Facebook and Twitter (@cmsimpact, #MTMDC).

Working Films' home state of North Carolina gained national attention this year for its Moral Monday protests, when thousands gathered at the capitol building every Monday from April through July to protest the regressive actions of the state legislature. From cuts to unemployment insurance, to tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest citizens, loosening of environmental regulations, to suppressing the right to vote – a multitude of harsh new policies are threatening the social safety net, education, the economy, voting access, women’s health, and the environment. We’ve responded with a plan to position and leverage Reel Engagement films to support and build on the momentum of the Moral Monday/Forward Together movement. [caption id="attachment_2915" align="alignright" width="350"] Participants at the NC Engagement Strategy Convening October 2013.[/caption] On October 29th, in collaboration with stone circles, the North Carolina NAACP, the North Carolina Justice Center, Clean Water for North Carolina, and Democracy NC, we hosted a full day training and strategy convening among nonprofit leaders from around the state. The meeting was designed to offer best practices and specific guidance in using film to advance organizing for social and environmental justice, and to facilitate strategy development across multiple issues with film at the center of those efforts.  Participants left with specific plans to take back to their organizations and to pursue in partnership with each other. In particular, we devised ways to use films, online and off, to reach the “movable middle”. These efforts will unfold as part of a screening series and tour in 2014. After the convening, in partnership with Responsible Wealth and stone circles, we hosted a closed-door sneak-peek screening of Citizen Koch. The event brought together individual donors, representatives of giving circles and community foundations with leaders of the Moral Monday mobilization, including NC-NAACP President, Rev. William Barber.  Citizen Koch is a new film by award winning filmmakers Tia Lessen and Carl Deal that highlights the ways in which big donors are influencing elections and gaining control of the entire political process. After the screening, audience members had an opportunity to speak with NC-NAACP, NC Justice Center, and Democracy NC organizers about specific ways they can be supportive through giving and as spokespeople. The day energized us and reinforced our commitment to fight alongside our allies in the state to protect the people and the environment in North Carolina. Stay tuned to our blog in the new year for updates on our work build power and participation among citizens in the Tarheel State for a brighter and more sustainable future.

Since 1999, Working Films has harnessed the humanity, power and vision of nonfiction filmmaking to educate viewers and mobilize communities for positive social change -- at home, on the street, and in the halls where public policy gets made. We’re asking you to give today to support Working Films’ unique approach to making “stories lead to action." 2013 has been a year of transition. In June we tragically lost Robert West, our beloved co-founder and executive director, to brain cancer. Although deeply saddened, we renewed our commitment to carry out Robert’s vision for Working Films.  With the extraordinary support of our board, our co-founder Judith Helfand, our dedicated staff, and long-time allies in the field we have begun the next chapter for Working Films, and we’re reaching out now for your help. In 2013 we watched a growing number of states become battlegrounds and testing-sites for ultra conservative policies that are eroding social safety nets, damaging the environment and threatening voting rights.  Working Films' home state of North Carolina is a prime example!  We responded by putting our Reel Engagement initiative to work in the states, where change is happening. Reel Engagement supports  organizations, issue leaders and on the ground organizers to use collections of films to reach critical audiences and achieve meaningful impact on some of the biggest issues of our time: climate change (Reel Power), education (Reel Education), the economy (Reel Economy), the growing aging population (Reel Aging) and Reproductive Justice (Reel RJ). For the past year we’ve had our ear to the ground while field testing ways in which state level organizations working for social and environmental justice can use award-winning Reel Engagement films to build their base, strengthen their efforts, create coalitions, and actively address the critical issues at play. Here are some highlights of that work in 2013: Strategic, sneak peek screenings of Inequality for All and Citizen Koch launched our Reel Economy campaign - now unfolding in Florida, North Carolina, and beyond. With filmmaker Josh Fox, we designed a Southeast tour of the Reel Power film Gasland 2. The tour spotlighted the work of local organizations and anti-fracking networks in Texas and North Carolina. We worked with film festivals like True/False, CIFF and Cucalorus to design and lead strategy summits among leaders in the fields of aging and reproductive justice. In the last three months alone, we’ve convened over 80 organizations in states across the country to identify shared goals and specific strategies for using Reel Engagement films as a central component of new coalition efforts. We’re excited about our progress, and we need your help to keep going! In 2014, we’ll expand the Reel  Economy campaign in North Carolina, Florida and other states in partnership with United for a Fair Economy. We’ll use new Reel Power films like Come Hell or High Water, Bidder 70, and Gasland 2 in Texas and North Carolina to fight fracking and advance clean energy solutions. We’ll help to strengthen the Moral   Monday/Forward Together movement in our home state of North Carolina, using documentary films from the Reel Engagement cohorts to educate citizens on important issues like fracking, economic inequality, education budget cuts and threats to reproductive rights and justice. We’ll also train hundreds of social justice and environmental organizers and nonprofits in states around the country on how to make the best use of documentary films to advance their critical work. Please consider a donation to support these efforts. $50    helps cover a training session with a nonprofit partner. $100  helps pay for screening rights fees for under-resourced groups and organizations $500  helps support a strategic convening of filmmakers and organizers working to advance progress in states where the issues are at a critical tipping point. We are trying to raise $20,000 in individual donations by December 31, 2013.  Please contribute today. Thank you for your support of and belief in Working Films! We wish you, your loved ones and your community a healthy, peaceful and hopeful holiday season. Sincerely,   Anna Lee and Molly Murphy Interim Co-directors P.S. Make an even bigger impact with a recurring monthly donation to sustain our work in the new year. If you would like to make you contribution  in honor of Robert West’s life, vision and legacy, you can donate directly to the Robert West Reel Engagement Fund. Like Robert, the work supported by the Fund is nimble, creative and responsive to the needs and opportunities for social change.

[caption id="attachment_2895" align="aligncenter" width="454"] Photo by Project Survival Media[/caption] Working Films brought Reel Power to Power Shift, the largest national youth climate conference, which took place in Pittsburgh, PA this year. Wearing his Peaceful Uprising t-shirt,  Josh Fox gave a keynote address on Friday night where he told the crowd, “There can be no democracy until we have freedom from fossil fuels.” The audience couldn’t agree more. Check out Josh’s keynote online (with the Reel Power trailer starting at 46 minutes), where he makes the interconnectedness of the issues clear and calls everyone to find their role in the movement. [caption id="attachment_2896" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Reel Power, Come Hell or High Water and Gulf Coast activists and journalists[/caption]

Reel Power films were featured over the weekend. Bidder 70 was accompanied by Peaceful Uprising board advisory member and youth climate leader Lauren Wood, with the Q&A discussion focusing on Tim’s story and the larger issues of using civil disobedience as a tactic. Gasland Part II included young socially conscious rappers, the Earth Guardians to give hope after the film. Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek’s sneak peak featured a Q&A with filmmaker Leah Mahan, film subject and Gulf Coast organizer Derrick Evans, as well as Bridge the Gulf contributors Cherri Foytlin and Bryan Parras leading a conversation on environmental justice and serious grassroots organizing. We also included a sneak peak of Reel Economy film Citizen Koch that had a Q&A with expert Nick Surgey, Director of Research at the Center for Media and Democracy / ALEC Exposed to lead a discussion on money in politics. Read Come Hell or High Water’s blog about the filmmaker’s experience at Power Shift.

[caption id="attachment_2897" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Derrick Evan's KatrinaRitaVille Express FEMA trailer was freshly decorated by Power Shift participants for the march on Monday, photo by Leah Mahan[/caption] Students are now planning a Reel Power Spring Film Series on their campuses to recruit new members, host a social event with a purpose, and advance the goals of their groups. Want to host Spring Film Series in 2014? Our Campus Screening Toolkit provides a framework to help walk you through the steps.