As rural communities across the US are increasingly devastated by the cascading crises of a global pandemic coupled with stronger and more frequent climate disasters, civil discourse about the environmental and public health challenges in non-urban communities has also broken down. A recent study conducted by the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke found that “While many rural voters voiced concern about climate change (and particularly its disproportionate impact on rural communities), they were generally reticent to talk about it with their friends and neighbors given the polarization…
Now in its fourth year, Working Films’ Impact Kickstart program has helped underrepresented filmmakers create strategic goals for impact and specific plans to engage future partners, funders, and audiences in meaningful ways. This year, we will be providing $30,000 in impact campaign funding to each recipient, in addition to our in-kind services. Impact Kickstart recipients will use these grants toward the implementation of each film’s impact campaign. In reflection about the evolution of Impact Kickstart, Gerry Leonard, who now leads the program says, “In all of our work, we prioritize…
Rural Cinema is a training institute and community engagement program resourcing leaders from rural areas and small towns across the United States to use films in their work for environmental justice and protection. The program supports participants in holding screening events that engage their communities and advance their goals over the course of one year. Rural Cinema creates spaces for residents to come together (in-person or virtually), discuss issues affecting their communities, learn and be inspired by the visual content and one another’s experiences, and generate solutions that address their…
The history of the prison industrial complex is rooted in slavery and colonization, with an inherent purpose of reinforcing oppressive social and economic injustices. It’s driven by market forces that use surveillance, policing, violence and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems. It is exacted by police officers, guards, ICE officers, and others that enforce state violence. Brutality and racism has always been the norm. The system is working how it was designed, and reform measures will always fall short. To illuminate these realities and get to a…
Working Films is seeking a highly organized, flexible part-time contract grant writer and administrator. The ideal candidate has a passion for social justice and can create compelling narratives that communicate enthusiasm about our work and the role of documentary film in environmental and racial justice movements. In addition to drafting grant proposals, the grant writer and administrator will be responsible for managing the administrative side of the grants cycle, ensuring that deadlines are successfully met and project milestones are well communicated with funders. Working Films will be hiring a full-time…
Working Films hosted three events during the 2021 Sundance Film Festival at our virtual venue, THE MOVEMENT SPACE. These conversations examined power, collaboration, accountability, and the magic of film as a catalyst for radical imagination and action. Click below to watch them now! BUILDING POWER THROUGH CREATIVE COLLABORATION A conversation about building collective power through creative collaboration. The Rise-Home Stories Project is a group of multimedia storytellers and housing and land justice advocates who are coming together to reimagine the past, present, and future of our communities by transforming the…
North Carolina Humanities and Working Films have collaborated on an exclusive version of Revisioning Recovery: Films Uncovering the Roots of Disaster, a limited-time documentary and discussion series for communities in North Carolina. Revisioning Recovery features a collection of five short films that tell environmental disaster recovery stories and examine historical inequities that worsen when disasters hit. Sponsored by North Carolina Humanities, these free events will also include interactive, post-screening discussions. The first screening event will take place on February 17, hosted by Alamance Community College with upcoming events happening in…
Race Forward and Working Films are excited to announce the 2020 Race Flicks film track of Facing Race: A National Conference being held virtually from November 10-12, 2020. Race Flicks lifts up critical issues of racial justice through film. This year’s program maintains a focus on accountable filmmaking that truly 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 films were chosen in large part because of the way they have been or could…
How can films shift public understanding and inspire action for social justice? Working Films—together with our partners at The Light Factory and The School of Good Citizenship— is leading a free online workshop on September 24th at 1pm ET focused on leveraging the power of documentaries to amplify important messages, reach and rally key audiences, build partnerships, and influence decision makers. As a case study, the workshop will feature Stories Beyond Borders, an organizing initiative featuring five short films that together show a comprehensive picture of the attacks on immigrants…
Do you have experience with organizations working at the intersection of art and social justice? Expertise in managing a staff of 5-20 people? And a passion for systems and processes? Working Films is looking for an operations and management consultant to join us for 6 months to update protocols for operational systems and processes in the context of rapid growth and amidst the pandemic. More details can be found here. Please help us find a visionary person to work with by sharing this post with your networks! Use the arrows…
Recent Comments