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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 stories we tell about them. Feauring award-winning filmmaker and supervising producer of Rise-Home Stories, Paige Wood; development director of City Life / Vida Urbana, Mike Leyba; deputy director of Texas Housers, Christina Rosales; award-winning director and producer Angela Tucker; and writer Evan Narcisse, whose credits include the Rise of the Black Panther graphic novel and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Learn more about the Rise-Home Stories Project and sign up for updates here. DOCS IN ACTION: MOVEMENT BUILDING & SHIFTING POWER Who decides what stories are needed and which films get funding? How do we ensure grassroots leaders and directly impacted people hold power in the process? Docs in Action partners, Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, director and producer of COVER/AGE and Aminah Colbert, Survived + Punished CA organizer, talk with Working Films' Gerry Leonard and Andy Myers in a discussion about ways that film-driven organizing campaigns can be informed and led by those with the most at stake in the issues at hand. Find out more about the Docs In Action program here. STORYSHIFT: THE FUNDERS A movement to highlight and address inequity and extractive practices in documentary filmmaking has ramped up in recent years. How do calls for accountability extend to funders? This conversation examines ways that grantmaking practices could evolve to prioritize ethical storytelling and influence broader change throughout the sector. Featuring: Chi-hui Yang, Ford Foundation; Shaady Salehi, Trust Based Philanthropy; F. Javier Torres-Campos, Surdna Foundation; Molly Murphy, Docs In Action Film Fund / Working Films; and Moderated by Natalie Bullock Brown, StoryShift Strategist / Working Films. Find out more about StoryShift here.

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 Alleghany, Macon, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Wake, and Watauga counties. For a list of locations and dates, please visit www.workingfilms.org/revisioning-recovery/nchtour. The films featured in Revisioning Recovery include Robeson Rises, directed by Michael Pogoloff; Razing Liberty Square (work-in-progress) directed by Katja Esson; The Right to Be Rescued, directed by Jordan Melograna & Rooted in Rights; The Sacrifice Zone, directed by Julie Winokur; and a sneak peek of We Still Here, directed by Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi. You can watch the trailers for these films at www.workingfilms.org/revisioning-recovery. “The underlying themes and messages explored in these films resonate with environmental events we are experiencing today,” said North Carolina Humanities’ Executive Director Sherry Paula Watkins. “It is our hope that these films will bring people together, virtually or in a limited capacity, to have meaningful discussions about our varied relationships with the environment and equitable disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in our state.” Working Films Impact Coordinator, Hannah Hearn, adds “most of our team is based in North Carolina, so we are no stranger to the issues that arise with disaster prep and recovery. We have seen our same community members who are overlooked in everyday life continue to be overlooked during disasters. The inequities that have always been there become glaringly apparent. We hope this tour promotes conversations on this issue, even after the screenings are over, and we hope it encourages people to take next steps to figure out how to create equitable emergency response in their own town.” Communities across North Carolina, and the United States, have faced increasing threats from climate disasters including hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and tornadoes which leave them hoping to recover before the next climate event occurs. Equitable disaster preparedness and recovery are important, especially in communities where preparation and recovery efforts have historically experienced inequities. Revisioning Recovery examines and explores the issue of how preparedness and recovery can become more inclusive and allow everyone to thrive .   About the Revisioning Recovery Collaboration:    North Carolina Humanities and Working Films have partnered on this presentation of Revisioning Recovery as part ofNorth Carolina Humanities’ “Watershed Moments” initiative and Working Films’ Revisioning Recovery campaign.  “Watershed Moments” was created by North Carolina Humanities to explore our varied relationships with the environment, culturally and historically. Programs include a Statewide Read of The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, and Dry by Neal and Jarrod Schusterman as well as the statewide tour of the Smithsonian exhibit, Water/Ways. "Watershed Moments" is part of the national initiative on "Democracy and the Informed Citizen" administered through the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. North Carolina Humanities is a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Revisioning Recovery is a project of Working Films, a national nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC. Recognizing the power of stories to inform and inspire, Working Films builds partnerships between nonfiction media-makers, nonprofit organizations, educators and advocates to advance social justice and environmental protection, and support community-based change.   To stay up to date on upcoming screenings, visit www.workingfilms.org/revisioning-recovery/nchtour.    

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 be used strategically by advocates, organizers, and nonprofits to advance their work for racial justice. Over 45 filmmakers applied for the opportunity to screen their film at Facing Race. Seven were selected, including three by filmmakers based in the U.S. South whose stories focus on the region; which is significant given the long history of racist terror and lingering racism in the region, and that Facing Race was originally set to take place in Raleigh, North Carolina.   The 2020 Race Flicks films are:   All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk Directed by Angela Tucker, Produced by Jolene Pinder (25 mins.)   After a contentious race, the 2017 runoff for mayor of New Orleans came down to two candidates: Desirée Charbonnet and LaToya Cantrell, two very different black women. The winner of this election would take office as the first female mayor of New Orleans and the city’s fourth black mayor. Through news footage, campaign advertisements and archival audio and video, All Skinfolk Ain't Kinfolk is the unprecedented story of this mayoral runoff told through the eyes of black women living in this city. . . .       Belly of the Beast Directed/Produced by Erika Cohn; Produced by Angela Tucker, Christen Marquez, and Nicole Docta (82 mins.)   When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal sterilizations in California’s women’s prisons, they wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes - from inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. This shocking legal drama captured over 7-years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people, demanding attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.   . .   Standing Above the Clouds Directed/Produced by Jalena Keane-Lee, Produced by Amber Espinosa-Jones and Pua Case (15 mins.)   Standing Above the Clouds is the story of inter-generational women activists on the Big Island of Hawaii, who call themselves Kū Kiaʻi Mauna, or protectors of Mauna Kea. The film follows three sets of mothers, daughters, and grandmothers, who are at the forefront of the indigenous movement to safeguard their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea, when a construction permit was granted for an eighteen story, Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to be built on pristine land. Mauna Kea is the tallest peak in the world from seashore, standing at 14,000 feet, and is believed in Hawaiian culture to be the portal to the gods. The film explores the relationships between native Hawaiian mothers and daughters as they go from standing in ceremony to standing on the mountain and in the courtroom. .   . .     Stateless (Apátrida) Directed/Produced by Michèle Stephenson, Produced by Lea Marin and Jennifer Holness (95 mins.)   In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, based on anti-black hatred fomented by the Dominican government. Fast-forward to 2013, the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929. The ruling rendered more than 200,000 people stateless, without nationality, identity or a homeland. In this dangerous climate, a young attorney named Rosa Iris mounts a grassroots campaign, challenging electoral corruption and advocating for social justice. Director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary Stateless traces the complex tributaries of history and present-day politics, as state-sanctioned racism seeps into mundane offices, living room meetings, and street protests. . .   The Passing On Directed by Nathan Clarke, Produced by Lana Garland and Tyler Trumbo (71 mins.)   Three professions ushered Black former slaves from poverty to the American dream: preacher, teacher, and undertaker. Lewis Funeral Home has functioned within this tradition, having been a pillar of the Black community in San Antonio, Texas since 1909. While Black funeral homes close across America as a result of the loss of Black neighborhoods and gentrification, Lewis’ current chief embalmer James Bryant cares deeply about this institution after a career of preparing over 10,000 bodies. And he’s damn good at it, having been named the National Embalmer of the Year in 2016. Now, James puts his faith in a new generation to continue this vanishing legacy. He’s met with resistance from his young intern, Clarence Pierre, who himself is conflicted about his commitment due to the judgment he feels from the Black community as a queer, Christian man. . .   Through the Night Directed/Produced by Loira Limbal, Produced by Jameka Autry and Nicole Docta (67 mins.)   To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers.   Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider - whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center." . . . . While I Breathe, I Hope Directed/Produced by Emily Harrold; Produced by Xuan Vu, Lauren Franklin, and Diane Robertson (72 mins.)   What does it mean to be young, black, and a Democrat in the American South? While I Breathe, I Hope follows South Carolina politician Bakari Sellers as he runs to become the first African American candidate electedstatewide in over a century. The film begins by following Sellers as he makes his 2014 bid for Lieutenant Governor, through the Charleston Shootings, and during the removal of the Confederate flag in 2015. Through his experiences, this timely film offers audiences a window into the legacy of race in politics in the United States today. . . . . The Facing Race and Working Films team will work with selected filmmakers to create dynamic programming for each film. This will include participation by select filmmakers and characters featured in the documentaries, curated post screening conversations with activists and organizations, and opportunities for audiences to learn how to take films back to their communities and use them to incite change. . Register for the Facing Race Conference at https://facingrace.raceforward.org/register. See the Facing Race Schedule At a Glance: https://facingrace.raceforward.org/program Full conference schedule and full Race Flicks session announcements coming soon!

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 in the United States and lift up community-led solutions. Launched in the fall of 2019, Working Films and our partners have used Stories Beyond Borders to disrupt stereotypical portrayals and harmful narratives of undocumented immigrants and to support statewide and local organizing for immigrant justice. We invite you to join us for this free workshop designed to teach you how to utilize films as a resource for social justice in your community and beyond. If you’re in the Charlotte, NC area, you can also join us on Saturday, October 3 for a physically distant drive-in screening of Stories Beyond Borders.

The Works-in-Progress Lab (WiP) is a partnership between Cucalorus and Working Films that supports the audience engagement and impact strategies of social issue documentaries being made by Black filmmakers. The week-long virtual residency is a key program of the annual Cucalorus. Five filmmakers receive extensive community feedback during a series of public and private screenings, workshops, and one-on-one consultations with expert mentors. We’re thrilled to announce that the following documentary films have been selected for the 2020 WiP lab: 17 Days directed by and about Christine Varisse, is a dissection of her immigration journey prompted after receiving a notice of deportation. In the film, she retraces her footsteps towards citizenship while rebuilding the relationship with her mother broken by the immigration system while examining a variety of issues that historically and still today impact the system, in particular black immigration rights. Saltwata Vibes: Sankofa Seeds from Geechee Roots directed by Sherard Duvall examines how the 20-40 year old generation of Gullah Geechee are redefining their identity and reclaiming their power through creating a modern musical expression that is wholly their own. Following a Gullah Geechee brother and sister, descendants of the enslaved from West Africa, who are on a quest to evolve their culture. Can evolution keep it alive? This Belongs To Us directed by Atinuke Diver questions how beer brewing, a practice that began in Africa, became synonymous with White male identity in the United States, and will cover the historical, systemic and current barriers faced by Black-owned breweries in general, as well as in particular for a Black, woman/female brewer in the American South, Eastern North Carolina. These Kids This City directed by Dorian Munroe, is centered around the young people of Liberty City Miami and its infamous bike culture, which reaches its pinnacle every Martin Luther King Day, when thousands flood the streets on dirt bikes and four wheelers riding in a form of rebellion and community. They Tried to Bury Us directed by nationally recognized activist Bree Newsome, documents unfolding events as her hometown becomes the epicenter of national clashes over racism and other systemic problems, exploring how the city’s commitment to host the 2020 Republican convention highlights contradictions between Charlotte’s projected image as a progressive city and its continued legacy of segregation. The Works-in-Progress Lab is designed and led by Working Films, a twenty year old Wilmington based nonprofit organization that is nationally recognized for it’s work using documentaries as a resource to inform and involve communities in addressing social and environmental issues that impact their lives. The 2020 Works-in-Progress Lab mentors include acclaimed filmmakers Byron Hurt and Jacqueline Olive.

Are you looking to engage in more conversations about racial justice? Or maybe there are people you know who are looking to expand their analysis and understanding of systemic inequities? We invite you to join us for our upcoming online screening events this week and next, which will tackle environmental racism, immigrant justice, and equity during disasters. Please spread the word to your networks! Mossville: When Great Trees Fall June 16 @ 7pm ET RSVP here for streaming link Presented with Partnership For Southern Equity What does environmental racism mean? Join Partnership for Southern Equity and Working Films for a “Juneteenth Chat and Chill” featuring Mossville: When Great Trees Fall. The film tells the story of Mossville, Louisiana: A once-thriving community founded by formerly enslaved and free people of color, and an economically flourishing safe haven for generations of African American families. Today it’s a breeding ground for petrochemical plants and their toxic black clouds. Many residents are forced from their homes, and those that stay suffer from prolonged exposure to contamination and pollution. Amid this chaos and injustice stands one man who refuses to abandon his family’s land - and his community. The screening will be followed by a discussion hosted by Partnership for Southern Equity’s Organizing Unit with filmmaker Alexander Glustrom. Stories Beyond Borders June 18 @ 7pm ET RSVP here for streaming link Presented in partnership with Women AdvaNCe How can you contribute your time, energy and resources to support immigrant led organizing? This collection of five shorts is part of Working Films’ film-driven organizing campaign broadening the narrative of who is impacted by racist, inhumane immigration policies while lifting up the ways we can organize in response. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Juana Luz Tobar Ortega - featured in Santuario - who has been taking sanctuary in a church for over three years to avoid deportation. The film and post-screening discussion will be available in Spanish and English. Revisioning Recovery Virtual Premiere June 23 @ 6:30pm ET RSVP here for streaming link Presented in partnership with California Rural Legal Assistance, Houston Organizing Movement for Equity (HOME) Coalition and World Institute on Disability What can we learn from climate disasters as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us for the virtual premiere of Revisioning Recovery, a collection of short films that illuminate the current injustices, systems at play, and the solutions needed to prepare and respond to disasters. The screening will be followed by a discussion with community based and national leaders working to ensure emergency response and long term recovery is equitable and inclusive of all. The films will be available in English with English and Spanish closed captioning and English audio description. The post-screening discussion will include English live captioning, Spanish interpretation, and International Sign.

Now in its third 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. We are thrilled to announce the four documentaries getting an Impact Kickstart in 2020!    DUTY FREE by Sian-Pierre Regis (Director) and Meredith Chin (Producer) After a 75-year-old immigrant mother gets fired from her job, her son takes her on a bucket-list adventure to reclaim her life. As she struggles to find work, he documents a journey that uncovers the betrayals plaguing her past and the economic insecurity shaping not only her future, but also that of an entire generation. Duty Free is a personal adventure documentary that uniquely examines issues of aging, economic insecurity, and family. . LITTLE SALLIE WALKER by Marta Effinger-Crichlow (Director/ Producer), Ann Bennett (Producer), Michael Dinwiddie (Producer), Princess A. Hairston (Editor/Producer) Play is a lifeline for black girls across the generations. Little Sallie Walker tells the story of Patricia, Billie Jean, Raisha, Kristi and a collection of resilient black women and girls, who understand that coming of age in America has involved creating worlds-of-make-believe through different types of play. Patty cake, dress up, double dutch, doll-making, jacks, and hide-and-seek have offered sanctuary from discrimination, violence, and poverty. From New York, Alabama, California, and Washington State, they share and demonstrate how play lets them take their place in the center of their universe. While it exposes the beauty of black girl culture, play also fuels painful recollections of their struggles within their communities and in the larger society. In this impassioned and lyrical story, black women and girls attempt to find and affirm their whole selves as they navigate America.   UNAPOLOGETIC by Ashley O'Shay (Director/Producer) and Morgan Elise Johnson (Producer) During the height of the Movement for Black Lives in Chicago, Unapologetic captures a community of millennial organizers confronting an administration complicit in state violence against its Black residents. Janaé and Bella, two Black queer women organizers, provide an intimate peek into the personal and political battles that transformed Chicago, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. . . . 40 DAYS & 40 NIGHTS by Dara Kell (Director) and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (Producer) 40 Days & 40 Nights follows civil rights leader Reverend Dr. William Barber as he revives Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Told through song, prayer and personal narratives, 40 Days & 40 Nights is an intimate account of a "season of resistance” as a diverse coalition of thousands unite to end poverty and heal the nation.   . .  

Congratulations to the film teams selected. We look forward to the work ahead! 

ABOUT IMPACT KICKSTART Impact Kickstart 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 filmmakers can face the biggest hurdles, despite the potential of their projects. To respond to this challenge, Working Films offers free impact campaign development services to underrepresented artists whose films hold great promise to shift understanding and catalyze action that addresses some of the most critical issues of our time. Impact Kickstart is made possible through generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Rural Cinema is a training institute and community engagement program aimed at supporting rural leaders across the United States in using films as a resource in their work. The program supports participants in holding live community events that engage their communities and advance their goals over the course of one year. This year's program has a special focus on serving individuals and organizations working for environmental justice and protection in areas directly impacted by polluting industries or transitioning from being economically fueled by natural resource extraction to adopting other more sustainable approaches. Whether through virtual screenings, drive-ins, or -- once the pandemic has passed -- face-to-face gatherings, these events will create spaces for residents to come together, discuss issues affecting their communities, learn and be inspired by the visual content and one another’s experiences, and generate solutions that address their needs and priorities. We are thrilled to announce that the 2020 Rural Cinema cohort will include: Center for Coalfield Justice (Pennsylvania), Citizens for a Healthy Community (Colorado), Good Stewards of Rockingham/Dan Riverkeeper (North Carolina), Iniciativa de EcoDesarrollo de la Bahia de Jobos (Puerto Rico), Menīkānaehkem (Wisconsin), Native Movement (Alaska), and the Rural Organizing Project (Oregon).   Center for Coalfield Justice The Center for Coalfield Justice is a 501(c)(3) environmental justice nonprofit in Pennsylvania whose mission is to improve policy and regulations for the oversight of fossil fuel extraction and use; to educate, empower and organize coalfield residents; and to protect public and environmental health. Their approach for working with area residents values their knowledge about the land, waterways, and communities. We provide community members with detailed information about proposed projects and potential impacts so they can make informed decisions on individual or collective actions. Their recognition of local expertise is grounded in the belief that people who live with the daily impacts of fossil fuel extraction should be treated with the utmost respect. Center for Coalfield Justice's work is informed and directed by how local people think these industries should be held accountable for impacts. By blending organizing and legal work, we seek to create an expanded set of options for achieving justice than might be produced by following solely a legal or organizing approach. . Lisa DePaoli is an ecological anthropologist whose interest in the relationship between humans and nature has brought her from teaching and research to doing applied work. She is the outreach coordinator for the Center for Coalfield Justice, working with communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction in Appalachia, witnessing political ecology at work in real life once again. She is excited to be a part of the Rural Cinema program and looking forward to engaging CCJ members and supporters with the materials!   Kristen Locy graduated from Allegheny College in 2018 with a degree in Environmental Studies. After a brief stint in Scotland working on a sheep farm, she came back home to Washington County, Pennsylvania to work for the Center for Coalfield Justice in the summer of 2019. Her passion lies in environmental justice and storytelling. Photographs and documentaries have inspired her activism since she was a child and she is excited to help to inspire others through the Rural Cinema initiative.   .

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Citizens for a Healthy Community Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) is a grassroots nonprofit organization of 1500 visionaries dedicated to protecting the air, water and foodsheds within the Delta County region of Southwest Colorado from the impacts of oil and gas development and paving the way for a renewable, clean energy future. CHC was established in 2009 by a group of citizens who were concerned about the risks of large-scale oil and gas development to the community’s health. . Natasha Léger is the Executive Director of Citizens For A Healthy Community (CHC). Her work in empowering the community has led to withdrawal of projects and leasing proposals that threaten the community, and widespread resistance to oil and gas development in the North Fork Valley, which serves a unique role in Colorado’s food supply, recreation economy, and biodiversity. She is an international trade attorney, turned independent business consultant, turned editor of a location intelligence magazine, turned author, turned accidental activist. Marissa Mommaerts serves as Project Assistant for CHC. She also serves as Director of Programs for Transition US, a network of communities transitioning away from fossil fuel dependence toward local resilience. She previously worked for the Post Carbon Institute and The Aspen Institute on communications projects related to sustainable development. Marissa has a Master's Degree in International Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she co-founded a sustainable development project in partnership with UW students and an island community in Lake Victoria, Uganda. She is also a writer (madmillennials.wordpress.com) and speaker on the topics of community resilience and sustainable global development, as well as an avid gardener, homesteader, community organizer, and activist.

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Good Stewards of Rockingham/Dan Riverkeeper Good Stewards of Rockingham is a grassroots environmental organization committed to protecting their region from polluting industry. Good Stewards founded the first Dan Riverkeeper in mid 2019 to further their protective reach into their vast water resources and support community rights to a clean environment. . Steven Pulliam has served as President of Good Stewards since 2018 and as Dan Riverkeeper since July 2019. He and the Good Stewards have set focus on equity and inclusion, to protect and involve the communities most impacted by environmental pollution and deregulation. With the assistance of Steven's leadership, Good Stewards has grown exponentially in their mission to serve and protect their watershed through community engagement and leadership development.   Stesha Warren is a 2014 founding member of Good Stewards of Rockingham and currently serves as Secretary. With a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education, a minor in Agriscience and a love for the outdoors; she develops and teaches classes on foraging, mushroom production, forest farming, and homesteading skills at her farm and Rockingham Community College. Her love of all things nature is closely intertwined with her need to protect it.   .  

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Iniciativa de EcoDesarrollo de la Bahia de Jobos (IDEBAJO) The Iniciativa de EcoDesarrollo de la Bahia de Jobos (IDEBAJO) is an environmental organizing support hub for various grassroots groups in the Jobos Bay area of southeastern Puerto Rico. Members are committed to environmental, climate, and energy justice, rooftop community solar, supporting youth leaders, and other capacity-building and anti-pollution efforts. Rural Cinema participants are members of IDEBAJO and also have affiliations with the Casa Comunitaria de Medios/Community Media House. This communication project focuses on the creation of audiovisual media to advance popular education. The House also advocates for different mutual aid initiatives, rooted in community empowerment. . Hery Colón is a 25-year-old resident of Salinas, Puerto Rico and is passionate about audiovisual production. He also facilitates community engagement in the Casa Comunitaria de Medios, through art and other community activities. .. . . Mabette Colón is 20 years old and an environmental justice activist who lives in southwest Puerto Rico. Her work includes EPA public hearings, congressional meetings, and youth camp organizing. For these efforts, she won the 2019 CEHN youth leadership award. . . . Catalina de Onís is another member of the Iniciativa de Eco-Desarrollo de la Bahia de Jobos. She is participating in the Rural Cinema workshops and has facilitated the process of amplifying the vital work of Puerto Rico-based environmental justice community change-makers, like Hery and Mabette..

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Menīkānaehkem Menīkānaehkem, Inc is a non-profit organization located on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. Much of Menīkānaehkem is operated by indigenous organizers who take the lead on a number of different initiatives that Menīkānaehkem works on. Menīkānaehkem is driven to promote a cultural way of life while revitalizing indigenous identity and language. Menīkānaehkem has the following initiatives: Women's Leadership Cohort, Energy Sovereignty, Back 40 Mine, Food Sovereignty, Culture Group, Youth Leadership Cohort, and Menominee Men. Menīkānaehkem works on bringing unity to their community by using hearts and minds as one. . Maria L. Haskins, Boozhoo, Nayezhigookwe is an activist and community organizer with Menīkānaehkem, Inc. Maria has earned her masters degree in social work and has worked in different level positions where she has been able to see the injustices that occur within her community and people. Maria is using the experience she has gained with her career to advocate for social and environmental justice focusing primarily on indigenous people. . Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) is a traditional Menominee who resides on the Menominee Reservation. He’s the Executive Director of Menikahnaehkem. He's also a Community organizer, activist, author, amateur archaeologist and lecturer. He is a member of the Menominee Constitutional Taskforce. Anahkwet has organized a lot of events that have uplifted the human condition and demonstrated how enriching the Menominee culture is. He has lectured at Universities on the connection Menominee Indians have to the Menominee River. He's also written articles for Environmental Health News and other publications. When Anahkwet isn't working, you'll find him enjoying time with his wife and children. Anahkwet is an advocate for indigenous people everywhere.

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Native Movement  Founded in 2003 out of Arctic Village, Alaska, Native Movement's initial campaign was to help build a collective Alaska Native voice for the recognition of Indigenous hunting and fishing rights. By 2007 Native Movement had become formally incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit and grown to a west-coast collective. Native Movement has provided leadership and support for grassroots-led projects that endeavor to ensure Indigenous Peoples’ rights, the rights of Mother Earth, and the building of healthy and sustainable communities for all. They believe in building equitable and respectful community organizing practices, getting to the root of the matter, uplifting intersectionality, and furthering a healing path. Understanding the impacts of the power and privilege structures of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, and capitalism is essential. Native Movement also recognizes that committing to healing practices both in our work and our lives is essential to the longevity and joy of the work before us. Native Movement trainings, workshops, and camps are not exclusive to Indigenous peoples; rather their leadership model is shaped from an Indigenous worldview, which emphasizes deep acknowledgment of place-based knowledge and the joy and responsibility of building community. .

Sara Siqiñiq Thomas is raising her family in Utqiaġvik, AK, her home since she was 10 years old. Since completing a B.A. in International Relations at the University of Hawaii Mānoa, she has worked in education, stakeholder relations for oil and gas, and workforce development. Through the UAF Rural Development M.A. program she figured out how to combine her passions: community-building around land, air, and water for community wellness, and Iñupiaq language and culture revitalization.

  Brandon Hill lives in Homer, Alaska and is a graphic designer, photographer and digital organizer. He has been a videographer on a film series documenting mega-dams and Indigenous land rights in Malaysian Borneo, and co-produced the film "Chuitna: More than Salmon on the Line," winner of Best Environmental Film at The International Wildlife Film Festival in 2015. His most recent short documentary film about Alaska's Pebble Mine premiered as part of the official selection at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in 2020. He holds a B.A. in Natural History from Sterling College in Vermont and is Alumni of the ReFrame Mentorship. Rural Organizing Project (ROP) is a statewide organization that supports a multi-issue, rural-centered, grassroots base of over 65 groups across small-town, rural, and frontier Oregon. ROP works to build and support a shared standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice, and the right to self-determination. Their mission is to strengthen the skills, resources, and vision of primary leadership in local autonomous human dignity groups with a goal of keeping such groups a vibrant source for a just democracy.