The 13th annual Social Impact Media Awards is honored to present this year’s finalists:
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
BLACK SNOW
When the residents of a remote Siberian city discover an old Soviet mine has caught fire beneath their neighborhood, they turn to Natalia Zubkova, a local homemaker-turned-journalist, for help. But after her news videos go viral, she suddenly finds herself the target of a massive government disinformation campaign.
Director(s): Alina Simone
Siberia, United States | 100 minutes
Language(s): Russian
Subtitles: English
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT
In Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, music star, activist and opposition leader Bobi Wine, together with his wife Barbie, rallies his people in a dangerous fight for freedom from President Museveni’s oppressive 35-year regime.
Director(s): Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp
Uganda | 118 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Mandarin, Spanish (Latin American)
BYE BYE TIBERIAS
Years after leaving her Palestinian village to pursue an acting career in France, Emmy-nominated Hiam Abbass (SUCCESSION, RAMY, BLADE RUNNER) returns home with her daughter, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
Director(s): Lina Soualem
France, Palestine | 82 minutes
Language(s):
Subtitles: English
HOLLYWOODGATE
Unprecedented and audacious, HOLLYWOODGATE is the riveting result of the year director Ibrahim Nash’at spent with the Taliban in the wake of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Risking his life in the war-torn nation, Nash’at is on the ground with the Taliban when they enter an American base loaded with a portion of the roughly $7 billion worth of U.S. armaments left behind.
Director(s): Ibrahim Nash’at
Germany, Afghanistan | 91 minutes
Language(s): Multilingual version
Subtitles: English
IGUALADA
In Colombia, a nation marred by profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign. Reappropriating the term “igualada,” Francia Márquez, catapults a movement to the upper echelons of power, by refusing to “know her place.” Fifteen years in the making, this documentary peels back the curtain on how unprecedented change can happen.
Director(s): Juan Mejia
Colombia | 81 minutes
Language(s): Spanish
Subtitles: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Korean, Arabic
MADE IN ETHIOPIA
When a massive Chinese factory complex attempts a high-stakes expansion in rural Ethiopia, three women in search of prosperity have their faith in industrialization tested to the limit.
Director(s): Xinyan Yu, Max Duncan
Ethiopia, United States | 91 minutes
Language(s): Chinese
Subtitles: English
MARCHING IN THE DARK
Intent on providing a better life for herself and her children after her farmer-husband’s suicide, Sanjivani struggles against her culture’s traditional abandonment of widows, until she joins a discussion group with other farmer-suicide widows. Empowered by community, shared stories of resilience, and unexpected solidarity, Sanjivani forges a path forward.
Director(s): Kinshuk Surjan
Belgium, Netherlands, India | 109 minutes
Language(s): Without dialogue – With intertitle
Subtitles: Marathi, English, Dutch, French
MEDIHA
A powerful testament to the human spirit, Mediha turns her camera on herself to process her trauma while rescuers search for her missing family members, revealing the strength and determination of a young survivor.
Director(s): Hasan Oswald
United States, Iraq, Turkey, Syria | 90 minutes
Language(s): Kurdish
Subtitles: English
MY STOLEN PLANET
Farah, an Iranian woman, was born in 1979 at the end of the Islamic Revolution, shortly after the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty. Drawing on personal archives and 8mm archival recordings of strangers’ lives, she contrasts moments of private joy with public defiance to show lives of women under the regimented oppression in Tehran.
Director(s): Farahnaz Sharifi
Germany, Iran | 82 minutes
Language(s): Persian
Subtitles: English
QUEENDOM
In defiance of Putin’s regime, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism – and put her life in danger.
Director(s): Agniia Galdanova
Russia, United States | 90 minutes
Language(s): Russian
Subtitles: English
SABBATH QUEEN
Filmed over 21 years, SABBATH QUEEN follows Amichai Lau-Lavie, descendent of 38 generations of rabbis, from drag-queen rebel to rabbi, as he radically reinvents religion and ritual, challenges patriarchy and supremacy, and stands up for peace.
Director(s): Sandi Dubowski
United States | 105 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: German, Italian, Portuguese
SUGARCANE
An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.
Director(s): Julian Brave Noisecat, Emily Kassie
Canada | 107 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English, Latin Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese
THE BROTHER – BONG THOM
Chana lives in Phnom Penh and runs a music studio making karaoke films for YouTube. As an older son of farmers in rural Cambodia, he is bound to take in his younger brother Heng. Heng has no future at the farm, having lost both arms by a landmine. Now, amidst a So-Me “wanna-be” culture and with a bossy brother, Heng must make it. An intimate tale of two brothers navigating life while bearing the silent echoes of a war that ended decades ago.
Director(s): Zaradasht Ahmed
Cambodia | 59 minutes
Language(s): Khmer
Subtitles: English, Norwegian, Swedish
UNION
Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world.
Director(s): Stephen Maing, Brett Story
United States | 104 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
ZURAWSKI V TEXAS
Women denied abortions under Texas’s ambiguous and unforgiving abortion bans band together with a fearless attorney to sue Texas. While battling in court against the state and its immovable Attorney General, the extent of their traumatic experiences is revealed as they wrestle to regain their reproductive futures and set a precedent for millions of other women and families. ZURAWSKI V TEXAS reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare.
Director(s): Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault
United States | 99 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
A MOVE (خونه)
Elahe returns to her hometown in Mashhad, Iran, to help her parents move to a new place after 40 years. Influenced by the Woman-Life-Freedom movement, she’s also hoping for a bigger move, not just a new apartment.
Director(s): Elahe Esmaili
Iran | 27 minutes
Language(s): Persian
Subtitles: English
CHASING ROO
The legally sanctioned harvesting of kangaroos in Australia equates to the largest commercial killing of a land-based animal in the world each year. CHASING ROO is an intimate portrait of the Kangaroo harvesting industry from the POV of those who professionally hunt Kangaroos – in tension with wildlife rescue experts who have devoted their lives to saving the very animals being killed.
Director(s): Skye Fitzgerald
Australia | 34 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
ENCHUKUNOTO (THE RETURN)
Laissa Malih — the first female Maasai filmmaker — returns to the community her parents left behind in this deeply personal look at how the lands of her forefathers are being reshaped by climate change.
Director(s): Laissa Malih
Kenya | 15 minutes
Language(s): Maasai, Samburu
Subtitles: English, Maasai, Samburu
ETERNAL FATHER
26 years older than his wife, Nasar has started a family late in life. Afraid that he won’t be around to see his children grow up, he decides to be cryogenically frozen upon death in the hope of coming back to life. As his family grapples with what it means for their lives, and whether they should follow suit, Nasar is forced to reassess what truly matters in life. A life-affirming, thought-provoking exploration of how we deal with mortality.
Director(s): Ömer Sami
Denmark | 30 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
M/OTHER
Three childfree women in their 40s face the ultimate explanation: their mothers. In a unique twist, they have their long-overdue heart-to-heart, not with their own moms, but with each other’s.
Director(s): Iris Zaki
Israel | 18 minutes
Language(s): Hebrew
Subtitles: English
MOURNING SUNSHINE
In their new album, the Catalan group Xiula delves into death and mourning. As both musicians and therapists and educators, they decide to spend a weekend in the countryside with families who have lost loved ones and are willing to share their experiences to collectively create a song. This poignant and unique creative process is filled with authenticity and humanity, providing a touching exploration of grief and healing.
Director(s): Maria Besora, Pep Garrido
Spain | 28 minutes
Language(s): Catalan
Subtitles: Spanish, English
ONLY IF THE BABY CRIES…
In the world’s only deaf-mute village where silence reigns, tension mounts as Misra Khatoon approaches childbirth. The villagers surround her home and beat drums seeking a response from the newborn.
Director(s): Farooq Shadab
India | 15 minutes
Language(s): Without dialogue – With intertitle
Subtitles: English
PUBLIC DEFENDER
What happens when a liberal public defender represents right-wing January 6th rioters? PUBLIC DEFENDER takes on America’s epidemic of division and misinformation with humanity and comic relief, modeling how to restore trust and accountability one relationship at a time.
Director(s): Andrea Kalin
United States | 40 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
STRANGLED
Garment worker Veasna bets big on her husband’s barber shop, providing her family’s land title as collateral to obtain a microfinance loan and finance his business. Soon after opening, the business goes bust and her husband runs off with his mistress, leaving her alone to face credit officers. Pherng is a trash collector living in the Cambodian border town of Poipet. The pressure from microfinance loans, paired with rent and grandchildren’s school fees, force Pherng and his wife to scour the streets for hours on end looking for trash and disposed items to resell. In the province of Ratanakiri, indigenous farmer Nga is haunted by the memory of her late husband, who committed suicide after pressure from microfinance loans became unbearable. Nga’s farmland is at risk of being confiscated to pay this outstanding debt.
Director(s): Robin Narciso, Thomas Cristofoletti
Cambodia | 40 minutes
Language(s): Khmer
Subtitles: English
THE LAST ICE AGE
For storyteller Andri Snær Magnason, climate change is so big, it’s larger than language. Retracing his grandparents’ annual spring journey to Iceland’s Vatnajökull glacier to witness the loss of Europe’s largest ice cap with his son, Andri Snær Magnason searches for the stories that can help him understand our ecological crisis.
Director(s): Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften
Iceland | 39 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
UNTIL HE’S BACK
After learning that his son, Yahya, has died at sea trying to get to Spain, Ahmed Tchiche must find a way to bring his remains back home to Morocco so he and his family can have a proper goodbye. Through interweaving threads, UNTIL HE’S BACK explores a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean and the difficulty of returning the bodies of those who drown at sea.
Director(s): Jacqueline Baylon
Morocco | 39 minutes
Language(s): Arabic
Subtitles: English, French, Darija (Arabic)
WE EXIST IN MEMORY (EXISTIMOS EN LA MEMORIA)
How do you rebuild home from nothing but memories? We are thrust us into the intimate conversations between Maria and her grandchild, Marucha: two Indigenous refugees living in displacement. To Maria, the Venezuelan delta is her home. To Marucha, refugee camps are all she knows. Through the rhythms of their daily lives, we witness the complexity of raising a new generation in displacement and explore how land, memory and identity are deeply intertwined
Director(s): Darian Woehr
United States, Venezuela | 13 minutes
Language(s): Spanish
Subtitles: English
WOULDN’T MAKE IT ANY OTHER WAY
Having built a colorful queer life in an American prairie town, an aspiring costume designer visits their island homeland of Guam to make costumes for a children’s theatre while reconnecting with distanced parents.
Director(s): Hao Zhou
United States | 21 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: Spanish
IMPACT VIDEOS
A HAND TO HOLD
In the heart of Los Angeles, two members of an innovative Street Medicine team devote their livelihood to helping their unhoused patients receive care, hope, and connection.
Director(s): Reed Martin
United States | 22 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
ADIDAS OWNS THE REALITY
Prankster activists perform an elaborate hoax to improve conditions for garment workers in the Adidas supply chain. Staging a shocking runway show at Berlin Fashion Week, they use humor and mischief to make the world pay attention to labor and environmental abuses that the massive sportswear brand is trying to hide.
Director(s): Keil Troisi, Igor Vamos
United States | 22 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, Portuguese
AT THE SALTY WATER (BY DIE SOUTWATER)
In Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, a dedicated team works to protect urban wildlife amid the hustle of crowds and a busy harbour. They strive to resolve conflicts, safeguard species, and promote harmony between people and animals. Their efforts reflect compassion, aiming for a future of coexistence in the urban environment. However, their commitment is tinged with heartache as they confront the suffering of animals, which fuels their resolve to foster a more compassionate relationship between humans and wildlife.
Director(s): Marguerite Venter
South Africa | 28 minutes
Language(s): Afrikaans, English
Subtitles: None
BURNT COUNTRY
Could Australia’s past help secure its future? 65,000 years in the making, BURNT COUNTRY is about fighting fire, with fire. Exploring the profound knowledge and wisdom of First Nations, this film is an invitation to connect to country and community.
Director(s): Kirsten Slemint
Australia | 18 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
DANCING PAST THE ODDS
Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC) is an inclusive dance troupe from Singapore that welcomes performers with disabilities. Founded by retired Bharatanatyam dancer Kavitha Krishnan, DADC offers a platform for its members to express themselves and challenge societal perceptions of disability. Members like Chen Wanyi have not only improved their dance skills but also developed confidence and leadership abilities, thus thriving as individuals.
Director(s): Jeanette Lim
Singapore | 5 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
FORWARD
While navigating a myriad of life challenges, Anjelica turned to the outdoors to improve her mental health only to discover a noticeable lack of other plus-size women of color on trail. By posting a simple flyer looking for more women to hike with, Anjelica created a community she never could have imagined.
Director(s): Palmer Morse
United States | 16 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
HUSH NOW.
HUSH NOW. offers a bluntly intimate look at world leaders during some of their everyday moments, pondering what’s in their minds when the world mourns, what they think about when they’re alone, in their moments of relaxation, or what they dream about during their power naps.
Director(s): Laen Sanches
France | 4 minutes
Language(s): Without dialogue – With intertitle
Subtitles: None
STRENGTH IN UNITY: PMIEF & SPECIAL OLYMPICS UKRAINE
In 2022, the Special Olympics Ukraine team faced severe disruption due to the Russian invasion, threatening the future of the athletes with intellectual disabilities they support. Seeing this need, the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation stepped in to help them rebuild and make it to the Berlin Special Olympics World Games in 2023. A story of courage, hope and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Director(s): Adrian Begon
United Kingdom | 5 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
THE HAPPINESS SHOP
THE HAPPINESS SHOP is more than just a retail shop in the streets of Vietnam – it’s a beacon of empowerment and inclusivity. Founded with a unique mission to provide meaningful employment opportunities for women with disabilities. Through their work crafting souvenirs from recycled materials, these remarkable individuals not only earn livelihoods but also gain a sense of purpose and independence.
Director(s): Brianna Avnell
United States | 10 minutes
Language(s): Vietnamese
Subtitles: English
UNCLE BULLY’S SURF SKOOL
Local Maui surf instructor, “Bully” Kotter, is a life coach and mentor for underserved youth during the pandemic. A powerful story about one person’s quest to shape a hopeful future for the next generation, and the last documentary filmed in Lahaina, Maui, before the August 8, 2023 wildfires destroyed the town and left many in the film (including Bully) homeless. In the aftermath of the fires, Bully is a beacon of resilience for his community.
Director(s): Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday
United States | 39 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
WEAVING DREAMS
We follow Isham, a single mother from Malaysia’s B40 community and learn how she overcame her financial hardship with the support of NGO Women of Will. Their entrepreneurship workshops have enabled her to establish her own sewing centre. Now a community leader, she helps other women break free from poverty and lead fulfilling lives.
Director(s): Ibtisem Ben Nassib
Malaysia | 4 minutes
Language(s): Multilingual version
Subtitles: English
WHERE 4X4S FAIL
To understand and protect the unique fog oases of Peru, botanical researchers from Peru and the UK collaborate with Brazilian paramotorists to collect plant samples from regions too remote and rugged for 4×4 vehicles. By utilising paramotors, they access largely untouched ecosystems with minimal impact. Their mission aims to uncover information about the ecosystem that could hold the key to preserving it for generations to come.
Director(s): Emily Stoker
United Kingdom, Peru | 12 minutes
Language(s): Multilingual version
Subtitles: English
XR
(EXTENDED REALITY)
HEARTBEAT
HEARTBEAT brings you inside the world of a woman’s miscarriage. You don’t get to be her, or feel what she felt. But you get to be with her while the story of her loss unfolds. It’s a world of impressions, where pain and confusion reign and she tries to make sense of what is happening to her and what she should do. The story leads to a decision. One that might be regretted forever. Johanna chose to flush her baby away.
Director(s): Dee Harvey
Ireland | 10 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: None
MURMURATION
MURMURATION invites us to meet Kanope, a young Nigerian on his way to Europe. In a clever tale between fable and dream, Kanope reaches out to us and draws us into his hopeful journey. Inspired by real-life stories, the narrative is told by minor migrants who arrived in Sicily between 2015 and 2020. A shocking dive into humanity.
Director(s): Patricia Bergeron, Ali Kays
Canada | 19 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: None
ORIGEN, CHAPTER 1: JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
ORIGEN is a narrative, interactive, and poetic journey through the Amazon Rainforest. In our voyage, first-person interactions weave the tapestry of encounters and teachings endowed with transcendence. “Journey To The Heart Of The Amazon” is the first chapter of a VR series co-created with its narrators, uniting different territories and celebrating the dialogue held between the great diversity of life forms and Mother Earth.
Director(s): Emilia Sánchez Chiquetti
Brazil | 23 minutes
Language(s): Spanish
Subtitles: Shipibo, English
SILVER CORD
SILVER CORD is the story of a fetus in the mother’s amniotic sac during a cesarean section and her death after seven minutes due to an armed conflict in the hospital, which is based on a tragic true story from Kabul in Afghanistan that day terrorism killed many young pregnant young mothers, fetus in the womb, and new born babies.
Director(s): Tiyam Yabandeh
Iran | 7 minutes
Language(s): Multilingual version
Subtitles: NA
SOUL PAINT
SOUL PAINT exists at the nexus of immersive technology, creative storytelling and wellbeing to explore the richness of the embodied human experience. Participants are taken on a journey to explore and creatively express feelings of emotion and sensations in the body. Through the process of bodymapping, 3D drawing and movement, they are invited to reveal their unique inner reality and then observe the creations of others.
Director(s): Sarah Ticho, Niki Smit
United Kingdom | 20 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: English
THIS IS MY HEART (CECI EST MON COEUR)
THIS IS MY HEART (CECI EST MON COEUR) is an immersive site-specific work exploring an extraordinary love story, that of a child’s reconciliation with his body. An immersive tale that, through the intermediary of a coat embroidered with light, offers a singular experience of how we perceive our bodies. THIS IS MY HEART (CECI EST MON COEUR) explores intimate immersive art in new forms, offering an unprecedented sound and visual experience.
Director(s): Nicolas Blies, Stéphane Hueber-Blies
Luxembourg | 35 minutes
Language(s): English
Subtitles: None
TRACES OF RESPONSIBILITY
TRACES OF RESPONSIBILITY is an interactive experience where viewers delve into a multi-perspective exploration of the complex origins and aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The participatory road movie follows the story of a convicted war criminal with ties to Switzerland, taking audiences through the Rwanda of today. It’s an immersive journey with a glimpse of hope, showcasing how a nation can unite and reconcile after such a tragedy. Viewers have the power to choose which path they take and how deeply they want to delve into history. It’s designed to be watched both individually and collectively. The cinematic multiplayer adventure empowers the audience to democratically shape the narrative, with 16 possible endings and 8 main storylines, offering a total of 38 decision points throughout the almost 7 hours of film. The individual streaming version lasts 45-55 minutes, while the theatrical version can last 75-110 minutes. For the collective experience, we offer a second run-through that starts at the main decision point, blocking out the previous ones.
Director(s): Anja Reiss, Jann Anderegg
Switzerland | 45-60 minutes
Language(s): Kinyarwanda, French, English, German, Swiss German
Subtitles: None
IMPACT CAMPAIGNS
!AITSA
!AITSA is a transcendental film that explores ancient spiritual knowledge and modern science in the Great Karoo desert of South Africa, where humans seek meaning in the infinite darkness surrounding us all. From the Square Kilometre Array to the Blombos cave, voices ranging from scientists to local clergy and spiritual leaders are heard in this expansive film about existential questions and the many paths towards answers that will always remain slightly out of reach.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Dane Dodds
Film Director(s): Dane Dodds
Organization(s): MED CINE
Denmark, South Africa
A RECKONING IN BOSTON
Kafi Dixon is a Boston bus driver and urban farmer who seeks equity for low-income women of color who have experienced trauma and disenfranchisement. Carl Chandler, a community elder wants to tell his family’s story to the wider world. They gather with twenty other adults living along the poverty line at a community center in Boston to study art, history, philosophy and literature in a rigorous yearlong tuition-free night course. Kafi reads dialogues about the city in Plato’s Republic, yet faces rejection in her own hometown, a prosperous metropolis swept up by the allure of development and gentrification. Carl, a disabled senior citizen who raised two daughters as a single father, cares for his grandson and reads voraciously. James Rutenbeck, a white filmmaker from the suburbs, has come here to document their lives. Over five years he witnesses evictions, chaos and calm persistence. He wants to remain a witness and allow Carl and Kafi to tell their own stories, but over time comes to understand the film cannot be fully realized until he speaks up too.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Marga Varea
Film Director(s): James Rutenbeck
Organization(s): Twin Seas Media
USA
A TOWN CALLED VICTORIA
A South Texas town is thrown into the national spotlight when the local mosque erupts in flames. After decades of harmony, the small Muslim community of Victoria watches their cherished place of worship reduced to ash. With the fire ruled an arson and a local man arrested as the suspect, this small town must confront its own troubled history and its consequences in the present. From the trial of the suspect to the rebuilding of the mosque, A TOWN CALLED VICTORIA presents a nuanced portrait of a community confronting hate in its own midst, and grappling with deep-seated racial, religious, political, and economic rifts to find a collective way forward.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Li Lu, Michael Latt
Film Director(s): Li Lu
Organization(s): Time and Place, Film Exchange
United States
ABUNDANCE: THE FARMLINK PROJECT
During the largest food crisis in a century, a group of college students step up to help those facing hunger. Their small local effort inspires hope nationally and motivates 600+ students to drop everything to feed millions of families. Within months, the project scales larger than anyone could have imagined and the students find themselves on the front lines of fighting hunger. As food bank lines grow across the country and college finals approach, do the students have what it takes to create a long-term solution?
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Risa Fox
Film Director(s): Owen Dubeck
Organization(s): Optimist
US
ANONYMOUS SISTER
When a young woman turns to the camera for refuge, she ends up with a firsthand account of what will become the deadliest man-made epidemic in United States history. Thirty years in the making, Anonymous Sister is Emmy Award®-winning director, Jamie Boyle’s chronicle of her family’s collision with the opioid epidemic.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Eliza Licht
Film Director(s): Jamie Boyle
Organization(s): Red Owl
United States
ANOTHER BODY
ANOTHER BODY follows a college student’s search for answers and justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online. Through candid video diaries, synthetic media, and 2D and 3D animation, the film takes you into Taylor’s online and offline worlds, humanizing a vast social issue in a compelling personal story. The film is directed by Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn and produced by Elizabeth Woodward at WILLA.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Elizabeth Woodward, Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn
Film Director(s): Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn
Organization(s): #MyImageMyChoice
USA, UK
BIG FIGHT IN LITTLE CHINATOWN
BIG FIGHT IN LITTLE CHINATOWN is a story of community resistance and resilience. Set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, the documentary takes us into the lives of residents, businesses and community organizers whose neighborhoods are facing active erasure. Coast to Coast the film follows Chinatown communities resisting the pressures around them. From the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail in New York, Montreal’s fight against developers swallowing up the most historic block of their Chinatown, big box chains and gentrification forces displacing Toronto’s community, to a Vancouver Chinatown business holding steadfast, the film reveals how Chinatown is both a stand-in for other communities who’ve been wiped off the city map, and the blueprint for inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods of the future.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Karen Cho
Film Director(s): Karen Cho
Organization(s): Eyesteelfilm
Canada
HOME IS SOMEWHERE ELSE
HOME IS SOMEWHERE ELSE is an animated feature documentary providing a window into the hearts and minds of immigrant youth and their undocumented families. This 2D feature “animentary” features three personal stories about immigrant youth to highlight the complexities and challenges they face today. Voiced by the actual children and their families, the stories are woven together by spoken word poet Lalo “El Deportee”, the film’s host and MC whose vibrant “Spanglish” breaks codes, switches standards, and pushes the viewer to decipher his poems. Each story has its own unique visual animation style drawn by three different teams. The animation allows us to truly see and feel these characters’ worst nightmares, alongside their colorful hopes and dreams for a better future.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Mariana Marin
Film Director(s): Carlos Hagerman, Jorge Villalobos
Organization(s): Shine Global Inc
Mexico, USA
THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED
In the Arab-American neighborhood outside of Chicago where director Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. While investigating their experiences, Assia uncovers tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents that prove her hometown was the subject of one of the largest counterterrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named “Operation Vulgar Betrayal.” With unprecedented access, The Feeling of Being Watched weaves the personal and the political as it follows the filmmaker’s examination of why her community fell under blanket government surveillance. Assia struggles to disrupt the government secrecy shrouding what happened and takes the FBI to federal court to compel them to make the records they collected about her community public. In the process, she confronts long-hidden truths about the FBI’s relationship to her community. The Feeling of Being Watched follows Assia as she pieces together this secret FBI operation, while grappling with the effects of a lifetime of surveillance on herself and her family.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Ahlam Said
Film Director(s): Assia Boundaoui
Organization(s): Multitude Films
USA
THE ILLUSION OF ABUNDANCE
Despite a deeply unbalanced game, Maxima, Bertha and Carolina share a common goal: they are leading today’s environmental fight against modern corporate conquistadors. Whereas governments and corporations are trapped in a global race to get the cheapest raw materials, these three women tell us a story of tireless courage: how to keep fighting to protect nature when your life is at risk? When police repression, corporate harassment, injuries or even death threats are part of your daily routine? THE ILLUSION OF ABUNDANCE is not only a film about those who pay the high price of ‘development’, it is above all a film about the globalization of their environmental resistance and their conviction to hunt down transnational corporations, wherever they hide.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Matthieu Lietaert
Film Director(s): Matthieu Lietaert, Erika Gonzalez Ramirez
Organization(s): Not So Crazy! Productions
Belgium, Colombia
VICTIM /SUSPECT
The emmy-award winning VICTIM/SUSPECT chronicles journalist Rae de Leon’s investigation into a disturbing pattern: young women report sexual assault to the police and instead of the perpetrators being brought to justice, the women are arrested for filing a false report. Working for The Center for Investigative Reporting, de Leon’s exhaustive research uncovers a surprisingly large number of these cases nationwide. In re-examining elements of the initial law enforcement investigations, de Leon unearths telling recordings of police interviews of people reporting their sexual assault. Featuring firsthand accounts from numerous young women, as well as interviews with police, investigators, and legal experts, VICTIM/SUSPECT raises crucial questions about how the criminal justice system views and treats sexual assault victims.
Impact Campaign Producer(s): Eliza Licht
Film Director(s): Nancy Schwartzman
Organization(s): Red Owl
United States
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
BYKIDS
BYkids: Real-world films for kids, by kids. Talented young storytellers from around the world are paired with seasoned filmmakers to create powerful documentaries about their lives. In partnership with public television, PBS LearningMedia and Discovery Education, as well as other education innovators, BYkids shares the films and their activation resources to help make global issues feel personal, relevant and actionable for millions of students.
New York | United States
CLIN D’OEIL FILMS
Clin d’oeil films is a Belgian audiovisual company founded and managed by Antoine Vermeesch and Hanne Phlypo out of their love for film. The company focuses on creative documentaries and author-driven film with a clear preference for films with a social or political statement by creative and innovative filmmakers. We work in close collaboration with the filmmakers.
Belgium
FIELD OF VISION
Field of Vision is a filmmaker-driven documentary unit that commissions, creates and supports original short-form and feature-length nonfiction films and episodic series about developing and ongoing stories around the globe.Their mission is to support work that uses innovative and artistic ways to explore contemporary global issues through a cinematic lens, and to push the boundaries of nonfiction storytelling.
New York | United States
INFLATABLE FILM
Inflatable Film LLC (based on Maui) is a social impact production company with a global film, video, and photography industry track record for creating award-winning content and immersive experiences around the globe. Inflatable Film works for brands, broadcast networks, museums, corporations, non-profits, NGO’s, live events, feature films and commercials. In addition, they create and advise on social impact storytelling that inspires climate action, human connection, and environmental conservation in our community, and in remote parts of the world. Their award-winning content plays in theaters, film festivals, museums, schools, leadership conferences, special events, corporations, airports, and on digital platforms.
Hawaii | USA
MULTITUDE FILMS
Multitude Films is a queer- and women-led independent production company dedicated to telling nonfiction stories by and about historically excluded and underrepresented communities. Oriented by a culture change approach, Multitude Films makes award-winning films that change the way global audiences see the world around them. We produce, executive produce, and consult on nonfiction features, shorts, and series with a focus on equity and representation both on screen and behind the camera.
New York | United States
OPTIMIST
Optimist is an award-winning film studio that works to positively change minds, lives, and policies through its films and impact campaigns. Their past documentaries have played on Netflix, Amazon, HBO, PBS, and National Geographic, reaching more than 35 million views among viewers in 180+ countries. Through their education initiatives, they have screened films in over 4,500 schools and community centers and helped raise over $92 million for causes related to refugees, poverty alleviation, immigration, food access, education, and justice reform.
Los Angeles | USA
OUR BETTER WORLD
Since 1991, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) has brought Singaporeans and world communities together to uplift individuals, affect positive change and build enduring friendships. Cross-cultural interactions strengthen understanding, inspire action and enable collaborations for good. Their programmes unite people to share ideas, skills and resources in areas such as culture, education, healthcare, sustainability, and youth development. Our Better World (OBW) is Singapore International Foundation’s digital storytelling platform that showcases authentic, compelling stories of people doing good across Asia to inspire action and power social movements.
Singapore
SHINE GLOBAL INC
Shine Global is a non-profit media company that produces inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children and their families. Through tailored distribution and outreach, Shine Global connects with audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.
New York | USA
UNIVERSE CREATIVE
Universe Creative is a documentary production company based in Los Angeles. Driven by a mission to create meaningful stories for good, the company produces documentary and branded content that tackles social and environmental issues. Co-founded by Meg Griffiths and Scott Faris, the team’s work has been supported by the International Documentary Association and the Redford Center, and they are regular collaborators with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, and Teach For America.
Los Angeles | USA
WILLA
WILLA is a production and distribution company, recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and supported by Sundance Institute, that amplifies exceptional storytelling across genres to enable narrative change around today’s most pressing social, cultural, and environmental issues.
New York | USA