Working Films brings the worlds of social and environmental justice together with documentary filmmaking. For 25 years, we’ve been a leader in the field of media for change by remaining responsive to the filmmakers and organizations we serve.
FEATURED PROJECTS
Impact Kickstart
Impact Kickstart supports underrepresented filmmakers create strategic goals for impact and specific plans to engage future partners, funders, and audiences in meaningful ways.
Documentary Accountability Working Group
DAWG catalyzes and cultivates a culture of care and accountability within the field of nonfiction filmmaking.
Indie Media Arts South
A regional collective of arts organizations, film festivals, and media makers working to strengthen the independent sector across the greater South, with a focus on equity and sustainability.
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Partners: A Film to Strike To
In case you haven’t heard, the "Red Cup" season looked a little different this year. Starbucks workers across the country are on strike. Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), the union representing workers at over 600 stores nationwide, has walked off the floor during the company's busiest season. Their goal? To protest illegal union-busting and secure the fair pay and consistent hours they deserve. But while workers are on the picket line, a new documentary, Partners: How Starbucks Baristas Started a Labor Revolution, is catalyzing community solidarity in union halls and theaters…
Get to Know the 2025 Rural Cinema Cohort
At its heart, Rural Cinema is about harnessing the power of story to drive change. The program trains environmental justice organizers to use film as a tool to bring people together, spark meaningful conversations, and inspire action on the challenges their communities face. With hands-on training, access to films, and funding to host their own series, participants transform storytelling into tangible, local impact. This year, we’re excited to shine a spotlight on the 2025 Rural Cinema cohort, a remarkable group of organizations from across the country that are reshaping what’s…
Story Leads to Community: Ava Auen-Ryan, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
How do film screenings build community in rural and small towns? Andy Myers, Director of Campaigns and Strategy, chats with Ava Auen-Ryan, community organizer with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI). They discuss how relationship building is at the center of rural organizing. Leading with intentionality, organizers can use the power of story and community film screenings to bring people into their membership base and build power to create social change. Andy: I always think of film as a great tool specifically for organizers that work with the people.…
Announcing the 2025 Docs in Action Film Fund Recipients
We are living through a time defined by intensifying threats to basic rights, safety, and democracy itself. Yet even as political violence rises and divisions deepen, people everywhere are organizing, supporting each other, and imagining a different future. Amplifying stories of resistance matters now more than ever, as these threats have been steadily growing and will continue to worsen without deliberate and collective action. We need to demonstrate how solidarity and collective care and action can counter the growing dangers we face. More than just a call to defense, these…