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.Â
FEATURED PROJECTS
Impact Kickstart
A program that supports underrepresented filmmakers in developing strategic impact goals and concrete plans to meaningfully engage future partners, funders, and audiences.
Docs in Action
A program that funds and distributes short documentary films on social and environmental justice topics, curating film tours with community partners driving change.
Screenings That Work
A mini grant program designed to support organizers and activists across the U.S. who are using film screenings as a tool for environmental justice.
Try Us
A collection of short films used to demystify organizing strategies and inspire people to organize their own workplaces and stand with the broader labor movement.
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Screenings That [Bridge Movements] Work
From defending local communities from experimental nuclear projects, to fighting the border wall, to resisting pipelines that feed gigantic data centers, organizers can find valuable lessons in the fights that came before them, especially through film. Through our Screenings That Work program, organizers are using films to connect their local fights with movements that have faced similar challenges, sometimes bringing the organizers featured in those films into the room to share what they’ve learned. These screenings create opportunities to share hard won lessons, connect local struggles to broader movements, and…
What Can We Do Here? How Screenings Turned Outrage Into Organizing
This summer, with record breaking temperatures worldwide, heat domes trapping hot air across the US, and wildfires choking communities, it's a brutal time to be outside. For many of us, running back to the refuge of air conditioning is all you have to do when the heat becomes too much. But for the workers who grow the food we eat and the houseplants we obsess over, there is no escape. Compounding this injustice, farmworkers were explicitly excluded from labor protections established in the 1930s, meaning federal law does not guarantee…
Partners: A Film to Strike To
In case you haven’t heard, the "Red Cup" season looked a little different this holiday season. 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…
Come on In: Building Spaces People Want to Join
How can film screenings become the welcoming spaces organizers need: places where people feel invited in, and leave feeling like they belong? In this conversation, Working Films’ Director of Campaigns and Strategy, Andy Myers, chats with Daniel Solorzano with Amanecer in El Paso, Texas and Warren Tidwell with Alabama Center for Rural Organizing and Systemic Solutions (ACROSS) about what it takes to create spaces that break down barriers, dissolve left/right binaries, and give more people a sense of ownership in our movements. These two organizers were part of the 2025…
Screenings That Work
With mounting attacks on our most vulnerable communities, resources pulled away from the frontlines, and major cuts to public media, organizers and activists are stretched thin. In this climate, grassroots organizers’ need to build relationships and mobilize their communities for change. At a time of digital overload, unplugging and coming together IRL has become one of the most important tools in an organizer’s toolkit. This is where local film screenings become invaluable—not only do they educate, they build community and inspire collective action to confront social and environmental threats. Whether…
Announcing the 2026 Impact Kickstart Cohort!
Now in its eighth year, Working Films’ Impact Kickstart resources underrepresented documentary filmmakers to develop and implement impact campaigns that meaningfully engage audiences, partners, and supporters. This year, three incredible film teams have been selected to receive $20,000 each in impact campaign funding, along with in-kind partnership and strategy development from Working Films, and participation in a year-long cohort experience where filmmakers can learn from and support one another. Hannah Hearn, Impact Coordinator and Fellowships Lead at Working Films, reflected on the ways Impact Kickstart has evolved to respond at…