For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Saranam Gacchâmi

Saturday, May 12, 2024, 4:00–6:00PM
Gyuto Foundation
6401 Bernhard Ave, Richmond, CA 94805

Join us for the film screening of Saranam Gacchâmi, an inspiring story about Ven Thupten Donyo, a visionary Buddhist monk from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. Witness his extraordinary journey to California, where he defied all odds to establish one of the Bay Area’s largest Tibetan Monasteries—a sanctuary preserving endangered Tibetan culture, traditions, and language. Experience the Monastery and glimpse the beautiful Tibetan culture and vibrant community in the Bay Area. Enjoy a guided Monastery Tour and chai before the film with us!

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – Día de Abuelita

Saturday, May 11, 2024, 6:00–8:00PM
Raíces y Cariño
1205 Freedom Boulevard #Unit 3B Watsonville, CA 95076

Join us to honor our Abuelita’s, whether biological or chosen, with food, films and ceremony. We will gather to share stories of our beloved elders, build a collective altar to honor them, and watch films by local filmmakers who share stories of their Abuelos.

This will be a bilingual event in Spanish and English, families of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jennifer Huang, recently participated in several events in Europe.


FIFDH

Jennifer Huang pitched her film, The Long Rescue, at FIFDH on March 12, 2024. The film is one of the 16 documentary projects selected to take part in the Impact Lab 2024. The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for nine years in an intimate journey of recovery.

Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling

Jennifer Huang was a speaker at Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling, a community learning event on best practices for consent-based, trauma-informed, and community-centered visual storytelling presented by ART WORKS ProjectsRe-Present MediaVideo Consortium, and The Hague Humanity Hub on March 25, 2024. Organized with the Movies that Matter Festival, the event aimed to engage diverse participants who have been using visual storytelling to create impact, whether in grassroots organising, advocacy, education, fundraising, or policy change.

Movies that Matter

Jennifer Huang was a speaker on the panel, Power Dynamics and International Co-productions, at Movies that Matter on March 25, 2024. Jennifer also served on the jury for the Camera Justitia Award.

CPH:DOX – INTRO:DOX

Jennifer Huang attended CPH:DOX and participated in the INTRO:DOX program for emerging filmmakers working on their first or second non-fiction feature.

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities is a multicultural film screening and discussion series highlighting documentary films made by a diverse group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes.

Presented by Re-Present Media and Filmmakers Collaborative SF


For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – We Just Want to Be

Saturday, April 27, 2024, 2:15–4:45PM
The New Parkway Theater
474 24th Street Oakland, CA 94612

Screening of new footage from We Just Want to Be, panel discussion with community mental health advocates, and audience Q&A with the filmmakers.

We Just Want to Be is a documentary film in early production that tells the story of a survivor’s lifelong healing from trans conversion therapy, and the friendships across race and generation that helped facilitate that journey.

Free – registration required via Eventbrite


This project is made possible with support from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Hobson Lucas Family Foundation, and California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. Visit www.calhum.org.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, for being selected as a 2024 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow, with her film, Coach Emily. Participants in the 2024 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship receive $10,000 in unrestricted funding, mentorship, industry access, feedback sessions, and workshops during an immersive 9-month experience.

Coach Emily is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.

Centering Care, Consent and Community in Visual Storytelling


Mon, 25 Mar 2024
17:30 – 20:00 CET

The Hague Humanity Hub
Fluwelen Burgwal 58, The Hague

Join ART WORKS Projects, Re-Present Media, Video Consortium, and The Hague Humanity Hub for a community learning event on best practices for consent-based, trauma-informed, and community-centered visual storytelling. Organised with the Movies that Matter Festival, the evening will engage diverse participants who have been using visual storytelling to create impact, whether in grassroots organising, advocacy, education, fundraising, or policy change.

Over the course of the evening, we will hear from Jennifer Huang, Director and Producer of The Long Rescue, the 2022 recipient of the Storyboard Impact Community Fund from Movies That Matter Industry Film and Impact initiative. We will also host a panel discussion discussing cases from different organisations and mediamakers. Participants will be able to share their ideas on how we can develop hands-on tools that will nurture industry-wide change and promote ethical, responsible, and respectful storytelling processes for trauma survivors, mediamakers, and the people and organisations who amplify these stories.

This initiative is part of the Humanity Hub’s programming in collaboration with visual advocacy organisations aiming to emphasise storytelling, photography, filmmaking, and other visual media as essential tools for conveying narratives, fostering understanding, and amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups. These are critical tools for anyone working in the peace, justice, and humanitarian field. Our primary goal is to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among visual advocacy organisations, extending valuable insights to the broader peace and justice community.

We warmly invite filmmakers as well as other practitioners – including social justice and peace advocates, campaigners, fundraisers, policy makers, justice and legal practitioners, and representatives from civil society organisations – to join us. This event is a unique opportunity for mutual learning, allowing us to deepen our collective understanding of how we can employ visual storytelling in a more ethical, responsible and respectful manner.

Free and open to the public.

Register on Eventbrite.

Getting Down to Business

A 3-Part Series to help filmmakers develop practical business strategies to move their project forward.

Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media are presenting a three-workshop webinar series dedicated to helping emerging and mid-career filmmakers develop strategies for the producing and business side of independent films to ensure they are effectively moving their project forward.

Structured around the filmmaking process of development, production, and post-production, the workshops will cover producing strategies related to financial, legal, marketing, and other business topics required throughout the filmmaking process.

This is not a “how to” workshop series, but rather addresses the “why and what” behind developing practical strategies for integrating the business side of film to match the creative approach and goals of your project. Along with our presentation, we will provide case studies, guest speaker insights, and other resources to help you develop your strategies.

This series is ideal for emerging and mid-career filmmakers with a current film project.

  • Workshop 1) Development: Building the Foundation – Wed, March 20, 1:00–2:30pm PT
  • Workshop 2) Production: Moving Forward – Wed, April 24, 1:00–2:30pm PT
  • Workshop 3) Post-Production: Getting to the Finish Line – Wed, May 22, 1:00–2:30pm PT

You can register for the entire series or for individual workshops.

Cost: Free for Filmmakers Collaborative SF members. Sliding scale for non-members ($0-$25 for individual workshops or $0-$50 for the series).

More info and registration: www.filmmakerscollaborative.org/events

We were invited back to present our session, Restorative Practices for BIPOC Creatives, for the European Film Market Toolbox Programme. The EFM Doc Toolbox Programme and EFM Fiction Toolbox Programme are part of the European Film Market’s Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. The programs empower filmmakers from marginalised groups and the Global South to gain market intelligence, business tools, and connections for effective navigation in the global film market.

Our session focused on principles and practices for BIPOC filmmakers and creatives working within environments rooted in white supremacist culture. The vision was to focus on working sustainably and effectively amid predictable challenges that arise. Themes of the session included shifting perspectives on approaching the work, handling challenging situations in new ways, and building community.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker A.K. Sandhu! ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton is nominated for Outstanding Short Form Documentary for the 2024 NAACP Image Awards!

In ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, sculptor Dana King’s hands and activist Fredrika Newton’s memories come together to build a new monument that honors the Black Panther Party’s vital place in American history.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmakers, Jessica Jones and A.K. Sandhu, for being selected as 2024 SFFILM FilmHouse Residents. The FilmHouse Residency is managed by SFFILM Makers, the artist development program at SFFILM, and provides 12-month residencies to local filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of production.

Jessica Jones‘s documentary short, Women Who Ride, profiles Tish Edwards, the founder of Oakland’s first black women’s motorcycle club D’Vious Wayz.

A.K. Sandhu‘s feature documentary, UNTITLED MOTHERHOOD Project, follows women who dare to choose while defying the patriarchy in a time when their reproductive rights are no longer guaranteed.