Our new one-page graphic summary of the article The Power of Personal Documentary Films is now available!
Learn at-a-glance highlights of our survey work on personal storytelling and its relationship to racism and white supremacy in the field.
Join us for a launch event for The Power of Personal Documentary Films!
The Power of Personal Documentary FIlms, published by Re-Present Media, is an article researched over several years to look at the impacts of racism and white supremacy in the industry on emerging BIPOC filmmakers. The article also makes a case for the importance of personal storytelling. Learn more about the findings from this work and engage with other BIPOC industry members in an interactive audience discussion.
Over the last several years, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) documentary filmmakers have discussed decolonizing documentaries as part of creating more equity in the field. In 2017, Re-Present Media (RPM) decided to take a different angle on the issues faced by BIPOC filmmakers and began gathering information on the impact of racism and white supremacy in the industry, which is summarized in their new article, The Power of Personal Documentary Films. RPM advocates for personal storytelling from underrepresented communities in documentary films and nonfiction media.
Jennifer and Chanda will present an overview of the highlights of this work, which was composed of focus groups and surveys on the experiences of underrepresented filmmakers working on personal stories. Then they will take a deep dive into the context of this work, including their personal stories behind why this work was necessary, the value of qualitative data, the necessity of anonymity for participants, the strategy behind the impact campaign for this work, and how this work can become a seed for ongoing practice towards industry change.
Those who attend will gain an understanding of the importance of personal documentary filmmaking along with the issues surrounding white supremacy culture and its impact on BIPOC filmmakers. Jennifer and Chanda will also provide a preview of the impacts they hope the article will have and the ways in which attendees might continue to engage in the conversation.
The presentation will be followed by an interactive audience discussion that will not be recorded.
Re-Take Oakland alumni A.K. Sandhu’s short film “For Love and Legacy” will be having its San Francisco premiere on Friday, April 22nd at 6:00pm at The Roxie Theater as part of the SF International Film Festival. More info and tickets.
Alumni Jennifer Huang wins €5000 from Storyboard Collective as a part of their pitch competition at the Movies that Matter festival in the Hague with her feature-length documentary The Long Rescue. Congratulations to Jennifer!
RPM alumni Jessica Jones’ latest short film “On the Pulse of Life” made in partnership with BElovedBIRTH Black Centering (a part of the Alameda County Health System), is executive produced by The Alliance Media Arts + Culture and premiered at THE FUTURES exhibit at the Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building as a part of the Futures We Dream documentary film series. The exhibit will be available for viewing until July 9, 2022, so if you are in DC, please check it out!
Jessica recently had a screening on April 11th in the Bay Area to kick off Black Maternal Health Week.
RPM alumni Jennifer Huang will be participating in the Movies that Matter “Take on Impact” program in the Hague in April with her feature-length documentary The Long Rescue.
The program works with filmmaking teams to develop impact goals and strategies for their films, with the focus on improving the projects’ impact pitches which will then be presented in front of a panel of NGOs, distributors, and other changemakers related to the outreach goals of the projects.
Jennifer Huang’s This Adventure Called California will be screening at Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival virtually from April 1 – 17, 2022. More information and tickets available here.
Jennifer Huang’s “The Adventure Called California” had the following screenings in March.
- Impact screening with the San Mateo Human Trafficking Program on March 10th, 2022
- Public screening and discussion with the Alameda County DA’s office, the team participated in a private screening with the Alameda County DA’s human trafficking task force in January.
- Screening at Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival.
RPM alumni Pallavi Somusetty has been selected as for a 2022 CAAM Fellowship, where she will be incubating a project currently titled “Welcome Home Jhaiji.”
Pallavi participated in the Athena Film Festival’s Works In Progress Pitch Forum on March 11th, 2022, where she virtually pitched a feature version of “Coach Emily” a short that Pallavi produced with Re-Take Oakland.
Pallavi also received a grant from The Studio IX Project to support childcare while she works on Coach Emily and Welcome Home Jhaiji.
Congratulations to Pallavi and her team!
Post Re-Take Oakland program, Corinne Manabat Cueva’s Synchronized, has screened at CAAMFest, Oakland International Film Festival, COVEN Film Festival, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, and the 35th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition. With the film, Corinne has presented at 2021’s Association for Asian American Studies Conference and Living Creatively Film Fest with Nicole Cruz’s Living Bravely program. Shortly after the program, Corinne had the opportunity with A-Doc Network to create a microdoc, Keeping It Creative, part of the #AsianAmResilience series. Corinne has also received an artist in residency with Kala Art Institute and 2021 Investing in Artist grant with Center for Cultural Innovation for her project, A Million Kisses from Lolo, a personal documentary hybrid piece about her grandfather — a Filipino WWII veteran who wrote a screenplay inspired by his wartime experiences– that explores the themes of creative legacy, generational trauma, loss, and resilience. Follow her on IG: @corinnemakesmedia or corinnemakesmedia.com