FILMMAKER SUPPORT

 

Our professional development activities include public and cohort-based programs that include mentoring, masterclasses, and workshops.
Our focus is on serving underrepresented communities.

Current Activities

For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities – We Just Want to Be – April 27

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 […]

Workshop Series: Getting Down to Business

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 […]

Re-Present Media awarded California Humanities Grant – For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities

We are excited to announce that Re-Present Media received a California Humanities grant for our event series, For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities. The series is planned to take place in Spring 2024. In partnership with Filmmakers Collaborative SF, we are presenting a film screening and discussion event series highlighting six documentary films made […]

 

Filmmaker Updates

ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton nominated for NAACP Image Award

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 […]

Jessica Jones and A.K. Sandhu selected as 2024 SFFILM FilmHouse Residents

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 […]

Priyanka Suryaneni awarded East Bay Fund for Artists grant

Congratulations to For Us, By Us fellow, Priyanka Suryaneni, for being awarded the East Bay Fund for Artists grant from the East Bay Community Foundation for her film, Saranam Gacchâmi (I take refuge). Saranam Gacchâmi is a documentary film about an enterprising Buddhist Monk who defies all odds to set up one of the largest […]

 

 

Doc Watchers

Doc Watchers, started in February 2023, is a group of documentary film professionals that gathers once a month to watch recent and past documentary films. The group meets in Oakland.
Previous films screened include: All That Breathes, Sirens, Subject, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, What We Leave Behind, A Night of Knowing Nothing, and 5 Broken Cameras.
We also occasionally screen members’ works in progress.
If you are interested in learning more about the group, please fill out our contact form.

 

Past Programs

For Us, By Us Filmmaker Program (2023)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Presented by Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media

For Us, By Us was a six month intensive supporting a diverse cohort of seven local documentary filmmakers who are telling personal stories from underrepresented communities in the Bay Area. From March – September 2023, the filmmakers participated in workshops and received mentoring, along with stipends to strategically use for their films. The program culminated in a Filmmaker Showcase event.
The six selected projects highlighted intersections of race, class, and gender from across the Bay Area. With each film comes an opportunity to present the voices and points of view of community members and provide insight into how we can better understand each other and ourselves.

For Us By Us Program Report

See our newly-released Program Report.
(more about For Us, By Us)

 

Re-Take Oakland (2019-2021)

Re-Take Oakland was a two-year public education and filmmaker mentoring program. Documentary filmmakers of color created short personal films featuring stories of individuals, families, and communities in Oakland. They presented these films in collaboration with community partners in post-film dialogues.

Oaktown Stories Saturday June 5th 7-9pm

Througout the program, we offered master classes, film screenings with private filmmaker talks, and mentoring with award-winning documentary filmmakers. Modest stipends were available to filmmakers for production costs.
We focused on emerging filmmakers of color living in the San Francisco Bay Area, with priority given to Oaklanders identifying as Asian American (including South, East, and Southeast Asian), mixed race, and LGBTQ+ people of color.
(more about Re-Take Oakland)