After decades of shrinking revenues, and an increasing expectation among consumers that journalism should be free, the global media industry has reached a crisis point. As legacy news outlets shut down or lay off staff, misinformation and conspiracy theories run rampant, blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
After the 1994 [Zapatista] uprising, a boom in documentary films focused on indigenous themes and communities — but the overwhelming majority, Sojob says, were made by people from outside the state. Her own interest in storytelling began when, using a camera that her father gave her, she recorded an ongoing land conflict between the people of Chenalhó and the neighboring town of Chalchihuitán. Unless there was some sort of testimony, she realized, no one would know what was happening, “that it was us, ourselves, who had to get out everything that was happening within, from our own context, from our community.”
President Biden’s administration has said it will introduce a new rule that would deny many from seeking asylum based on their manner of entry or transit through other countries. The asylum ban is a fundamental departure from how our life-saving asylum system should work and is reminiscent of moments in our nation’s history when we turned away refugees to their death.
It was August 19th 2021, three days after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. I received a startling email from Rahmat, one of our editors:
Dear Michael,
Hope you are doing well. Now I got to Poland. Warsaw airport. This is the contact number of a polish woman who was responsible to assemble us to travel to Poland. Hope you and Basir can find a solution to evacuate all members here.
A year ago today three Afghan families that worked with Community Supported Film (CSFilm) went through a horrific experience at the Kabul airport. They were the 'lucky' ones that made it into the airport and on to planes out of the country. They and tens of thousands...
Night after night (daytime in Afghanistan) I used real-time on-the-ground intelligence information provided by vets and other organizations also working to evacuate people, to try and help guide families around the violent Taliban checkpoints, through the crushing crowds to the 20’ high walls of cement and barbed wire.
Community Supported Film (CSFilm) amplifies local voices in under- and mis-represented communities so that they can effectively communicate their lived realities through documentary filmmaking.
We believe that if people learn about the world’s challenges from the local perspective they will be better able to demand the right actions from their governments and to support effective humanitarian responses.
Michael Sheridan, Director of CSFilm, on the impact of local perspectives
Excerpt from Haitian filmmaker Bichara Villarson’s Owned and Occupied, part of the Owning Our Future: Haitian Perspectives in Film film collection.
Excerpt from Afghan filmmaker Aqeela’s The Road Above, part of The Fruit of Our Labor: Afghan Perspectives in Film film collection.
These films are made to stimulate dialogue. Here is an excerpt from a New Immigrant and Refugee Visions Screen&Discuss event.
CSFilm wants to help your community tell their stories. Let’s explore how our model of training, filmmaking and public engagement can redefine the public’s understanding of your issues.
Screen&Discuss campaigns inspire new thinking and action among diverse audiences. See documentation from previous events and learn how you can organize your own.
News and views on the people, places and topics of concern to Community Supported Film and our project partners.
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