Community Supported Film (CSFilm) is working hard planning the New Immigrant and Refugee Visions (NIRV) Screen & Discuss tour. Our goal is to use these films across the country, from community halls to the halls of Congress, in communities both welcoming and resistant to immigrants, to stimulate dialogue and impact thinking and behavior.

We really need your financial support right now to ensure that these unique insider perspectives and revealing stories can be screened and discussed across the country!

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston recently hosted the screening of two of the NIRV films. The nearly 200 audience members participated in an engaged discussion and provided written feedback about the experience, including:

• This was an extremely informative screening. The evident cultural barriers seen in Abdi’s film [“Worlds Apart at Home”] motivate me to want to take the time to engage with the immigrant population of my community to better understand their lives, personal experiences and challenges.     – emigrated from China 17 years ago

• I feel joy and hope that we can share cultural experiences and enrich our understanding of one another. My husband and I host foreign students and their families. We will keep on hosting and continue to listen and learn.     – ancestors emigrated from Europe in the 1790’s

• This very honest filmmaking reminds me just how much I value the richness of the immigrant experience. It motivates me to see if I can be more involved with local immigrant communities.     – born in the US, child of Sri Lankan immigrants

• I feel honored to have witnessed this initiative to include and validate immigrants. I’m going to tell friends about what I’ve learned and get involved by helping people with the citizenship process and registering new citizens to vote.     – emigrated from Namibia 20 years ago

In collaboration with national, regional and local organizations we are targeting our outreach toward communities with new immigrant populations and voter or legislative behavior that suggests a resistance to immigrants. There is an urgent need to have a fuller, less polarized, discussion about immigrant issues and immigration policy. More than ever, the public needs to engage in constructive conversation informed by the lived experiences and perspectives of recent immigrants.

For our filmmakers’ stories to impact this conversation nationally we need your generous support to reach our $65,000 Screen & Discuss goal!

Every Contribution Really Helps:
• $60 will pay for a filmmaker/presenter’s per-event stipend;
• $200 will pay for the screening equipment, room rental and other event logistics;
• $500 will pay for the travel and accommodation to a national event for a filmmaker/presenter;
• $1500 will sponsor an event in a city like Salt Lake City, Nashville, Houston, or Des Moines – where 10-30% of residents are foreign-born but 50-100% of the state’s representatives have voted against immigrants on national legislation;
• $4500 will sponsor a 3-event trip to one state;
• …
• $65,000 will pay to coordinate, hold and evaluate all the mind-opening, awareness-raising, community-building impact we are planning.

Thank you for being the ‘community’ in Community Supported Film!

Have a great summer,

Michael Sheridan
Founder and Director