Activism In Action

Activism In Action

This collection of documentaries focusses on groups and individuals advocating for the rights of others, and their own communities. By turns shocking, inspirational, maddening and hopeful, these powerful films, and their defiant subjects, will long linger in the memory.

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Activism In Action
  • Not Just Numbers

    Not Just Numbers follows the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group as Matriarch Leaders take action to end domestic violence in their communities. This powerful and inspiring documentary amplifies the voices of Aboriginal women in their homelands. While highlighting the transformational healing...

  • This Is The Way We Rise

    Sundance Film Festival

    Centering protests, poetry, and the fight for Indigenous sovereignty, slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is heralded as a voice for the next generation of Native Hawaiians as her calling to protect sacred sites atop Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, reinvigorates her art.

    USA ...

  • Ninth Floor

    "...an informative and sobering story that offers plenty of food for thought." Shadow and Act

    Toronto International Film Festival

    In 1969, to protest the administration's mishandling of racist accusations towards a professor, students at Sir George Williams University occupied a ninth floor com...

  • Our People Will Be Healed

    "This film functions as both cinema and journalism, the camera pushing us into a world we might not otherwise see and illuminating that world on a human scale." NOW Magazine

    Toronto International Film Festival

    Our People Will Be Healed, Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree community...

  • Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger

    "In 65 minutes, numerous issues involved in Indigenous community and government relations are deftly explained to give space to this important fight for basic human rights for Indigenous children." - NOW Toronto

    Toronto International Film Festival

    The story of Jordan River Anderson, an Indigeno...

  • Hi-Ho Mistahey!

    Toronto International Film Festival

    In this feature-length documentary, Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Shannen's Dream, a national campaign to provide equitable access to education in safe and suitable schools for First Nations children. Strong participation in this initiative eventually br...

  • Mama Gloria

    "In her first feature, director Luchina Fisher lovingly captures the lived experience of a woman who deserves to go down in queer history." POV Magazine

    Chigago International Film Festival
    BFI Flare
    Inside Out Film Festival

    Meet Mama Gloria. Chicago’s Black transgender icon Gloria Allen blazed ...

  • Since I Been Down

    "In a nation crying for change, Since I Been Down is not only timely but a vital piece to an ever-growing picture that needs to be seen." Film Inquiry

    Directed by Dr. Gilda Sheppard, Since I Been Down tells the dramatic story of how an American community, held captive by 1990’s punitive policies...

  • The Road Forward

    Hot Docs Film Festival
    imagineNATIVE Film Festival

    Marie Clement's The Road Forward is a musical documentary that utilizes numerous filmmaking techniques to powerful effect. Using the story of Canada’s first Indigenous newspaper, The Native Voice, as its focal point, this particularly distincti...

  • Our Dance Of Revolution

    “But this is an important, ground breaking movie. See it with an audience that’s bound to be passionate and proud.” - NOW Toronto

    Hot Docs International Documentary Festival

    Our Dance Of Revolution is a documentary that tells the stories of Black queer folks in Toronto. Throughout history the c...

  • Your Mother's Comfort

    Inside Out LGBT Toronto Film Festival
    Sheffield Doc/Fest
    Outfest Los Angeles

    “We transgender are the revolution!” Indianara Siqueira, trans activist and politician, admonishes her political party for ousting her days before the 2018 Brazilian national elections. In the same election cycle extrem...

  • I Am Samuel

    "Peter Murimi’s film vividly conveys resilience, contrasting the intimacy of a brave couple with the brutality of prejudice." The Guardian

    Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival
    BFI London Film Festival
    Atlanta Film Festival

    Samuel grew up in the Kenyan countryside, where tradition is...

  • Nîpawistamâsowin We Will Stand Up

    The story of the killing of Colten Boushie and his family's pursuit of justice.

  • The Cost Of Freedom - Refugee Journalists in Canada

    The latest film from award-winning Canadian filmmaker, historian, and journalist James Cullingham (Searching For Blind For Death) focuses on the lives of three journalists - Abdulrahman Matar from Syria, Luis Nájera of México and Arzu Yildiz from Turkey - exploring the reasons that each person fl...

  • What Walaa Wants

    Hot Docs Film Festival
    Berlin International Film Festival
    Seattle International Film Festival

    What Walaa Wants follows Walaa from age 15 through 21 raised by her environment in a refugee camp. Separated from her mother due to an eight year prison sentence, Walaa is a determined young woman recog...

  • Jaha's Promise

    Sheffield Doc/Fest
    CPH:DOX
    Mill Valley Film Festival

    Jaha's Promise tells the remarkable story of activist Jaha Dukureh, as she returns home to Gambia from the U.S. to campaign against the female genital mutilation practices that almost destroyed her life. Having endured the devastating impact o...