Resources

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Media distributors that concentrate to a significant degree on social justice and cultural diversity programs. Within those categories they cover a wide spectrum of issues.


California Newsreel
Since 1968 has produced and distributed independent social issue documentaries for activists and educators. Especially rich collection of African and African American films. Series include Race: The Power of an Illusion, Unnatural Causes and The Raising of America.

PBS Documentaries
Offers scores of documentaries that explore multiple facets of U.S.A. history, education, science, poverty, privilege, gender and race/ethnicity. Distributes Independent Lens, Point of View, and Frontline programs.

Media Education Foundation
"Produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media" and "spark discussion about some of the most pressing, and complicated, issues of our time, in one of the last independent spheres left in the society: the classroom." Provides extensive supplementary material for its films.

Royal Society for the Arts
Works to foster "more powerful citizens, nurture resilient communities and develop more innovative public services for individuals and communities" by "unleashing the human potential for enterprise and creativity." Uses snappy animated shorts to explore and challenge ideas about social change.

Women Make Movies
Facilitates the production and distribution of multicultural, multiracial independent films, most documentaries, by and about women. A particularly rich source for films about women of color.

World Trust Educational Services
Uses "film, dialogue and transformative learning . . . to heal the wounds of racism by building community and cultivating the practices of love-in-action and respect." Offers workshops led by Dr. Shakti Butler that incorporate films produced by World Trust.