Set in the remote Alaskan Yukon Delta, Yukon Kings follows Yup'ik fisherman Ray Waska as he teaches his grandkids how to fish during the summer salmon run. With environmental and cultural forces threatening their subsistence way of life, Ray holds onto the hope that his grandsons will one day pas...

In a little hair salon owned by a Christian Arab in Haifa, Israel, the director installs a minimalist film set over the washing-basin, where she chats with the clients she is shampooing. She thus paints an unexpected choral portrait of this space that provides temporary freedom, where Arab and Je...

When a young man mysteriously dies in a Bay Area jail, his mother begins a determined quest to find out what happened to him, but quickly runs into the opaque and powerful position of American sheriffs.This intimate, fast-paced documentary follows Barbara Doss’ search to discover the details of h...

Waves follows three young girls growing up in one of South Africa's most violent communities. The film looks at the effects that high levels of violence, rape and femicide have on the psyche of young girls growing up amongst it, and how they learn to cope.

Director: Jessie Ayles
4 min | South Af...

Vibrations is a (partially) silent short film that gives an insight to the life of young girl who is profoundly deaf. The girl who remains anonymous identifies her struggles and experiences of living her lifestyle.
The film concludes with the message that being deaf - doesn't mean that you can't ...

A true story about two women struggling hard for their love. Soth Yun (57) and Sem Eang (58) met during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime when coincidence led them to live in the same mobile unit. More than two million people died during the Khmer Rouge times, Soth and Sem survived. Today the le...

Tuning the Student Mind follows the journey of three students enrolled in Molly Beauregard’s sociology course, where they are experience the impact of her innovative, first-of-its-kind curriculum. Through the subjects’ personal stories, moments in the classroom, and nuanced interviews, the film i...

The first installment of Invisible Thread, an ongoing Early Light Media passion project series, Throw, presented by YoYoExpert.com tells the story of an outsider from East Baltimore, an area challenged by gang violence and poverty. Often misunderstood, Coffin Nachtmahr found acceptance among a su...

A documentary short about a family divided by the US/Mexico border. Abril is living undocumented in the United States with her 2 year-old son Julian. Julian’s father was stopped by police for a minor traffic incident and was deported back to Mexico. In order to see each other, Uriel, Abril and Ju...

In Rio de Janeiro an engineer fights for a sustainable future with spirited ideas and an unconventional source of energy - made from sewage.

Director: Eduardo Hunter Moura

2012 | 4 min
Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Subtitles: English

FILMMAKER Q&A:
https://simaacademy.com/filmmaker-qa/this-film...

Life can be difficult for children living in the creative, but sometimes volatile, inner-city neighborhoods of Kingston, Jamaica. If an adolescent is a victim of a crime and has to go to court, the case could fall apart because the child is too frightened to testify. This is why development group...

Students from Washington State University visit the prison at Coyote Ridge in order to participate in a debate about gun control. The rest of the participants are the debate club members from the prison – a group of inmates that have been transformed and inspired by their new contact with educati...

Indigenous Harakmbut leaders lead journey to rediscover ancient sacred site to connect with their cultural past and protect their future.

Director: Paul Redman
Producer: Tim Lewis

2014 | 9 min
Latin America | Peru
Languages: Spanish
Subtitles: Portuguese, English, Indonesian, Spanish

Blue Chalk worked with The Red Door Project to create a film that showcases its unique participatory process as they work to stage a series of monologues called “Evolve,” which tackles the fraught relationships between communities of color and law enforcement. In the face of seemingly insurmounta...

As Ellice gets low, her room gets messy - she never sees it coming, but it always happens. There seems to be no way to break out of the endless highs or lows that make up bipolar, or even to pick up her clothes up off the floor.

Director: Dorothy Allen-Pickard
Producers: Lauren Pringle
4 min | U...

The Mahoyo Project is a documentary that follows Mahoyo, a Swedish creative trio as they embark on a cultural exchange – collaborating with local artists in Johannesburg, South Africa. Together they challenge stereotypes and break down normative barriers surrounding race, ethnicity, gender and se...

Being Black Is No Crime is the fourth episode of the web-series "The Conscious Hood" documenting social issues crucial to the residents of São Paulo's Heliópolis, the second largest urban slum in Latin America. Directed by videomaker Katherine Jinyi Li and filmed during her youth journalism works...

Rashid Aslam’s life suffers a complete transformation after his father’s death. From professional gangster, he turns into a savior of lives. The Boxing Project tells the story of Rashid Aslam and his colleague Yasmin Sheikh, and how they try to have a positive influence on the lives of young kids...

[Trigger Warning] Tea Consent is a humorous video about a serious topic. It addresses the issue of sexual assault and consent using the metaphor of offering people tea. Using androgynous figures, it takes the viewer through various scenarios to reinforce the idea of affirmative consent and challe...

Siroun is a virtual reality film that tells the story of a friendship between an Armenian boy and a Turkish boy, Artak and Temin, set against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide. Filmed on the set of The Promise, the film gives viewers an opportunity to immerse themselves in a rural Ottoman vil...

Adiela Jinet Mera Paz, a leader of the Siona people, has taken up the effort to remove mines from the tribe's ancestral land, following decades of armed conflict that has left them facing extinction.

Director: Tom Laffay
Producer: Emily Wright
2021 | 10 min | Colombia
Language: Spanish
Subtitle...

When the social movement "Rio Eu Amo Eu Cuido" was created it had a single purpose: make Rio de Janeiro a better place to live in. This documentary, shot between October 2014 and March 2015, shows a little of the movement's universe, projects and actions that took place with the help of volunteer...

A civil rights activist, Mohammad Jibran Nasir, sparks a social revolution after almost 140 children were killed in the Peshawar Army School tragedy. Narrated by Pakistani actress Fawzia Mirza, this documentary sheds light on the consequences of extreme religion and terrorism in Pakistan and offe...

Esperanza and Teodula are calling for justice in rural Peru, they are part of 300,000 people sterilised without consent more than 18 years ago. The Quipu Project is their phone line that allows the affected across the country to share their shocking testimonies and ensure those responsible are pu...