Teaching for Change is partnering with Filmfest DC: The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival (April 21 - May 1) for an eleventh year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring several films and filmmakers into D.C. classrooms. Students gain a lot from viewing the films, preparing questions, and discussing the film with the visitors.

Filmfest DC is offering tickets for classes to see a specific film during the festival (streaming or in person) and offering several opportunities for filmmakers to visit a class after they have viewed the film. Please note: The films will be streamed using Eventive. (Confirm with your school's tech team that you and your students have access the Eventive platform. You can run a test here.)

The deadline to request a filmmaker visit is April 7. Tickets for online and in-person screenings are limited, and requests will be evaluated on a rolling basis. While most Teaching for Change programs are for the D.C. metro area, the funding for these visits is limited to schools located in the District of Columbia.

FILMS AVAILABLE TO VIEW

Click the links to view descriptions and trailers

• American Dream (21 mins)

• Fierceness Served! The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse (34 mins)

• The First Step (excerpts, 45 mins)

• The Girl with the Accent (10 mins)

• Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color (20 mins)

• Miss Chelove (15 mins)

• No Safety with Surveillance (11 mins)

• We Still Here / Nos Tenemos (54 mins)

American Dream by Angela Garcia Combs

21 mins

A recovering addict suffers the dangers and indignities of gig work in the wealthy homes of the privileged few. America’s lack of social safety net has been laid bare by the pandemic and has even further exposed how basic survival is especially difficult for those with any “strike” against them, such as addiction. American Dream puts the gig-work economy into that context to show how precarious the American ethos of rugged individualism really is. Film Facebook and Twitter.

Fierceness Served! The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse by Michelle Denise Parkerson

34 mins

Fierceness Served! The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse focuses on the Washington DC history of The Coffeehouse, which served as a performance venue, rehearsal space, and meeting place for Black LGBTQ artists and political organizations in the 1980s. This documentary highlights the work of the Coffeehouse creatives by using archival footage, audio clips, publicity materials, academic articles, and reviews. Interviews with surviving members of the community, as well as people who attended and supported this thriving arts community, are also included. Fierceness Served! The ENKIAlley Coffeehouse preserves and represents this extraordinary movement by educating viewers to its relevance in contemporary times. Film website. Read about the documentary in the Washington City Paper.

The First Step by Brandon Kramer

Excerpts, 45 mins

Van Jones, a Black progressive activist known for calling Donald Trump's election “a whitelash” live on primetime TV, controversially crossing party lines to win bipartisan support for criminal justice reform and the response to the addiction crisis. Van’s journey building bridges in a time of extreme polarization takes him deep into the messy drama of the Trump administration, internal divisions within both parties, and the lives of activists fighting on the frontlines for their communities. Meridian Pictures website.

The Girl with the Accent

10 mins

Through home recordings and archival footage, an Ethiopian woman recounts her experience as a young refugee and how she came to understand her position as a Black girl in America.

Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color by Cheri Gaulk

20 mins

Alma W. Thomas lived a life of firsts: the first Fine Arts graduate of Howard University (1924), the first Black woman to mount a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1972), and the first Black woman to have her paintings exhibited in the White House (2009). Yet she did not receive national attention until she was 80.

Miss Alma Thomas is the first documentary film that explores Thomas’ incredible life through the lens of curators, art specialists, scholars, her family, and award-winning actress Alfre Woodard as the voice of Miss Thomas. Released in conjunction with a major four-city museum retrospective, thousands will have the opportunity to learn of her life, work, and continuing influence.

Miss Chelove by Sara T. Gama

15 mins

The film opens as artist Cita Sadeli aka MISS CHELOVE begins work on a mural in a soon-to-open Indonesian coffeehouse in Washington D.C. One of few Indonesian establishments in the area, Cita drew on her Javanese heritage to create a modern woman ornamented in traditional Javanese jewelry yet rooted in 21st-century youth culture. The process is documented from start to finish and conversations with Cita about her unconventional life in the Washington D.C. area, being a Javanese American, the influence of punk, hip-hop, and reggae on her life, and how she came to fall in love with graffiti in the 1980s when there were few women drawn to the culture at the time. We follow Miss Chelove on a musical journey of her life experiences, different cultural heritages, and the evolution of her art.  All unfolding as she creates a wall mural of a young modern-day Javanese woman in DC one color at a time. Cita Sadeli’s (Miss Chelove) website.

No Safety with Surveillance by Joe Gentle

11 mins

Data collection and surveillance are at the core of the tech industry's profit model. As the value of our data increases, so does the number of human rights violations committed by Big Tech and their customers. Three key figures working to stop the spread of surveillance capitalism weigh in here: Brandi Collins-Dexter, Senior Fellow, Color of Change; Alavaro Beoya, Founding Director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law; and Mary Beth Gallagher, Executive Director of Investor Advocates for Social Justice. Through the lens of their research and experience, they discuss the widespread damage caused by unchecked surveillance, and their work to stop it. Website.

We Still Here / Nos Tenemos by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

54 mins

We Still Here / Nos Tenemos introduces the incredible youth of Comerío, Puerto Rico navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a disaster that brought an unprecedented level of devastation to an island already in economic and political crisis. In the lush mountains in the center of Puerto Rico, 24-year-old Mariangelie Ortiz leads a group of young residents who never thought they would become the leaders of their community. They nonetheless find themselves traveling to Washington D.C. to protest in the halls of Congress. Follow them in this coming of age story to find their power and begin creating a sustainable future for themselves and their community. Film website.