Festivals Around the World Screened Skoll Awardee Films in 2018

November 12, 2018

By Gabriel Diamond - Skoll Foundation

In 2018, we elevated and amplified the stories of Skoll awardees in more than 50 cities and 11 countries, showing audiences all over the world that change is possible. Here’s a quick recap of where our films showed over the year.  

Our film BLUE VENTURES, featuring Blue Ventures’ work to nurture and sustain locally-led marine conservation was a finalist in the 2018 Audience Awards Ocean Film Challenge, a challenge aimed at mobilizing audiences to act in support of the ocean. The challenge was juried by legendary marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle, Eric Cheng—Head of Immersive Media at Facebook, Josh Fox—director of GASLAND, and actor Matthew Lillard. The winning Ocean Film Challenge films were screened at the world’s largest showcase of environmental films—Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, the International Wildlife Film Festival, and Infinity Film Festival. Altogether, BLUE VENTURES screened at nine festivals in 2018, including Green Screen, a unique festival bringing environmentally themed films and discussions to communities in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Save The Waves Film Festival, which featured a screening on Easter Island.

EDUCATE GIRLS, capturing Educate Girls’ work to bridge the gender gap in India through increasing access to education, has screened at seven festivals, including Artemis Women In Action Film Festival, the Rishikesh International Film Festival, the KIDS First! Film Festival—a festival which partners with more than 50 venues nationwide to host screenings of juried films year-round—and MICGénero, a festival which seeks to catalyze conversation about gender in cities all across Mexico.

Our film EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE, profiling Bryan Stevenson’s inspiring fight for racial justice, screened at five festivals including the Global Peace Film Festival, the Crossroads Film Festival, and the (In)Justice For All Film Festival, a groundbreaking event designed to raise awareness about the magnitude of the harm caused by mass incarceration.

STILL I RISE, a visual and musical interpretation of Maya Angelou’s electrifying poem “Still I Rise” won the Jury Prize in the Audience Awards “Race to Justice” Challenge 2018. The challenge showcased short films portraying honest and instructive conversation about race. It was juried by April Reign, the creator of #OscarsSoWhite, Roy Wood Jr. of Comedy Central, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, among others. The film was also selected as a finalist for the People’s Choice Award in the MY HERO International Film Festival. The film screened at five festivals in 2018, including Blackbird Film Festival, the SiciliAmbiente Documentary Film Festival, and the Infinity Film Festival.

Our film STREET WORKERS UNITE! about Nidan’s work to empower the informal workforce in India has screened at 10 festivals including the United Nations Association Film Festival 2018, the Alameda International Film Festival 2018, The Workers Unite Film Festival 2018, and the Respect Belfast Human Rights Film Festival. Notably, Street Workers Unite! was a finalist in the Impact Video: Innovation category in the 2018 Social Impact Media Awards, a global media competition honoring high-quality social impact storytelling projects selected from over 140 countries around the world.

TYRANNY OF DISTANCE, our film about Last Mile Health’s lifesaving work empowering community health workers to deliver healthcare to remote regions of Liberia, was awarded the Impact Jury Prize in Impact Video category at the 2018 Social Impact Media Awards. The film screened at 10 festival in 2018, including the Global Health Film Festival, Awareness Film Festival, the Deep in the Heart Film Festival, and the International Images Film Festival for Women—a festival in Harare, Zimbabwe which aims to share stories that focus on the journey and contributions of African women and African diaspora women. Gabriel Diamond, Skoll staff filmmaker, expanded on the importance of the film’s message in this interview with We Are Moving Stories.

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