Documented Engagement: Films for Action

Online, community-driven media portal, Films for Action, hosts documentaries designed to inspire action and inform on topics often overlooked by mainstream media.

Autor*in Anna Rees, 06.18.13

Online, community-driven media portal, Films for Action, hosts documentaries designed to inspire action and inform on topics often overlooked by mainstream media.

Covering everything from climate change and capitalism to renewable energy and our reliance on oil, documentary films have been capturing the zeitgeist of social and environmental movements for decades, encouraging countless people to take action on a plethora of topics and filling in the knowledge gaps that mainstream media outlets tend to leap over.

In 2006, a small team of activists started cataloguing documentaries focussing on social or environmental issues with the aim of building an online, user-driven portal for knowledge dissemination and social change. Today, that portal, called Films for Action, hosts over 1,500 top documentaries and short films, all free and legal to watch online.

Well aware that watching a documentary can be the starting point for engaging with a cause, the team behind Films for Action support their online library with a range of resources including a directory of local activist groups and regular events for those looking to get more involved in a particular topic.

The website also features a user-generated and powered news feed while localised, volunteer-run city chapters operate globally, hosting documentary screenings pertinent to the region and often launching grassroots public awareness campaigns in line with said screened films.

Locally, there is a Films for Action city chapter based in Kolkata or you can simply head to their portal to check out their exhaustive catalogue of films.

Author: Anna Rees/ RESET editorial

 
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