SONYA CHILDRESS • MARCH 28, 2023

In a field built around supporting, funding, and distributing the work of filmmakers, it is easy to forget the ecosystem that makes that work possible. But behind every brilliant documentarian of color are leaders of color who have built organizations with the express purpose of elevating those makers. These organizations are often the places where filmmakers first pick up a camera, connect with a mentor, find their “people”, get their first production grant, or show their work to a room full of faces that look just like theirs. This is the powerful, beautiful ecosystem of documentary organizations led by people of color. And, no surprise here, the vast majority of them are helmed by women and femmes who are filmmakers in their own right.