Filmfest DC 2023 — D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice

Teaching for Change is partnering with Filmfest DC: The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival (April 19-30) for a twelfth year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring films and filmmakers for several films into D.C. classrooms. Students gain a lot from viewing the documentaries, preparing questions, and discussing the film with the visitors.

Filmfest DC is offering tickets for classes to see a specific film during the festival and offering opportunities for filmmakers to visit a class after the class has viewed the film.

Please note that 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. Film formats (DVD, streaming from YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) for classroom screening may vary.

The deadline to request a filmmaker visit is Monday, April 3. Tickets for online and in-person screenings are limited, and requests will be evaluated on a rolling basis.

There is also an opportunity for high school students to attend a screening of Chevalier at the French embassy the morning of April 25. If you are interested in this opportunity, fill out this form.

Request a film and/or visit

Films available to view

Click the links to view descriptions and trailers

Request a film and/or visit

Town Destroyer

2022, 53 minutes, by Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow

Town Destroyer explores how to look at art and history at a time of polarized national debate over the power of images, racism, trauma, and what should be taught in schools. A dispute erupts at a San Francisco high school over Depression-era murals about the life of George Washington: slaveowner, military leader, land speculator, President, and a man Native leaders called “Town Destroyer” after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The 13 murals at George Washington High School were painted in 1936 by left-wing artist Victor Arnautoff, a student of Diego Rivera. The murals both praise Washington and — rare for the time — critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. Most controversial is a provocative image of a dead Indian — life-size, eye-level, at the center of the school. A high profile battle erupts over the images, leading to a passionate outpouring of activism and opinions about art, history, and racial reckoning in America. Film website.

Mama Bears

2022, 87 mins, by Daresha Kyi

Mama Bears is a feature-length documentary that explores the many ways in which the lives of conservative, Christian mothers are impacted and utterly transformed when they decide to affirm and advocate on behalf of their LGBTQ children. As members of a private Facebook group — which they call the “mama bears” because of the fierceness with which its members fight for their offspring’s rights — they offer one another support and understanding in the struggle to overcome the teachings of their evangelical churches. Film website.

Filmmakers for the Prosecution

2022, 58 minutes, By Jean-Christophe Klotz

Adapted from Sandra Schulberg’s monograph, Filmmakers for the Prosecution retraces the hunt for film evidence that could convict the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trial. The searchers were two sons of Hollywood — brothers Budd and Stuart Schulberg — serving under the command of OSS film chief John Ford. The motion pictures they presented in the courtroom became part of the official record and shape our understanding of the Holocaust to this day. Seventy-five years after the trial, French journalist and filmmaker Jean-Christophe Klotz returns to the German salt mines where films lay burning, uncovers never-before-seen footage, and interviews key figures to unravel why the resulting film about the trial — Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today by Stuart Schulberg — was intentionally buried by the U.S. Department of War. Klotz’s riveting film also fills in the gaps of how these groundbreaking materials were sourced and poses still-pertinent questions about documentarians’ obligations to posterity. Film website.

Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis

USA, 2022, 58 minutes

Las Abogadas follows four immigration attorneys over a multi-year odyssey beginning in 2018 as the U.S. government under President Trump upends every law to protect those fleeing from violence and war — and into 2021 when things fail to get better (and in some ways get worse) under President Biden. We watch the valiant efforts of our protagonists: Rebecca Eichler setting up a legal clinic in a Volkswagen van in the middle of 5,000 desperate migrants; Charlene D’Cruz forcing border guards to follow the law and accept three disabled children into U.S. custody; Mulu Alemayehu crossing the border to counsel African migrants stuck in Tijuana; Jodi Goodwin giving legal advice in the brutally hot Mexican sun to families desperate to see American soil. We watch our subjects’ arduous journeys to try and overcome a broken system, and we follow the stories of the migrants who they work frantically to try and help. Film website.

Legacy of Lee’s Flower Shop

2023, 23 mins, by Kamilah Thurmon

Lee's Flower and Card shop is the oldest continuous family-owned flower business in Washington, D.C. Lee's, along with the family running it, has seen many transformations within the D.C. community. Lee’s started on the U Street corridor, also known as Black Broadway, when African-Americans were free to own businesses during a time of Jim Crow laws. In later years, Lee's survived major U.S. history moments, including the Washington, D.C., riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the George Floyd protests in 2020. Through all of these events, Lee’s has serviced all people in the nation’s capital by providing flower arrangements to everyone from grandmothers on Mother’s Day to U.S. Presidents welcoming international guests. This treasured and long-lasting business will continue to beautify the Washington, D.C., community. Film website.

Black Fire Documentary

2022, 28 mins, by Kia Freeman-Hicks and Patrick Mamou

The Black Fire Documentary uncovers Washington, D.C.’s music and its cultural heritage by highlighting the documents, images, photographs, art, video footage, music, and the people behind Black Fire Records. Through the use of primary and secondary research methods, in-person interviews, and archival and media footage and photography, the documentary shines light on a Black-owned, independent jazz record label started in Chocolate City, aka the nation’s capital, in the 1970’s.

Established by DJ and record producer Jimmy Gray and saxophonist James “Plunky” Branch who led the band Oneness Of Juju, Black Fire Records followed in the footsteps of other influential black-owned independent labels like Strata-East and Tribe. Film website.

A Chocolate Lens

2022, 22 mins, Gabriel Veras

How do you take a picture and tell a whole story? A Chocolate Lens chronicles Steven Cummings’s photographic journey through a disappearing Black Washington. His approach was simple: use the camera lens to find the power amidst the storm. His images are a love letter to Black people across America. Film website.

Take Me Home

2023, 16 mins, Liz Sargent

Anna is an adult with a cognitive disability living with her mother in Midland, Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside. Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. In this sadness, Anna sees the bigger picture and with a straightforward strength, Anna holds her own. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds. Film website.

Sunscreen

2023, 11 mins, Edna L. Biesold

[Dialogue in ASL with English subtitles.] The end of every relationship has a beginning. When Shelby and Mason get to the beach, they realize that neither of them brought sunscreen. Who's to blame? This film observes how accountability is handled in a crumbling relationship. Film website.