About Us
Our vision is to actualize a reimagined documentary landscape toward one that strengthens people of color visibility, voice, and power, laying the groundwork for a future of the field that is a more powerful force for social change.
What we are about
Color Congress is an ecosystem-builder that is committed to organizations led by people of color that serve nonfiction filmmakers, leaders, and audiences of color across the United States and US islands. We are a membership organization that includes film festivals, artist support and narrative change entities, micro cinemas, filmmaker collectives, and public media. We serve this ecosystem by supporting, resourcing, connecting and championing these organizations to build their collective power.
What we know
Check out the following research and writing that informs our thinking:
Beyond Inclusion: Critical Role of People of Color in the U.S. Documentary Ecosystem
By Sahar Driver
Lens Reflected: What Stories & Storytellers Get the Green light in Documentary’s Streaming Age?
By Leadership Working Group: Caty Borum, Sonya Childress, Ani Mercedes
The State of the Documentary Field: 2020 Study of Global and U.S. Documentary Professionals
By Caty Borum Chattoo and William Harder
What we believe in
We believe in storytelling as the narrative fabric of a society. Stories and storytellers that accurately reflect our society’s diverse population are vital to a healthy, functioning democracy.
We believe in the transformative power of documentary film to bear witness to complex events and lived experiences.
We believe in the legacy of leadership among people of color who have been shifting documentary, a field built upon the stories of people of color, from one of extraction towards one of respect, authorship, and healing.
We define people of color as people who are of Black or African American and/or of Indigenous, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern descent. We recognize the intersectional identities that also profoundly shape the experiences of people of color. Despite our differences, there are many shared experiences among people of color in the nonfiction storytelling space.
When facing common obstacles we believe we are stronger together and recognize the benefits of collaboration.
We believe the solutions to the challenges the field faces lies within the ecosystem of people of color led and serving organizations who are uniquely positioned to respond.
We trust these leaders who have already been addressing related challenges and believe they deserve resources and support to continue doing this work.
We believe in being a different kind of intermediary, one that is committed to leading from within, by practicing trust based and participatory grantmaking and creating opportunities for healing.
We believe in the power of place-based storytelling, and seek to resource organizations in communities long seen as sources of stories, but not leaders.
We believe in creating the conditions for many people of color led organizations and filmmaking hubs all across the country to flourish. We believe in increasing access within existing infrastructure and also advancing bold new ideas to revolutionize the space.
We believe in horizontal, anti-racist, social movement-centered work. We measure the success of our work by the strength of the relationships we build and our ability to move together.
We aim to honor existing efforts and those on whose shoulders we stand.
We especially believe in our members. We do this work alongside them and our partners.