Reel Women Real Change is our unique knowledge exchange and mentorship program carefully designed to support women who want to use storytelling, including film, as a platform to advocate for social justice. Storytelling brings to life the need for change; it puts a human face on problematic policies that may otherwise go unnoticed. Given the explosion of video, with 300 hours being uploaded to YouTube every minute, and the number of challenges communities face, it is simply not enough to make a video about an important issue and hope the video will have an impact. Effective use of film and storytelling in advocacy requires strategy at every step, from the framing of the issue itself and audience identification to the theory of change, stories selected and the distribution strategy. Our knowledge exchange sessions cover the topics that receive little to no coverage in film school.

Although policy can change in the stroke of a pen, the process of winning political support can take decades. Although video can be shot and uploaded in minutes, creating effective film and a strategy to influence social change and reach target audiences can take years. Our program includes one-on-one and small group mentorship in addition to a global community of support for our graduates, ensuring they have the technical information, issue-specific insight and ongoing encouragement to see their projects through to completion.