Brenda Hampton was born first of ten to a family in rural Alabama. Her mother taught her to think critically and always fight for justice, so she left for Boston to become an investigator. When her mother fell ill, she returned to Alabama to donate her left kidney. Eventually Brenda’s remaining kidney began to fail […]

Join us for a discussion exploring the many ways that documentary storytelling can create social change. A panel of documentary professionals come together to discuss how they’ve carried their messages beyond the screen to create engagement from audiences and respond to social issues and injustices. Subjects that will be discussed include impact and outreach strategy, […]

Your pitch deck is one of the most important tools in your initial stage of obtaining financing. In this mentorship roundtable session, documentary filmmaker Isabel Castro will show examples of her own personal pitch decks and discuss the importance of these decks in pitching, raising funds, and selling your film. *Please note that live captioning […]

Audio Under the Stars is a unique, immersive, and shared experience that brings diverse individuals together for an evening of documentary storytelling in a charming, garden-party atmosphere. Stories both reflect the lives of the audience and take them to places they could never imagine. The richness of the stories creates captivating, magical moments: listeners often […]

Audio Under the Stars is a unique, immersive, and shared experience that brings diverse individuals together for an evening of documentary storytelling in a charming, garden-party atmosphere. Stories both reflect the lives of the audience and take them to places they could never imagine. The richness of the stories creates captivating, magical moments: listeners often […]

Southern Documentary Fund is pleased to present OUTTA THE MUCK, directed and produced by Bhawin Suchak and Ira Mckinley.Family, football and history come to life in an intimate portrait of the Dean family, longtime residents of the historic town of Pahokee, Florida. We take a journey back home, with filmmaker Ira McKinley, to the land […]

Do you want to diversify funding opportunities for your film? Do you want to feel more confident in financial negotiations for your project? This interactive roundtable, hosted by documentary filmmaker Rebekah Fergusson, is an introduction to the documentary waterfall: guidelines and best practices for investor financing and financial recoupment for documentary films.*Please note that live […]

Southern Documentary Fund is pleased to present MAMA BEARS at the 28th Annual Cucalorus Film Festival.Sara Cunningham and Kimberly Shappley are two mama bears — conservative, Christian mothers whose profound love for their LGBTQ+ children has turned them into fierce advocates for the entire queer community. Tammi Terrell Morris is a young African American lesbian […]

One of the most critical components of any documentary grant application is the work sample. In this interactive mentorship roundtable, documentary editor & producer Sabrina Schmidt Gordon will dive into the ways that you can craft an effective documentary work sample.*Please note that live captioning is available for all virtual public events. To make a […]

Join SDF for a special webinar on fiscal sponsorship and how it can help you fundraise for your documentary film. SDF Program Manager Christopher Everett will provide an overview of the basics of fiscal sponsorship, including what it is and how it works. We will be joined by John Beder, a documentary filmmaker who has […]

Join the Academy Center of the Arts in viewing UNMARKED, a film about the thousands of African-American grave sites and burial grounds for enslaved persons that have been disappearing over the years. In Virginia alone, stories of thousands at rest could vanish from history altogether if these locations are not restored and those with personal […]

Southern Documentary Fund is pleased to present a free work-in-progress screening of GRANDMASTER: THE VIC MOORE STORY, by Christopher Everett as part of our Fresh Docs program. In 1965, Vic Moore became one of the first African Americans to win a major karate competition. Now over 50 years later, Vic Moore is locked in a […]