In Stories From The Field we see both the challenges and innovations for grassroots development programs and resource-poor farmers in Bangladesh. Meet farmers introducing a unique and sustainable seed selection method that empowers women and could impact global food security.

Director: Daniela K...

Human trafficking happens in Singapore. It is real and fiercely alive; a heinous crime that has devastated millions of innocent lives. The scary truth is – each and every one of us could become a victim of trafficking, especially in our globalised society now. Few ever escape and many remain entr...

Stripped of her rights, a woman's life changes when she ventures with her husband to remedy an impossible situation.

Directors: Will Hawkes, Melissa Center
Producers: Will Hawkes, Melissa Center
11 min | USA
Languages: English

FILMMAKER Q&A:
https://simaacademy.com/filmmaker-qa/rv/

Esperanza and Teodula are calling for justice in rural Peru, they are part of 300,000 people sterilised without consent more than 18 years ago. The Quipu Project is their phone line that allows the affected across the country to share their shocking testimonies and ensure those responsible are pu...

After a decade as a sex worker, Iman attempts to pursue her dream of becoming a social worker to help her fellow transgender community members. As she explores the option of going back to college, One Leg In, One Leg Out questions whether tenacity, ambition and a life long dream are enough to ove...

[Trigger Warning] Nefertiti’s Daughters is a story of women, art, and revolution. Told by prominent Egyptian artists, this documentary witnesses the critical role revolutionary street art played during the Egyptian uprisings. Focused on the role of women artists in the struggle for social and pol...

Narrated by Robert Redford, Mother of All Rivers illustrates how one person can effect extraordinary change. In a country with growing socioeconomic inequality and human rights violations, Berta Cáceres rallied her indigenous Lenca people, waging a grassroots campaign to successfully pressure the...

Set in a rural village in Northern Uganda, this short-doc tells the story of a Women's Empowerment Group started by female survivors of the Northern Ugandan War in search of rehabilitation, economic stability, and emotional support.

Director & Producer: Justice Nnanna
15 min | Uganda, USA
Langua...

Chuna Devi - a mother of three in Nepal - once said that "being born as a girl is worthless." But at the age of 47, she found self-worth and changed her life by finally learning to read at a READ Center, starting a women's study group, and investing in her family's education. Today, her goal is t...

Yoiner Machado – The founder of a dance academy in Manrique, teacher and professional in dance as well as creator of methodologies for the coexistence and peace-building through dance. For 13 years he has been dedicated to the transformation of communities and has impacted 1,500 lives. He empower...

Kayayo means “girl-carrier” in the Ga language.
In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets - called Kayayo. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a...

A story about a bus that delivers legal remedies to women in rural Kyrgyzstan.

Director: Shanshan Chen, (Reporter) Adela Suliman
Producers: Shanshan Chen
4 min | Kyrgyzstan
Languages: Russian
Subtitles: English

FILMMAKER Q&A:
https://simaacademy.com/filmmaker-qa/justice-on-wheels/

A glimpse into the everyday life of Juanita, a Mayan traditional doctor, midwife, nurse and activist. Leader of "The Awakening of the Women who Heal," an organization of midwives in the Orient of Yucatan, Mexico. Juanita has dedicated her life to helping others with her gift for healing. The film...

[Trigger Warning] In March 2016 Kausalya and her husband Shankar were brutally attacked on a crowded street in southern India. Shankar, who came from a lower Dalit caste, died of his injuries. Kausalya survives and accuses her parents of orchestrating an honour killing. She fights for justice thr...

While following Jemima, a little curious girl who wanders through dusty roads, crowded markets, slaughterhouses, furnaces and bat hunters we get acquainted with three women who describe the harsh realities of being born female and deaf in a society that discriminates against both women and people...

Fareeha is a 14-year-old Muslim schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a champion fighter. Her school in southern India started teaching the Chinese martial art, wushu, amid rising concerns about violence against women. Fareeha soon falls in love with the sport and qualifies for the national champions...

On any given day millions of girls and women worldwide are menstruating. In Tanzania, 75% of rural schoolgirls never used commercial sanitary pads. This is a striking story of Vanencia, a 14-year-old student. As the leader of the school Health Club she aims to break the silence on menstruation- w...

It’s quite plain to 7 year old Nori: She is a girl, because she has a girl’s heart. But her body is that of a boy.

Five years ago: Each and every day mother and son argue about what appears trivial: the colors of pants and shirts suddenly matter, soon all he agrees to wear are skirts and dresses...

The film portrays the lives of two gay men and one transgender woman who left their home countries because of discrimination and persecution. Now in South Africa they applied for refugee status on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite the fact that in South Africa both national law...

[Trigger Warning] FORCED sets out to capture the complexity and prolific occurrence of child labour and exploitation in Bangladesh. This film takes you into the streets of Dhaka, where children form part of the visual landscape: an integrated part of the work force, they work because society acce...

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people living in the Middle East and North Africa share their responses to myths and stereotypes about LGBT people in the region on a new video and special feature released today by the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE) and Human Rights Watch....

Sometimes, innovative solutions to social challenges are born in the most unlikely places. In Kisumu, Kenya a surprising approach to HIV prevention relies on building bonds two unlikely groups: police officers and sex workers. In Kisumu, extortion and abuse were commonplace, and sex workers’ righ...

Banners to Bags is a social and environmental entrepreneurship venture based in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is the story of their vision to create alternatives to plastic bags by designing durable and reusable bags from waste materials.

Director: Rohit Shakya
2012 | 7 min
Nepal


Banner Bags are an...

The film is a public service announcement. The protagonist, a video blogger, teaches her fans in the video how to cover the bruises up with make-ups after being beaten by her husband. The story sees a twist as the husband enters the scene at the end of the video.

Directors & Producers: Huhe Yan ...