The goal of the Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest initiative is to inspire a documentary film practice and infrastructure that can contribute to strong societies.
The initiative’s activities are designed to cross bridges between thinking and acting. We bring together practitioners and researchers, journalists and documentary filmmakers, in a shared project to build a stronger, more resilient field that can serve the needs of a democratic public by design.
Documentary films play a vital role in our civic culture by investigating injustices, unearthing forgotten histories, connecting to new perspectives, and speaking truth to power. Its technologies, methods, creative approaches, institutional infrastructures, and ethical practices have greatly evolved over time. However, within the last five years, both the rate and kinds of change have been radical and destabilizing.
The initiative examines the challenges facing the field through these major research areas and programs:
Research Areas
- Distribution Systems, Infrastructure and Audience
- Ethical Practice and Journalistic Standards
- Generative AI, CHatGPT and New Technologies
Programs
Fellowship
Inviting documentary filmmakers, film industry leaders, media policy experts, contemporary media scholars, journalists, and business innovators to generate research and policy recommendations for the field. More information on our current Fellows and application can be found by clicking here.
Annual Convenings
Bringing leaders from within the field and across media disciplines to engage in analysis-informed forums where they can examine shared obstacles and chart courses to systems-wide solutions.
Screening Series
Screening contemporary documentary films that examine issues related to public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School connect these impact-focused films with audiences of current and future policy makers and bring filmmakers into conversation with leaders paving the way toward change. View our upcoming and past screenings here.
Doc Distro Lit Review
In recent years, the global landscape for the distribution of independent documentary films has undergone seismic changes. In response to this crisis, support organizations, industry leaders, journalists, and filmmakers have been organizing convenings, collaborating on fresh solutions, and writing in-depth examinations about how we got here and what comes next. We have compiled the Documentary Distribution Literature Review to capture the quickly evolving landscape through a curated collection of annotated articles, webinars, talks, and convening summaries for an audience of experts and lay people alike.
Henry Awards for Public Interest Documentary
A new Documentary award, raising the visibility of public interest filmmaking and elevating the work of winners and finalists demonstrating excellence and best practice.
Interested in learning more about our work? Contact the team at docfilm@hks.harvard.edu or sign up to get periodic email updates!
Staff
Sara Archambault
Program Director
Enrique Pedráza-Botero
Special Projects Manager
Sydney Tanigawa
Project Coordinator
Announcing Fall 2024 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows
The Shorenstein Center is proud to announce the Fall 2024 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows. The group joins the Center under the auspices of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the HKS community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on
Announcing Spring 2024 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows
The Shorenstein Center is excited to announce the Spring 2024 cohort of documentary film fellows. The group joins the Center under the auspices of the newly-established Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the HKS community about the challenges facing the field and its
Announcing the launch of Shorenstein Fellow Tom Casciato’s “Thousand Roads” podcast
The Shorenstein Center is celebrating the release of Shorenstein Fellow Tom Casciato’s podcast – “The Thousand Roads” – this week. Hosted by Casciato, an Emmy award-winning director, writer, and producer, the podcast explores the intersection of documentary film and journalism through interviews with industry leaders.
Reimagining Democracy for Gen Z
An in-depth conversation about the role of young women working to build a more equitable landscape in political leadership, exploring how younger generations are breaking barriers to engage in civic dialogue and address political polarization. This event was co-sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program and the Institute of Politics at HKS.
King Coal: A documentary film screening and director Q&A
The event is co-hosted by The Documentary Film in the Public Interest program at the Shorenstein Center, The Committee on Degrees in Folklore & Mythology, The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and the Mahindra Humanities Center.
Chinese Independent Film and Distribution of Public Interest Media
Karin Chien, in conversation with Jian Yi, charts the evolution of her work at dGenerate Films, acquiring independent Chinese films and releasing them in the US through a partnership with Icarus Films. Karin is a fellow for the Documentary Film in the Public Interest program at the Shorenstein Center. Elsie Chen will moderate this talk. This event is co-sponsored by the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
