Documentary Film in the Public Interest

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.

Documentary Award (Coming in 2024)

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

Fellowships

The Documentary Film in the Public Interest Fellowship program is designed to support new research, analysis, innovation and provocation around core issues facing the documentary field. Through the fellows’ projects, the Shorenstein Center will engage in examinations of best practice, industry ecosystems, public impact and media policy. 

Click here to learn more about the fellowship program and how to apply.

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

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Announcing the inaugural class of fellows for documentary film professionals and scholars

This fall, the Shorenstein Center is thrilled to welcome its first cohort of documentary film fellows under the auspices of the center’s newly-established Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative. Documentary films play a vital role in our civic culture by investigating injustices, unearthing forgotten histories, connecting to new perspectives and speaking truth to

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