EVERGREEN
December 2025
Dear 3Roots Community,
I want to take a moment and say thank you. Thank you for every answered email, every conversation, every attendance to a film screening or event that talked about art and storytelling, or expressing interest in a film project. In a world that moves fast and changes even faster, your presence, attention, and belief in the power of story have meant everything.
THE STORY AFTER THE STORY
Films that are still making a difference
15 years ago, Akeelah and the Bee inspired the first spelling bee in Uganda – a movement that has since transformed children’s literacy in Africa.
Aaron Kirunda watched Akeelah and the Bee (Lionsgate, 2006) for the first time in 2010. Like most people outside the U.S., he’d never heard of spelling bees before. The film sparked a wonderful idea: bring the film to life for Ugandan children, with the goal of making learning fun – and so the country’s first spelling bee was born. An instant phenomenon, soon every school wanted to partake.
Since then, his organization, Enjuba, has reached 2.1 million children in Uganda, helping 90% of them complete primary school and transition to secondary school. The African Spelling bee now brings together 7 million students across 20 African countries, transforming children’s literacy, confidence, and success.
Last month, Grandma’s House brought the spirit and emotional power of NONNAS (Netflix, 2025) to life in Los Angeles, culminating 1Communitys “Stories From The Table” campaign with an immersive, intergenerational home that showed what happens when a hit film’s message moves off the screen and into the community.
NONNAS reached millions on Netflix by celebrating grandmothers, memory, and the ritual of shared meals—and Grandma’s House transformed those themes into a lived experience where connection, belonging, and healing could happen in real time. Nearly 400 guests—despite the rain—wrote 200 letters to isolated seniors, left 71 ofrenda notes, called loved ones across 20 states, and took home 500 recipe cards to cook with people they love.
With 27.3 million media impressions and overwhelming demand from partners and communities, the weekend made something clear: when narrative stirs emotion and immersive design channels it into action, culture shifts. That is the role philanthropy plays in this work. Film opens hearts, but philanthropic investment turns that emotional opening into measurable belonging, healing, and engagement—and the demand for Grandma’s House shows a powerful, untapped opportunity to bring this experience to communities across California and beyond.
✨COMING SOON✨
Join DailyOM for a special virtual screening of Wisdom of Happiness on December 10. Guided by the Dalai Lama’s timeless wisdom on cultivating peace, empathy, and happiness amid global uncertainty, the film explores how purpose can endure even in turbulent times and inspires us to imagine—and help build—a world where compassion becomes our greatest force for change.
Through GATHR’s Virtual Event Cinema℠, filmmakers empower and incentivize partners like DailyOM to host their own screenings, gain audience insights, and enhance engagement with merchandise, surveys, donations and Pay It Forward ticketing. Don’t miss this incredible film screening – check out the trailer and grab a seat.
January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A 5-year-old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to ger an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab.
Using real recordings together with scripted performances, The Voice of Hind Rajab tells the true story of a little girl killed by Israeli forces as she and her family tried to escape Gaza City last year. The film is a powerful testimony and a record of truth at a time when so much is drowned out or denied.
The film opens in select theaters December 17, and nationwide January 2026.
H is for Hawk, adapted from Helen Mcdonald’s bestselling memoir, is a beautiful and deeply moving story about grief and the unexpected paths that lead us toward healing. In the wake of her father’s sudden death, Helen immerses herself in training a fierce goshawk named Mabel– turning to the ancient art of falconry for grounding.
What begins as a desperate escape becomes a journey of resilience, forcing Helen to confront the emotions she’s long denied. The film explores how loss reshapes identity, how nature becomes both refuge and mirror, and how inherited traditions carry powerful legacies of connection. H is For Hawk will be in theaters nationwide January 23.
FEATURED IMPACT CAMPAIGNS
The film 2000 Meters to Andriivka by Oscar® winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov follows a Ukranian brigade of soldiers as they fight through two kilometers of heavily fortified forest in their mission to liberate Russian-occupied village of Andriivka.
CUE Collective helped produce a limited-edition vinyl of 2000 Meters to Andriivka’s original soundtrack—composed by Grammy Award winner Sam Slater—and is organizing an impact campaign around the vinyl’s release to directly support the families of the soldiers featured in the film. 10 vinyls personally signed by Mstyslav and Sam, are available for sale. 100% of proceeds from vinyl sales go directly to the families. The film premiered on PBS last week.
To get in touch, please email tamar@cuecollective.org.
All The Empty Rooms, Joshua Seftel’s emotionally gripping doc, follows news correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a multi-year journey documenting the empty bedrooms of children lost to school shootings.
All The Empty Rooms is a grantee of Subject Matter, an organization that provides funds and resources to social issue documentaries and to nonprofits that tackle those issues, while inviting inspired audiences to take action.
In honor of Giving Tuesday tomorrow, Subject Matter will add $100 to every donation made this week to the film’s corresponding nonprofit grantee, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, which uses a public health approach to research, advocate for, and implement evidence-based policies and programs that reduce gun violence.
You can watch All The Empty Rooms on Netflix.
Using body cam footage from dozens of police visits, The Perfect Neighbor bears witness to a tight-knit community navigating one neighbor’s relentless harassment. But her hostility takes a sinister turn when it escalates into a fatal crime.
The Perfect Neighbor tells the story of Ajike “AJ” Owens and the devastating impact of Stand Your Ground laws on communities of color. But this film is more than a story—it’s a call to witness, to grieve, and to act. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Born just days after the tragic killing of Owens in 2023, Standing in the Gap Fund began as an act of love and necessity. Because AJ was not the first —and won’t be the last— the Fund exists to support families impacted y racial violence across the country. Will You Stand In the Gap?
Using raw, first-hand footage captured by incarcerated men, The Alabama Solution reveals a hidden world inside Alabama’s prisons: a crisis so severe it’s already sparked national outrage and become HBO’s most-watched documentary during its first two weeks.
Since its release, the impact campaign has exploded with packed community screenings around the country, faith-leader gatherings, and a powerful rally at the Alabama State House. The organization One For Justice is leading this movement for prison oversight, whistleblower protections, and an end to abusive practices.
To support the campaign, reach out to alex@galaxygives.com. There’s real momentum and so many ways to make a difference in our country’s prison crisis.
Now streaming on HBO.
FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
If you’d like to feature an impact campaign or share a powerful story of a film’s influence, we’d love to connect. Reply to this email or reach out at contact@3rootsmedia.com.
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