EVERGREEN
August 2026
ROOTED REFLECTIONS
Sitting on the floor of our school gymnasium at 9 years old, I was hardly old enough to catch the tones of fear that were spilling from the voices of the adults in the room as they made the announcement – There was a terrorist attack in New York City, something about planes crashing into two big buildings, and it was Muslims who did it. “But we will not do to them what we did to Japanese Americans before” – I was too young at the time to know what to make of Principal Paulson’s last statement, but I recall thinking, “What does that mean?”
Growing up Muslim-American is very simple actually, yet to others it may sound like a binary identity. Can you be truly American if you are also Muslim? For me and my community, it’s as seamless as existing. ALMOST HOME, a short film we supported as a part of our philanthropic initiative, followed a young Muslim veteran grappling with PTSD after returning home from deployment in Iraq post 9/11. It’s these stories and more of Muslim characters leading a wide breadth of human experiences that I feel are important to see on screen to challenge the narrow narrative of Islamic radicalism that floods the media.
I am excited to partner with 3Roots and LOHAS to launch our new initiative, Good Stories Fund. The fund empowers Muslim filmmakers to reclaim their narratives through empathetic storytelling. We aim to work with industry partners to greenlight projects that are at advanced stages of development by providing financial support to their productions and thereby reframing dialogue around a community that has not had equitable access to the financial, social, or institutional opportunities to share their stories. This is just the beginning…
Mahum Jamal
Founder & Executive Director
Good Stories Fund
THE STORY AFTER THE STORY
Films that are still making a difference
In 2020, Through The Night introduced audiences to a 24-hour daycare and the mothers who relied on it to keep working through impossible hours.
The film premiered just as the pandemic turned its protagonists, essential workers, into headline news, and went on to help pass one of New York State’s most significant childcare budgets on record. “To mother when you are Black, poor, queer, trans, immigrant, indigenous or undocumented is to insist on the value of our lives in a society that tells us we are worthless,” said Loira Limbal, director of Through the Night. “Through community-centered screenings and panels, we helped get $2.4 billion allocated for childcare.” The campaign also raised over $80K for home-based daycare facilities and over $16K for Dee’s Tots, the childcare center featured in the film. Critical acclaim followed too, including a Tribeca World Premiere, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and a broadcast premiere on PBS’s POV series.
Now, as New York City rolls out a promised “universal childcare” expansion, the film is back in rooms full of providers, organizers, and elected officials discussing who’s getting left out. Current policies exclude night-shift workers by focusing on traditional 9-5 schedules, while home-based family childcare providers, most of them Black and Latina immigrant women, remain undervalued despite their expertise. The renewed campaign aims to re-educate leaders and flip that power dynamic on its head. We caught up with Through the Night director and Firelight Media CEO Loira Limbal, to talk about what this has all meant for her: “Six years later, we’re back again at the city level supporting the providers and organizers working to ensure the city gets it right. It’s amazing.”
If you’d like to learn more or get involved, please visit the film’s website to stay updated on screening details. Through the Night is now streaming on the Criterion Channel.
OUT NOW & COMING SOON
Misan Harriman: Shoot the People (Watermelon Pictures, 2026) captures photographer and activist Misan Harriman in his journey across the globe documenting protest movements, from the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprisings to the fight for Palestinian liberation.
“Shoot the People is a reminder that photography and art as activism is never just about capturing a moment,” said Director Andy Mundy-Castle. “It’s about shaping history, challenging power, and giving people back their humanity. I hope audiences leave feeling that their own voice matters, that creativity can be a force for justice, and that every one of us has the power and responsibility to stand up for those whose stories deserve to be seen.” Misan, who made history as the first Black man to photograph a British Vogue cover, also shared this with us: “This film is about every person who refused to look away, every person who decided that injustice must not have impunity for the powerful few, and how community in protest can change the world.” Shoot the People is now streaming and in select theaters.
Against all odds, Finding Má Director Thanh Tran found a way to teach himself filmmaking inside San Quentin State Prison, first as a tool for organizing against the deportation of fellow incarcerated people, then as a way to document his own life.
Finding Má follows Thanh’s reunion with six of his seven siblings and his mother after 20 years of separation, shaped by foster care, incarceration, addiction, and homelessness. Keep an eye out for this film: it is currently in post-production, with completion expected in the fall and a Sundance submission in the works. We had the chance to chat with Thanh about the film and what it means to choose love again and again, even when it’s the harder path. “When families are being ripped apart,” Thanh said, “when communities are being pitted against each other, the biggest line of defense we have against that is each other.” Watch the trailer and support the film at findingmafilm.com or follow @findingmafilm on social media.
FEATURED IMPACT CAMPAIGNS
Filmed over 10 years, One In A Million (PBS, 2026) follows a young Syrian refugee named Israa on her journey as she flees the civil war with her family and builds a new life in Germany – coming of age caught between two cultures.
What began as a chance encounter between the directors (Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes) and a cigarette-selling 11 year old became a decade-long project. One in a Million premiered at Sundance 2026, where it won both the Directing Award and the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary. The film, and its impact campaign supported by Impact Partners, focuses heavily on refugee youth integration, mental health awareness, and the long-term psychological impact of displacement rather than the crisis of migration. “We hope ‘One In A Million’ helps audiences better understand and empathize with the complexities of the refugee experience,” Azzam and MacInnes said. One In A Million will be available to stream on PBS following its festival run.
People of the West (Pechanga Studios, 2026) is a 10-part documentary series that reclaims California’s history through the eyes of Native American people, rather than those who conquered them.
By blending cinematic reenactments and lived experiences, People of the West uncovers California’s true history. Alongside Pechanga Studios, Picture Motion is leading an impact campaign that brings free screenings, educator partnerships, discussion guides and classroom resources to communities across the state. Picture Motion CEO, Brian Walker, shared his thoughts with us: “People of the West is more than a documentary series; it’s an invitation to rethink the stories we’ve inherited about California and our country. We’re partnering with Tribal Nations, educators, and communities to ensure Native voices aren’t just included in the conversation, but are leading it.” Visit peopleofthewest.org or follow @peopleofthewestseries on Instagram to host a screening, learn more, and stay connected.
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
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