Where We Work

Macedonia, Kosovo Mission, 1999

For eight weeks, FilmAid held free screenings of silent films, cartoons and family-oriented feature films for a few hundred to as many as four thousand children and their families in the refugee camps in Macedonia and back in the war-torn communities of Kosovo. Traumatized children came out of tents and gathered together as a community for the first time since the shattering experience of being forced from their homes. Night after night, families came together as an audience, and the FilmAid truck went from camp to camp, enchanting children and uplifting spirits. FilmAid employed local people to run the programs and trained them in technical skills. On this mission, FilmAid learned how it could use film to educate on matters of life-saving importance. FilmAid projected essential information on land mine awareness, a critical issue at the time.

Afghanistan, 2002

In February of 2002, FilmAid traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan on a trip to assess the viability of running programs in Afghanistan. While there, FilmAid screened the films The Wizard of Oz and Children of Heaven to 450 street children in Kabul.

USA Gulf Coast, 2005-2006

In 2005, FilmAid undertook a relief effort in the United States on behalf of families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FilmAid's involvement with the disaster's evacuees began in December of 2005 when it joined forces with Turner Classic Movies to present two screenings of the film MAKE IT FUNKY! to Baton Rouge, a community which doubled in size following the hurricanes, and to the Groom Road FEMA Trailer community, the largest of the FEMA trailer parks for New Orleans evacuees. The outdoor screenings of the film, a documentary which honors the vibrant musical history of New Orleans, were preceded by a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, vintage cartoons, and performances by local evacuee musicians, some of whom were featured in the movie. In April of 2006, FilmAid collaborated with Listen Up! and other local and national organizations such as AnimAction, and Louisiana State University to start a project for Katrina's young evacuees, in which they were able to express their thoughts and feelings about the disaster through animation. Many participants in the program went on to partake in the Red Stick International Animation Festival, which featured animated short films of youth from New Orleans and Baton Rouge who were all affected in some way by the hurricane. Students who participated in the festival had the opportunity to hear speakers from Walt Disney and Pixar Studios.

Sudan, 2010

FilmAid partnered with Mercy Corps in support of their project, “Localizing Institutional Capacity in Sudan” (LINCS), funded by USAID. The program was implemented across southern Sudan and the three transitional areas. It was designed to support the development of civil society organizations (CSOs). The LINCS Program operates Resource Centers throughout what is now South Sudan that provide direct support to CSO partners. Programs include computer training services, a community library and community hall for CSO partner meetings and trainings. The program encourages the dissemination of information through audiovisual material at its center to benefit non-literate community members and marginalized groups that do not have access to conventional means of education. FilmAid provided a series of educational videos to the Resources Centers along with discussion guides, manuals and other accompanying tools.