This Is Our Chance Film Festival is the Community Event We Need

The lights darken, the film reel rolls, the anticipatory energy spreads through the air, and we’re magically transported into an immersive experience that provokes us emotionally and intellectually.

Some films offer an opportunity to escape, laugh, cry, dream, or wonder, while a select cohort of films serve an even greater purpose by delivering an inspiring call to action. And, while these calls to action are contained within the films themselves, the mark of a well-crafted, impactful story is its ability to stir us long after the credits roll. 

While many things have changed in 2020, the indelible impact of stories and their ability to illuminate possibility remains constant. Stories keep us connected to the myriad challenges in front of us today and provide the space for us to imagine how we might overcome those challenges and build a better tomorrow.

It is within this context that the This is Our Chance Film Festival 2020 was created. 

Nine non-profit organizations (including Education Reimagined) aimed at transforming the current education system came together to design a free, virtual event that explores the intersection of race, education, and youth empowerment.

The festival is a first-of-its-kind event that runs from October 6th-27th and invites educators, families, young people, and community leaders to participate in the ways that make the most sense to them—organizing a school- or organization-wide watch party, watching with family members, or inviting friends for a post-film Zoom happy hour conversation.

Through a curated selection of powerful films and shorts and live virtual events, the hosts are looking to generate meaningful and transformative conversations that move participants to ask new questions and see new ways to make a difference in their communities and beyond. 

Each week, the festival will draw attention to a specific but connected theme, including:

• Confronting Our History (October 6-12) and why we must dismantle systemic racism to give rise to an equitable and just education system and society;
• Examining “School” (October 13-19) by digging into our shared memories of conventional education, how little it has changed over the last century, and how our reflections might lead us into constructing new learning environments; and
• Exploring New Possibilities (October 20-27) through the stories of communities already heeding the call to reimagine learning, where empathy and passion-driven experiences are centered.

As each week builds upon the next, attendees are invited to acknowledge the harsh truth that education in America does not equally honor all young people and their gifts, and, in fact, actively perpetuates the inequity and inequality that has riddled the system for decades.

#ThisIsOurChance to lean into the challenges before us, demand more from our education system, and actively work to realize true transformation in our communities. The future we hope for is not a distant possibility, and sometimes we need vehicles, like stories, to awaken us to what’s fully possible. Will you join us?

Register for the film festival today and join the conversation on the festival’s Facebook page where the entire calendar of live events will be provided. You can also take your experience to the next level by organizing a Watch Party with friends, family, colleagues, or the young learners you serve. Discussion guides are provided for each week of films (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3).