By Erin Newman | Operations Manager
Thank you for your continued support of SIMA! We’re excited to share our most recent updates from each of our programs with you.
SIMA AWARDS UPDATES:
As summer winds to an end, we’re looking forward to the SIMA 2019 Awards Cycle. For its 7th year, SIMA will open for entries on September 7th including short and feature documentaries, impact videos, and VR and 360 experiences.Known for bridging the global gap between filmmakers and their audiences and encouraging thoughtful action, the annual SIMA Awards honor the work of content creators who are pushing the boundaries of social and political storytelling. We look forward to reviewing the impactful submissions!
SIMA CLASSROOM UPDATES:
SIMA Classroom brings social impact education to students around the world with a curated platform of short films and virtual reality experiences. We now serve 177 schools and organizations reaching over 42,000 students in 25 countries.
We recently launched a new program to bring SIMA Classroom to high school and college students in Singapore with social enterprise Air Amber. Their mission is to provide transformational opportunities for youth and kids, heeding a national call for the nurturing of good values, development of character and citizenship education. The partnership kicked off with over 200 students from the Singapore University of Social Studies joining SIMA Classroom. We’re looking forward to connecting with more students in Singapore in the months ahead.
In preparation for the new school year, we have been working with Digital Promise Global and Kiva to introduce two new innovative lesson plans to the SIMA Classroom platform. The lessons make full use of our films as a springboard for learning new skills (like producing a film) and dig deep into global issues (like microfinance). All of our lesson plans are designed to capitalize on the power of social impact film to build understanding and connections.
We have also launched a new community platform for educators teaching with film and digital storytelling to come together. The Participate community is designed for anyone to join and share ideas or resources on integrating film and media into lessons on everything from the Global Goals (SDGs), human rights and more.
Thanks to your support we have been able to continue providing SIMA Classroom for free to at least 90% of participating educators.
TRAVELING SERIES UPDATES:
We continue to work with our network partners to bring SIMA films to communities around the world.
In July we teamed up with World Merit, a world renowned social enterprise that catalyzes action against social issues, for the World Merit Challenge to empower local leaders to bring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to their own communities through the power of social impact cinema.
We have been overwhelmed by the admirable humanitarian aspirations and organizing efforts of World Merit volunteers. With over 15 events in 11 countries, the World Merit Challenge brought communities together to view some of SIMA’s most inspiring films, discuss ideas and solutions, and learn how to become effective advocates and community organizers for causes most relevant to them. Events took place in diverse locations around the globe, including community centers, schools, and even prisons, and reached over 1,500 people ranging from youth to elders.
SIMA RAMA UPDATES:
SIMA RAMA is our monthly online film club for impact cinema. Each month we bring together a documentary, live podcast, bonus features and unique ways to take collective action.
This June we met refugees from Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp in SALAM NEIGHBOR, a moving film documenting the struggle of 85,000 Syrians attempting to restart their lives inside the camp. For the first time two filmmakers fully embedded themselves in the camp, providing an intimate look at the world’s most dire humanitarian crisis. From meeting Um Ali, a woman struggling to overcome personal loss, to the street-smart, 10-year-old Raouf, whose trauma hides just beneath his ever present smile, they uncovered inspiring stories of individuals rallying to rebuild their lives and those of their neighbors.
In July, THE WELL brought us to the Horn of Africa, a region of the world that is periodically shocked by terrible droughts. We learned how each year to prepare for the coming drought, Borana herders will gather their livestock and walk for days to the dry Oromia Lowlands (South of Ethiopia) to retrieve water from their secular astonishing “singing” wells. With its strong photography and its epic narration, the film followed their life during a whole dry season, showing a unique traditional water management system that regulates what water is available as the property and right of everyone, without any money being exchanged.
This month we are streaming ALBATROSS, a striking meditation on the North Pacific bird demonstrating the tragic impact of man-made pollution on nature, which is simultaneously a deep expression of beauty and love for life on earth. On a remote atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, albatross chicks are dying, bodies filled with plastic. ALBATROSS unflinchingly shows the horror and grief of this tragedy, but ultimately brings us to a deeply felt experience of beauty and love for life on Earth. Stepping outside of traditional documentary film style, ALBATROSS delivers a profound message of reverence and renewal.
Join us for September SIMA RAMA to watch STRIKE A ROCK, a gripping story that follows two women fighting for justice after a massacre by police in Nkaneng, Marikana. In October we will feature SOUTHWEST OF SALEM, a critically acclaimed ‘True Crime’ tale about the Satanic Panic witch hunt era of the 80s and 90s, followed by STEALING AFRICA in November, which investigates the corporate ownership and profiteering of Zambia’s copper mines, which are amongst the largest in the world.
As always, thank you for your invaluable contributions to helping us scale social impact through visual storytelling worldwide.
With warmth and gratitude from the SIMA Team.
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