Join Resistance & Joy Screening Tour

Resistance & Joy Screening Tour is a bold new initiative presenting a powerful slate of twelve short documentaries, all directed by filmmakers of color. These films explore urgent and deeply personal themes, from LGBTQ+ rights and intergenerational healing to advocacy, cultural preservation, and the resilience of communities reclaiming spaces.

Tour Dates: April 1 - June 30, 2025

Curated into two thematic blocks, the films offer distinct yet interconnected narratives of resistance, healing, and power.

The Blocks

Block 1: Reclaiming Identity: Stories of LGBTQ+ love and resilience, intergenerational healing, and communities reclaiming their spaces. These films center personal and collective journeys of self-discovery, healing, and belonging. Through intergenerational storytelling, bold artistic expression, and lived experiences, filmmakers reclaim narratives that have historically been erased or silenced.

DOCUMENTARY | 1 hour 12 mins | 2025

Block 2: Reclaiming Power: Explorations of activism, cultural preservation, and collective action in the face of systemic injustice. These films highlight activism, social justice movements, and the fight for equity across different communities. From cultural preservation to political resistance, these stories showcase the ways people organize, resist oppression, and work toward change.

DOCUMENTARY | 1 hour 10 mins | 2025

  • Amplify Underrepresented Stories – Share powerful films that challenge, inspire, and ignite change.

  • Engage Your Community – Use these films to spark meaningful discussions on identity, advocacy, and resistance.

  • Build Solidarity –  Expand beyond your typical community to remember that we are stronger when we weave our stories together in solidarity, and defend our right to tell them.

  • Flexible Screening Options – Whether in-person or online, tailor your screening experience to fit your audience.

Why Host a Screening?

Resistance & Joy is more than a film series—it’s an opportunity to connect, educate, and mobilize!

Bring These Stories to Your Community

Block 1: Reclaiming Identity

  • AMMA'S PRIDE Directed by Shiva Krish

    Amma’s Pride is the poignant story of Srija, a trans woman from India, as she navigates the complexities of her marriage, fighting for its legal recognition while striving to sustain it—all with the unwavering support of her devoted mother, Valli.

  • ASIAN BITCHES SPEAK Directed by Janet Chen

    After generations of cultural silence, years of pandemic anxiety, and one anti-Asian hate crime, queer filmmaker Janet and her retired single mom Diana embark on a road trip across California, spill the tea about their family history, and start the journey to mental health and healing.

  • ON ALL FRONTS Directed by Joua Lee Grande

    The Moss family, a biracial Black-Indonesian family living in Minneapolis, open up about how they moved through the chaos of 2020, and each family member reveals personal experiences and difficulties never shared before with their loved ones.

  • HANDS PERFORMANCE Directed by Rashaad Newsome

    A visually stunning exploration of Black queer movement and technology, Hands Performance fuses vogue fem, ASL, and motion capture to transform poetry into a dynamic dataset—embodied by Being the Digital Griot, a non-binary AI—set against a speculative future and an electrifying score.

  • KA ʻĀʻUMEʻUME: NAVIGATING HOME Directed by M. Kaleipumehana Cabral

    Six Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians) share their voyages in and out of diaspora. Their collective moʻolelo (story) wades through hope, grief, wisdom, and the effects of the illegal occupation of their homeland. They share the pull they have felt to return to Hawaiʻi and ka ʻāʻumeʻume (the struggle) to stay.

  • TALKING WALLS Directed by Marcellus Armstrong

    Multiple voices reflect on the language, sounds, touch, history and choice of public and private, Black and queer spaces.

Block 2: Reclaiming Power

  • OHIO IS IN THE HEART Directed by Sonia Desai Rayka

    As classroom censorship bills grow in popularity across the country, this documentary short introduces Rosie and Lisa Factora Borchers’ advocacy for the passage of House Bill 171 in Ohio, an unprecedented bill that would expand K-12 social studies curriculum to be more inclusive of all students’ backgrounds and histories. Through intimate reflections on their Filipino roots, Lisa and Rosie express why they organize around House Bill 171 and what is possible when children use their voice to speak up for a collective vision.

  • OUT OF FOCUS Directed by India Martin

    Blurring the boundaries between past and present, Out of Focus is an experimental documentary that honors Black queer families and chosen families through a poetic exploration of memory, love, and kinship.

  • SOMETHING ABOUT THESE WATERS Directed by Malaya Ulan

    Something About These Waters is an autobiographical poetic documentary diving into my story as a first-generation immigrant and how I find connection with other first-generation immigrant Americans while living in Philadelphia.

  • TERNURA RADICAL (RADICAL TENDERNESS) Directed by Celina Galicia

    In Ciudad Juárez, women transform art into a fierce act of resistance, channeling poetry, music, and graphic art to preserve the memory of femicide and disappearance while demanding justice.

  • THE PEOPLE COULD FLY Directed by Imani Dennison

    The People Could Fly is a poetic documentary about the history of Black gathering spaces in Louisville, KY from the 1960's to mid 2000's. Through an intimate video portrait, we delve into the ritual of roller skating and how roller rinks emerged as sanctuaries for Black culture. Through a charged combination of archival footage, still photos, newly shot material and newsreel, we explore the history of a segregated Louisville and the magic that its Black community has conjured as an act of resistance.

GOT QUESTIONS? WE GOT ANSWERS!

1. Is June 30, 2025 the last day to host a screening?
Yes. All screenings must be completed by June 30, 2025.

2. Can I co-host with another organization?
Absolutely! In fact, co-hosting with fellow Color Congress members, or partner orgs in your network, is encouraged! Just reach out to the organization you’d like to partner with (you can even just forward this email to get the ball rolling), and go here to learn more or to create your free screening: Resistance & Joy Screening Tour

3. Is this only for Color Congress members?
The invitation to host a screening was made to Color Congress members—but non-members are welcome to host as well! Feel free to spread the word to organizations and colleagues in your network–here’s an Instagram post you can share!

4. What’s the total run time of each block?

5. Can I preview the films first?
Yes! Screeners are available for potential hosts. Just reply to this email and we’ll get you set up.

6. Where can I submit my film?
To clarify—this initiative is NOT an open call for new films. It’s an opportunity to host a screening of our curated Resistance & Joy film blocks.

If you have any questions contact us at outreach@colorcongressinitative.org