Women’s Voices Now Film Festival

THE NEED AND OUR APPROACH
Film is a powerful tool to educate, foster empathy, and drive social change. The Women’s Voices Now (WVN) Film Festival uplifts emerging documentary filmmakers who illuminate issues affecting girls and women around the world. Through our festival, filmmakers gain global visibility, financial support through cash prizes, access to a professional community, and meaningful networking opportunities. We also connect audiences, both locally and internationally, through virtual and in-person screenings that spark dialogue and inspire action.

We center documentary filmmakers because they are often underfunded yet essential storytellers, capturing authentic, high-quality narratives that confront urgent social realities. As Caty Borum Chattoo writes in Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change, “At their core, documentaries are a form of art that supplies the civic and narrative imagination that is vital – well beyond simply knowing facts and information – to shaping a culture that can understand and include the full spectrum of human experience and the lives we live. This cultural work embodied in stories is... a required function for citizenship.”

How We Achieve Results:

–Visibility: Filmmakers share their work on a global platform, influencing public discourse and inspiring action on women’s rights issues. All selected films are available to festival ticket holders, and interviews with filmmakers and industry leaders are shared on our YouTube channel, which now has 316K+ followers in 195 countries. In 2025, ticket sales increased twelvefold (192 to 2,348), and impressions grew from 1.3 million to 6.5 million, demonstrating significant growth in visibility and reach.

–Support: Eight cash prizes totaling $13,000 are awarded annually, giving filmmakers resources to invest in their current or next project, support living expenses, or cover other urgent needs.

–Network: Filmmakers engage with a diverse jury and connect with industry professionals, including producers, directors, journalists, professors, and activists. These relationships have led to collaborations on future film projects, nonprofit initiatives, and continued social-change activism.

We continuously survey filmmakers and jurors to inform improvements and ensure the festival meets their professional and creative needs. Through these long-term relationships, we track both career impact for filmmakers and the social impact of their films. For example, during the 2025 Leslie J. Sacks Grand Prize screening of Angels of Sinjar, the film’s director Hanna Polak reported that “Many people expressed interest in continuing with more activities and screenings to raise awareness of the Yezidi plight and to strengthen advocacy on behalf of the Yezidi people, so I very much hope this collaboration will continue to grow. Some people have already reached out to me after the screening.”

FILMMAKER EXPERIENCE

“For me it was an amazing experience to participate in [the] Women's Voices Now Film Festival. Everyone I met there – the organizing team, filmmakers, jury members – contributed to a very welcoming and authentic atmosphere that focused on our passions around filmmaking and on the stories we wanted to share, rather than on categories we belong to or issues of competition.” – Hannah Sophie Klass, Making Waves / Faire des Vagues, 2025 Best Creative Documentary – Short

Festival Details & Timeline:

–Submissions are open August–December 2025 for films that address issues affecting women or girls through a social-change lens.

–Awards include: Leslie J. Sacks Grand Prize ($3,500), Best Documentary Feature ($2,000), Lantos Prize for Best Human Rights Documentary ($2,000), and additional prizes for emerging, creative, short, and student documentaries. Prize categories have evolved based on feedback from jurors to ensure fairness and recognition of non-linear creative trajectories.

–2026 Festival Highlights

–Kickoff Event: March 25, 2026 (live-streamed)

–Film Availability: March 25 – April 30, 2026
Films from the 2025 festival represented 33 countries across the globe!

–Meet The Jury: April 15, 2026

–Industry Chat: April 22, 2026 (live-streamed)

–Awards Ceremony: April 30, 2026, including announcement of award winners and the Women Making Waves Awardee keynote
2025 Women Making Waves Awardee was Princess Sarah Culberson of Sierra Leone

–Leslie J. Sacks Grand Prize Screening: In-person in Los Angeles, Fall 2026, with travel stipends provided for award-winning filmmakers to attend and participate.

OUTREACH STRATEGY
Our strategy combines targeted outreach to underrepresented regions, promotion on film platforms such as FilmFreeway and IMDbPro, and social media and newsletter campaigns to increase global participation and audience engagement.

USE OF GRANT FUNDS
Requested funds of $10,000 will support continued growth in communications, marketing, and outreach, allowing us to reach more filmmakers globally, expand our audience, and amplify the voices of women storytellers who are driving social change.

CONCLUSION
The Festival’s goals align perfectly with the Foundation’s mission to “give a clear voice for those who wish to be a part of the many, worthy, forces for change in our world.” By investing in filmmakers who use documentary storytelling to advance women’s rights, the Foundation helps amplify voices that are often underrepresented, create meaningful dialogue, and inspire action for positive social change worldwide.