Alfee Rubayet (she/her) is an artist, activist and graduate student in International Development at American University. With seven gallery exhibitions in Dhaka and London, her art serves as both a respite and a bridge to her personal and professional interests in race, gender, climate, queerness and postcoloniality — shaped by her experiences as a Bangladeshi dissenter.

Priya Aravindhan (she/they/he) is a scholar, community organizer and DJ. Their artistic work is rooted in decolonial ethnographic praxis and the queer phenomenology of affect. With roots in Tamil Nadu, Priya explores diaspora, collectivity and material/sonic culture as tools to imagine liberation from postmodernity and racial capitalism.

Noor El-Gazairly (she/they) is a scholar and artist within the SWANA diaspora. Their research focuses on the material cultures of art and artifacts, postcolonial community narratives and heritage dispossession. Noor examines the phenomenology of curation, the expatriation of material heritage from the ‘colony’ and the performative use of artifacts and museums in colonial and nation-building projects.

Queer Mubarak!

Queer Mubarak! is an art exhibition, panel and performance celebrating stories of queerness spanning the Balkans to Bengal. Debuting during Pride Month in June 2025 in New York City, the project draws connections through shared cultural, historical, religious and intellectual exchanges. It invokes the word ‘Mubarak ’— and its many variations such as Mabrook, Baraka, Barak and Barrack — to embrace blessings, celebrations and divinity that transcend the boundaries of religion, region, language and the binary.

In a world where queerness is often marginalized, criminalized or erased, Queer Mubarak! celebrates and complicates these narratives. It asks: What does queerness look like when deeply rooted in cultural and religious identities often misunderstood? How do regional, linguistic and dialectical shifts shape understandings of queerness? What are the spaces we create for ourselves?

Defying the homophobic and transphobic violence rooted in imperialism — a legacy that erases queer histories and renders them illegible through Western archives — Queer Mubarak! reclaims queer bodies, words and art. This act of collective liberation and joy is proudly supported by Humanity in Action.

The project is led by Alfee Rubayet, with Priya Aravindhan and Noor El-Gazairly as co-curators and organizers.

Instagram: @queermubarak  @frombengalwithlove  @priiiyya  @n0u_world0rder

Ana María Arévalo Gosen is a visual storyteller dedicated to highlighting women’s rights, social justice and environmental issues. Born in Caracas Venezuela, she is now based in Madrid and frequently works across Latin America as a National Geographic Explorer and a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting grantee.

Her work includes two critically acclaimed bodies of work: Días Eternos, which documents the harsh realities faced by women in Latin American prisons and won the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, and Abuelas con 30 Años; an exploration of teenage pregnancy in Venezuela, awarded the Marylin Stafford PhotoReportage Award. In 2021, she founded the Ojo Pelao workshops to support emerging photographers in Venezuela. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and National Geographic and exhibited internationally, including at Fotografiska New York and the Ernst-Leitz Museum.

ABUELAS CON 30 AÑOS

Ana’s project addresses teenage pregnancy and reproductive rights in the Dominican Republic, where the adolescent pregnancy rate is the highest in Latin America, and abortion is entirely banned. Through visual storytelling, Ana documents the lives of young women impacted by systemic barriers, including limited access to reproductive health services, cultural norms fostering early pregnancies and child marriages. 

Collaborating with UNFPA, Ana will document initiatives like Clubes de Chicas Fabricando Sueños and New Young Masculinities, amplifying efforts to reverse trends in teenage pregnancy. This project also highlights the struggles of Haitian migrant women at the border, who face unique challenges such as obstetric violence and deportation during pregnancy. The project aims to empower young women, foster community dialogue and advocate for reproductive rights and systemic change by addressing these interconnected issues.

Ana will conduct a visual storytelling workshop in Santo Domingo to foster local impact, empowering adolescents to document their narratives. The workshop’s results will culminate in a public exhibition engaging the community, advocates and policymakers to spark dialogue and systemic reform. Additionally, Ana plans outdoor interventions with large-scale paste-ups of photographs and narratives in public spaces, ensuring the visibility of these stories and fostering broader awareness.

This project aspires to drive meaningful conversations and actionable change in reproductive rights across the region by amplifying personal stories and systemic issues.

Website: https://anamariaarevalogosen.com/

Instagram: @anitasinfiltro

Babatunde ‘TRIBE’ Akande is a nonbinary multidisciplinary artist, human rights artivist and Creative Expressionist. TRIBE’s artistic practice explores the intersections of social injustice, identity and human connectivity. Through immersive experiences, they provoke emotions, introspection and essential conversations.

Silenced Eyes

“Silenced Eyes” is a multidimensional artivism project that seeks to elevate the suppressed narratives of LGBTQ+ individuals in Nigeria and Africa. Set against the backdrop of a society where queer identities are subjected to stigma, violence and systemic erasure, the project stands as a powerful act of rebellion against entrenched discrimination. Through a dynamic blend of visual art, audio documentaries and photography, Silenced Eyes exposes the complex interaction of media, religion, mental health and violence in the lives of LGBTQ+ communities. At its core, the project strives to humanize these individuals, transforming them from subjects of societal ridicule and moral policing into symbols of resilience and hope.

Website: www.babatundetribe.com  www.behance.net/babatundeakande1#

Instagram: @babtundetribe @1002arts

Twitter: @Mx_Tribe

Greg Constantine is an American/Canadian documentary photojournalist, author and visual storyteller. He has dedicated his career to long-term projects that focus on human rights, inequality, citizenship, identity, genocide and the power of the state. His projects include: Nowhere People, Exiled To Nowhere, Kenya’s Nubians and Seven Doors.  He is the author of several award winning photography books and his work has been exhibited in over forty cities. He was awarded his PhD from Middlesex University in the UK and has received multiple fellowships from the Independent Social Research Foundation and Queen Mary University of London. Constantine has dedicated eighteen years towards documenting the persecution of the Rohingya community from Burma. He launched the project Ek Khaale in 2021 and has spent the past four years collaborating with Rohingya around the world. 

Ek Khaale – Once Upon A Time:

Ek Khaale is a collaborative, co-participatory visual storytelling, history and restoration project with the Rohingya community from Myanmar (Burma). In the Rohingya language, Ek Khaale is the expression for Once Upon A Time. Launched in early 2021 by documentary photojournalist Greg Constantine, the project includes rare and never-before-seen visual materials preserved by Rohingya families over the decades and salvaged during the genocide of 2017 with materials from public and private archives and more recent work.

The project forges together these visual materials from the past and activates them in the present. Through the contributions of Rohingya around the world, Ek Khaale challenges visual representations and presents a new portrait of the Rohingya community. Moreover, it serves as a vehicle for the recovery, reclamation and restoration of Rohingya collective identity and provides a counter-narrative about the history of this community which Burmese regimes and others have spent decades trying to destroy. With the Bertha Artivist Award, Constantine will collaborate with Rohingya artists and change-makers to develop an exhibition that serves as a platform where Rohingya can confidently and collectively contest and resist the claims and visual representations that have been imposed upon them as well as preserve and share their collective memory, identity and history with others and with themselves. 

Website: www.ekkhaale.org

Instagram: @ekkhaale  @grconstantine

Lydia Higginson is a designer, maker and workshop facilitator based in Bristol, England. Her main medium is textiles and clothing. She runs a sustainable textile studio called Made My Wardrobe and is part of a team of five textile practitioners who all have their own specialities from pattern cutting and banner making to screen printing. They facilitate a wide range of workshops for different community groups.

Youth Mental Health Banners

Lydia and her team will be working with young activists deeply affected by the unprecedented youth mental health crisis in the UK, through a powerful, artistic and healing process that results in the creation of large cloth banners that embody their experiences, and articulate demands for radical, transformative action on the injustices they face. They are organizing together with Just Treatment, a patient led campaign group, to launch a campaign that calls for a radical rethink of mental health – shifting focus from the individuals affected, to the systemic causes – in particular the corporations driving and profiting from business practices exacerbating this issue.

Website: www.mademywardrobe.com

Instagram: @mademywardrobe

Daniel Martínez is a Hispanoperuvian filmmaker and artivist dedicated to developing community filmmaking workshops especially in Indigenous communities. His work leverages audiovisual storytelling as a powerful tool for cultural and environmental preservation. Blending ancestrality with innovation, he collaborates to co-create impactful narratives that bridge local communities and international networks. Recognized at prestigious festivals including San Sebastian and Hot Docs, his projects have also been featured by major media outlets, including The Washington Post, El País, the Chinese National TV or the Associated Press.

Livia Silvano is a director, producer and actress from the Belén neighborhood in Iquitos, nestled in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. After creating two short films and winning Peru’s National Cinematography Competition, she is set to begin filming her debut feature, “Bufeo,” a reflective narrative addressing sexual abuse within her community. Her journey into documentary filmmaking began with the ICARO Project, which focuses on audiovisual creation in indigenous languages. Through this initiative, she gained experience in directing and producing films in her city, including “Isla Bonita” (Netflix), “Sonido Amazónico,” “No hay ida sin retorno.” Silvano has also explored acting, performing in local theater productions and starring in “Mochilas Negras” or “The Human Surge 3,” a film recognized at international festivals like Locarno and shot between the Peruvian jungle and Taiwan. Her beginnings as an artivist propelled her into cultural and artistic management, leading and promoting projects that positively impact her community and the rainforest. Notably, she co-directs the Muyuna International Floating Film Festival and the Belén Community Clown Festival. As a young visionary, Silvano continues to dream and create. Her passion for cultural management drives her to develop new initiatives, such as managing an independent cinema and designing a Cultural Center in her neighborhood.

Muyuna Fest 2025

The Muyuna Fest – International Floating Jungle Film Festival will hold its second edition in Iquitos, Peru, from May 12 to 25 2025, followed by traveling exhibitions in various Amazonian communities. Named after whirlpools formed in Amazonian rivers, the festival symbolizes convergence and vitality, bringing together voices to celebrate cinema and defend the jungles.

Muyuna Fest began with the Muyuna Project’s artivist efforts, which started through film workshops in indigenous communities to highlight Amazonian identity. In 2021, a workshop in Belén (a floating neighborhood in Iquitos) culminated in a screening of short films created by locals. This initiative expanded into the first Muyuna Fest in May 2024.

Belén serves as the festival’s base. This unique amphibious neighborhood spends six months of the year underwater due to the Itaya River’s seasonal rise. When the waters recede, elevated houses reveal dry spaces, creating a fascinating environment that has attracted filmmakers globally. The festival seeks to empower Amazonian locals to tell their stories through new media, shifting away from external portrayals. Artists, activist and filmmakers worldwide join to exchange knowledge, fostering an international network for action. Key activities include a floating laboratory journey from Pucallpa to Iquitos, where filmmakers create short films and community workshops in indigenous areas, helping youth reconnect with cultural identities. A Belén workshop will enable local youth to use audiovisual tools to address neighborhood issues.

The festival also activates Iquitos through events like an international film workshop, a script contest and a cinematic tour of iconic filming locations. Discussions on cinema and photography with global experts are planned. The central days in Belén feature a floating stage showcasing selected films. Locals and visitors gather in boats to watch films, enjoy performances and engage with cinema and jungle advocacy.

Muyuna Fest aims to amplify voices defending their territories through film. Its second edition in 2025 seeks to expand its reach, consolidating its impact in Belén and the Amazon.

Website: www.muyunafest.org

Instagram: @muyunafest @dani.muyuna

Zahara Gómez focuses her artistic practice on processes of memory and justice, particularly in response to forced disappearances in Latin America. Her project Recetario para la memoria blends photography, storytelling and collective action. This project gathers recipes for the favorite dishes of disappeared loved ones, cooked by their relatives, primarily women. The cookbook serves as a means of preserving memory, breaking stigma and fostering dialogue around the issue of forced disappearance. To date, Recetario para la memoria includes two editions that document the experiences of over 100 women in Mexico, with each book launch accompanied by exhibitions, talks and collective cooking sessions.

CASA B, a Bogotá-based non-profit, has over 12 years of experience working to improve the quality of life in the Belén neighborhood and other nearby communities. Their work focuses on territorial defense, alternative education and a culture of peace, embodying a commitment to grassroots initiatives and community empowerment.

Recetario para la memoria.

The collaboration between Zahara and CASA B marks the expansion of the Recetario para la memoria project to Colombia, fostering connections between women’s groups in Mexico and Colombia. This new chapter builds a transnational bridge of shared histories and collective resistance. Together, Zahra and CASA B will organize workshops, collective cooking sessions and public presentations, transforming personal acts of remembrance into communal expressions of solidarity and justice.

The Recetario para la memoria  is not merely a publication but a multidimensional initiative that inhabits diverse spaces —from activism to gastronomy, and from cultural institutions to grassroots settings. It opens a space for healing, dialogue and advocacy, transforming everyday recipes into powerful symbols of resistance and resilience. Through this collaboration, Zahara and CASA B are creating new opportunities for communities to come together, reclaim memory and demand justice across borders.

Website: www.zaharagomez.com // www.recetarioparalamemoria.com/

Instagram: @recetarioparalamemoria @procasab @zaharafoto

The Bertha / Doc Society Journalism Fund was an international film fund dedicated to supporting long form feature documentaries of a journalistic nature. Starting in 2017, the Journalism Fund sought to provide more consistent, deeper support for filmmakers, often funding from development through to outreach and providing security support and legal advice where needed.

Films completed through this fund are listed in the Bertha Media Directory.

Learn more about the Bertha / Doc Society Journalism Fund.

The Guardian and Bertha Foundation commissioned a series of 12 short documentary films from independent film-makers. The series covers global stories, with a focus on films that have the ability to advance the contemporary issues that they address, and raise awareness of people and movements who are catalysts for change.

Film completed through this fund are listed in the Bertha Media Directory.

Learn more about the Guardian Bertha Documentary Partnership.

AXS Film Fund strives to support independent documentary filmmakers and nonfiction new media creators of color with disabilities in their endeavors to tell stories, make films and create content.

The AXS Film Fund Seeks to:

• – Award creators, who identify themselves as a person of color having a disability(ies), in documentary filmmaking and nonfiction new media a one-time grant that will aid them in successfully completing their projects.
• – Help more ethnic minorities with disabilities get recognition and job opportunities in the film industry.
• – Help create more diversity amongst creators and the stories told. 

Learn more about the AXS Film Fund.

The Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, North-West London, is a local theater and cinema venue with an international vision. Their mission is to bring unheard voices into the mainstream, telling human stories that resonate across cultures and show the world through new and different lenses. 

The Bertha-Kiln Writers Program is an opportunity for Women writers of Color to create brand-new plays which use their unique voices to comment on our society and to create stories that will shape the future.

Learn more about the Kiln Theatre.

Brown Girls Doc Mafia’s (BGDM) mission is to bolster the creative and professional success of women and non-binary people of color working in the documentary industry, and to challenge the often marginalizing norms of the documentary field.

The BGDM Black Directors Grant aims to cultivate Black directors within BGDM and help propel their projects forward. This Grant aims to support projects that are steeped in the Black experience, and whose director’s craft, storytelling ability and unique point of view reflects and uplifts the Black experience or perspective. Projects include documentary films, podcasts, hybrid doc/fiction, video art and new media.

Learn more about the BGDM Black Directors Fellowship.

With the support of the Bertha Foundation, InsightShare launched the Living Cultures Indigenous Fellowship in 2020, a groundbreaking strategy that delivers remote training to Indigenous Peoples wishing to harness participatory media as a tool for engaging and mobilizing their communities.

In 2021 InsightShare has trained 38 young Indigenous leaders based in six communities across southern and eastern Africa, supporting them to use communication technologies safely for self-determination, self-representation and positive local action. Six video hubs have been established with some of these hubs are already functioning autonomously of InsightShare, producing their own films, extending training to community members and neighboring groups.

Learn more about the Living Cultures Indigenous Fellowship.

Just Vision fills a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement.

They believe that accurate, nuanced storytelling is essential for shaping public norms, challenging the divisions that dominate the political landscape and creating greater understanding. Just Vision’s work creates opportunities for constructive engagement by undermining stereotypes and telling the stories that are often missed but are crucial to shaping how audiences think about and engage on the most pressing issues of the day.

They are a team of filmmakers, journalists, storytellers and human rights advocates who envision a pluralistic, just and rights-respecting future in the region. They place documentary filmmaking and journalism, coupled with strategic audience engagement, at the center of our mission because we believe that stories have the power to shape public norms, equip audiences with vital information, undermine stereotypes and inspire.

Learn more about Just Vision.

Life Mosaic supports communities and movements to build their capacity to protect their rights, cultures and territories and to determine their own futures. They connect grassroots experiences across continents, sharing stories from the frontline of the social and environmental crises, and inspirational stories and strategies to build skills, hope and resilience.

Life Mosaic produces and shares tools for empowerment to support local movements, organizers and facilitators in their awareness-raising and advocacy work with communities. 

Life Mosaic supports the emergence of the next generation of Indigenous leaders, with the calling, critical awareness, skills and love of their culture to defend and look after their territories.They help create the conditions for leaders and communities to take informed action, and in turn to become catalysts: supporting others to take action; accelerating positive change; growing movements.

Learn more about Life Mosaic.

As a human rights media organization, Skylight’s work has focused on amplifying the voice of constituencies battling for social justice and their rights since its founding in 1981. The content Skylight produces – from documentary films to a range of digital media projects – creates a media ecosystem that strengthens a culture of rights and engaged citizenship.

Skylight combines the storytelling arts with human rights media strategies, joining the battle for narrative in the service of social movements, creating networks of solidarity between artists, media makers and activists. A process that has made them a part of battles for the narrative in movements around the world.

Learn more about Skylight.

WITNESS makes it possible for anyone, anywhere to use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. By providing training, support and tools to millions of people around the world, WITNESS is powering up a new generation of human rights defenders. 

The majority of the world’s population now has a camera in their pocket. People everywhere are turning to video to document and tell stories of abuse. WITNESS identifies critical situations and teaches those affected by them the basics of video production, safe and ethical filming techniques and advocacy strategies.

Learn more about WITNESS.

Bertha DocHouse is the UK’s first cinema dedicated solely to documentary. Based at Curzon Bloomsbury in Central London, they screen the best new releases, festival favorites, retrospective titles and curated seasons providing an exciting platform for documentary filmmakers and nurturing a new generation of doc lovers. With a program packed with filmmaker Q&As, masterclasses, discussions, special events and an online hub accessible from anywhere in the world, Bertha DocHouse is the UK’s home of documentary.

Learn more about Bertha Dochouse.

The Bertha Movie House is a community cinema based at the Isivivana Centre, a social justice and community center in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa. Khayelitsha, with now over two million residents, was established during Apartheid as a township “for Blacks only,” apart from Cape Town which was “for whites only.” Post-democracy it has grown and evolved, with local residents establishing homegrown creative hubs, food outlets and other opportunities. 

Bertha Movie House provides a visual space for Khayelitsha’s growing narrative, with the cinema priding itself in uniting the community with local and international films focused on edutainment and social justice.

Learn more about Bertha Movie House.

The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival is the country’s formative documentary event, screening contemporary South African and International features and short documentaries. The goal of the festival is to:

• – Create a vital platform for the documentary film industry in South Africa and the African continent through the delivery of a well-organized 10-day Festival in Johannesburg & Cape Town.
• – Advance and promote documentary cinema as a creative art form; as well as to champion its role as an effective tool for stimulating democratic debate, tolerance and understanding.
• – Develop audiences beyond suburban areas, through the Inreach programme
• – Engage audiences through Q&A sessions and panel discussions on relevant and critical issues.
• – Support the careers of filmmakers through the implementation of training and development opportunities such as the Close Encounters Laboratory, Producers Workshop, Encounters Rough Cut Lab, Master Classes, Inreach/Access Project and employment on the Festival.
• – Broker financial opportunities for film professionals with broadcasters, film festivals, funders and commissioning editors.

Learn more about the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival.

FiSahara is an international film festival that offers entertainment and training to the Saharawi refugee people, and that makes visible a conflict that has been without resolution for four decades since Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975. This solidarity cultural project was born in 2003 from a shared dream among the Spanish filmmaker community and the Saharawi people: to take the cinema to one of the most remote places in the world, the refugee camps in the Hammada, “the desert of the deserts.” In 2011, FiSahara opened the Abidin Kaid Saleh film school, which trains young Saharawi filmmakers at Bojador camp. 

Learn more about FiSahara International Film Festival.

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) offers an independent and inspiring meeting place for audiences and professionals to see a diverse and high-quality program. IDFA offers an alternative to mass entertainment and uniformity, confirming that there is an increasing need in audiences for high-quality films that delve deep and urge audiences to reflect. The IDFA Bertha Fund, specifically, supports filmmakers and documentary projects from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania (IBF regions).

Learn more about IDFA.

The Juba Film Festival encourages and supports local South Sudanese filmmakers to tell Indigenous narratives that reflect the country’s culture. With no film school or commercial cinema in South Sudan, the festival provides practical training, experience and equipment for filmmakers to produce films about local communities and screen them in the country, aiming to increase awareness and advocate for human rights for the most marginalized communities. The event is also a rare chance to showcase positive stories from South Sudan. 

Learn more about the Juba Film Festival.

Sheffield DocFest is the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects. They champion and present the breadth of documentary form – film, television, immersive and art – in the vibrant city of Sheffield each June. Sheffield DocFest offers makers and audiences a place for inspiration, debate, development, learning and challenge. Their programming represents their core values – creativity, empathy, freedom, inclusivity and internationalism.

Learn more about the Sheffield DocFest.

Launched in 2010, amaBhungane (isiZulu for “the dung beetles”) Centre for Investigative Journalism is an independent, non-profit newsroom based in South Africa. They develop investigative journalism to promote free, capable media and open, accountable, just democracy.

Find out more about amaBhunghane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Declassified UK uncovers the UK’s role in the world, investigating Britain’s military and intelligence agencies, its most powerful corporations and its impact on human rights and the environment.

Learn more about Declassified UK.

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Their reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues, providing a unique and sometimes provocative perspective on global events.

Learn more about Democracy Now! 

GroundUp publishes news that matters – reporting human rights stories across South Africa. Started in April 2012 as a joint project of Community Media Trust and the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Social Science Research, in 2020 GroundUp became a standalone non-profit news agency.

Learn more about GroundUp.

The Real News Network (TRNN) makes media to connect audiences to the movements, people and perspectives that are advancing the cause of a more just, equal and livable planet. With a responsibility to serve the majority-minority population of Baltimore, TRNN aims to enhance audience understanding of the issues, contexts and voices behind news headlines. 

Learn more about the Real News Network.