What We Do
Docutribe works in the spaces of education, mentoring, and professional filmmaking to ignite and sustain civic innovation.
Documentary filmmaking remains one of the most powerful tools for shaping public understanding of pressing issues, but making and viewing them remains out of reach for most communities
Docutribe elevates impactful stories and builds the infrastructure to turn fragmented communities into coordinated centers of action and innovation. Docutribe brings training, cameras, and pioneering narrative methods via Resilience-Informed Storytelling directly to a community seeking change. Through documentary production, fellowship programs, and hands-on courses, we transform first-time filmmakers into confident storytellers who promote and test positive social change. Our approach to making documentary filmmaking accessible and community-focused rests on three pillars – see below.
500+
students enrolled in our courses
75+
professionals contribute to our pool of experts
110+
videos produced, all having impact in their communities
Filmmaking education
Empower Through Education: Docutribe creates customized educational programs—from two-day workshops to year-long courses—that empower students and communities to tell their stories, strengthen leadership, and inspire social change through film.
We design tailored curricula, based in Resilience-Informed Storytelling, for universities, secondary schools, and community organizations in Ukraine, Mongolia, Puerto Rico, and the continental United States, serving everyone from aspiring filmmakers to policymakers with no prior media experience.
Every program blends technical filmmaking instruction with leadership development, human-centered innovation, community organizing, media literacy, and storytelling. Offered both online and in person, our courses equip participants with the skills, tools, and confidence to create films that amplify community voices and spark meaningful impact.
Direct mentorship
Mentor Fellows & Cultivate Leaders: Docutribe provides emerging and established filmmakers with individualized mentorship, guiding them on a deep creative journey that fosters personal growth, strengthens leadership, and empowers them to become agents of social change through film.
Through one-on-one mentorship, technical training, and access to our global network of professionals, Social Innovation Film Fellows and Social Enterprise Fellows receive the support, resources, and community needed to bring their projects to life and amplify the stories that matter most to them.
Our fellows have used film and storytelling to celebrate and honor the experiences of U.S. immigrants, document volunteer programs serving formerly incarcerated individuals, investigate socioeconomic challenges in Indigenous communities in Alaska, and launch initiatives addressing global water access and rural development in East Africa.
Production support
Consult & Produce World-Class Documentaries: Docutribe partners with filmmakers and communities to create documentaries that celebrate culture, confront social challenges, and elevate stories that might otherwise go untold.
Through collaborative filmmaking, we guide projects from development to distribution, providing creative strategy, production expertise, and access to a network of award-winning professionals and partners. Our work empowers communities to document their own experiences and share them on local, national, and global stages.
From placing cameras in the hands of everyday citizens to producing films that explore identity, resilience, and social change, we see documentary storytelling preserve memory, strengthen communities, and inspire collective action.
Current Projects
Projects and partnerships that are ongoing.
Projects in Ukraine
Three separate departments of Chernivtsi National University are collaborating with us to democratize filmmaking. We're bringing our experience and methodologies into classrooms to give students and faculty new tools for expressing what it's like to live day to day live in a country at war.
CHOKE Project
Told through the eyes of three Black activists, CHOKE is a short film on the intersection of racial and climate justice, mainly set in May 2020 surrounding the murder of George Floyd, featuring three activists who believe "without racial justice there is no climate justice."
Co-Production of Scientific Research in a Native Alaska Village
Working with the Village of Igiugig and Alaska Native researchers, Docutribe helped document local knowledge, sustainability efforts, and climate-related research initiatives.
The Story of Place: Empowering Communities through Filmmaking
Docutribe is documenting how rural communities are addressing critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure challenges.
Past Work
We’re proud to have helped hundreds of students tell their stories through film.
When a safe space is provided, a story emerges for a better tomorrow. See the work of our diverse communities from around the world all helping one another, one film at a time.
“We have the opportunity not only to learn but also to express our feelings openly and share our personal stories. This is especially important now when students in Ukraine live under constant danger, this project has become a safe space where we can speak openly and feel heard.”
— Diana Hriaban
Our Resources
Docutribe has built a library of filmmaking and storytelling resources developed with the expertise of our advisors and partners. They are now available to you.
The first annual Chernivtsi students' film festival, 2024
Get Involved
Learn about how you can work with docutribe and support our work.