This two-day workshop brings together storytellers and community producers in the Midwest to ask: how can we co-create stories with the communities informed by our ancestries?

Bringing together filmmakers and mediamakers aligned with organizations led by people of color, this invite-only workshop connects emerging storytellers with established leaders in media and community organizing. The first day focuses on engaging communities with ancestry-informed stories, and the second focuses on how to tell stories informed by our ancestries.

Keynote conversations and panels will feature storytellers and community organizers whose practices reflect deep cultural lineages and intelligences.

Afternoon sessions will feature emerging storytellers presenting films in development informed by ancestral intelligence. These participants will be invited to apply to participate in the workshop by a partner organization based in the Midwest: Mezcla Media Collective, OTV | Open Television, FilmNorth, Detroit Narrative Agency, or Black Ohio Film Group.

Featured speakers include:

Aja Monet
Noname
Eve Ewing
Fatimah Asghar
Tonika Lewis Johnson
Kamilah Rashied
Dallas Goldtooth