Lights, Camera, Films For Action: Changing the World, One Film at a Time
by Channing Capacchione | WeINSPIRE Reporter
BOSTON, Ma. — What inspires change? For Tim Hjersted, Director of Films For Action, it started with a movie.
In 2004, the documentary “The Corporation,” was released, but it wasn’t until 2006 that Hjersted and his group of friends began discussing the issues involved. “Mainstream media is geared towards profit,” says Hjersted. He now dedicates his career to informing and educating the population through documentaries, films, and videos that go beyond what major corporations are spreading.
Films For Action is dedicated to curating films and providing a platform to reach people through film education. With the help of friend and co-founder Mathew Toplikar, the organization began creating their early screenings and developing a website.
“Film screenings are a springboard for action,” says Hjersted. “When everyone gathers to watch a film, the people in the room leave with a new shared knowledge. It’s a great way to bring everyone together to start figuring out ways to take action locally.”
Hjersted organized film screenings at a local theatre in his town of Lawrence, Kansas. When the audience reached hundreds of people, Hjersted realized there was interest in the topics the films were discussing such as activism, economics, social issues, environmentalism, education and more. The group of friends held a variety of viewings in their town, and took to the internet to reach a larger audience.
Previously, Films For Action followed a city chapter model, allowing people to create their own screenings and programs in their own communities. However, after receiving millions of hits online, Hjersted redirected the mission for the organization.
Image: Poster advertisement for Films For Action sponsored film screening
Branching away from film screenings, Hjersted quickly saw the benefit and reach that online content has over in-person events. With a larger audience online, the films would have a greater chance to be heard and seen, and quickly the word spread to reach thousands of people.
“Why aren’t we hearing about these things discussed in some of these documentaries?” asks Hjersted. When digging deeper and discovering more films, Hjersted began building a media library of films that educate and call for action.
While Hjersted was starting his online collection of films, other platforms such as YouTube were just beginning to emerge. This new type of media began attracting more and more individuals to engage with online video streaming.
“I couldn’t get my friends to read books, but I could get them to watch a movie,” says Hjersted. “And an article may not provide enough knowledge or information to draw an informed conclusion. Sometimes a film can be emotionally more powerful.”
“Mass media is the issue,” says Hjersted. “There’s a struggle to be addressed, and without it our democracy suffers.”
The Films For Action community is largely made up of like minded individuals who often become involved through Facebook. In fact, online contributors have become so valuable to Films For Action that they have previously been hired by the company. Additionally, Hjersted remains in contact with many documentary filmmakers to continue the educational dialogue outside of web pages.
Pictured: Tim Hjersted
Hjersted is not a filmmaker himself, but his dedication allows him to amplify and spread the messages of many progressive filmmakers. The filmmakers, and the stories they tell, inspire Hjersted to continue to grow the online film collection and grow the community around the organization’s mission.
“It’s not always obvious how to make the world a better place,” says Hjersted. By sharing films on powerful subjects and advocating for change, Hjersted hopes he can inspire people to also become activists.
“I spent two years considering the question ‘what can I do?’ before deciding the media was what I wanted to focus on,” says Hjersted. “Everyone can be the media. Don’t complain about it, instead be your own media and don’t wait for others to fix the problem for you. You can be the solution by doing it yourself.”
In Hjersted’s own words his activism is dedicated to “information and educational awareness.” “We often see corporations and politicians trying to solve problems, but when solutions come from the top down, they frequently don’t actually help ordinary people or fail to solve the real problems,” he says. “We need an informed populace so that we can advocate for solutions we’ve designed ourselves. Solutions that can actually solve root causes.”
“The world motivates me to write,” says Hjersted. On his website he publishes articles on topics that he believes are not being spoken about enough or that would benefit people to have a better understanding. His motivation stems from “compassion and cultivating a compassionate perspective on issues.”
Hjersted credits much of his upbringing to his current passions and the role he plays in inspiring others. Raised as an American Sufi, Hjersted ideals are ingrained in the idea of compassion for all beings. “This spiritual upbringing led me to want to become an activist,” he says.
“You learn about suffering, and you’re like wow, this is awful what other people are going through. I had a loving family and I believe everyone should have that. Being raised in a good environment motivated me to want to see other people also have that,” says Hjersted.
In 2017, the Films For Action University initiative was created in an attempt to re-imagine an alternative schooling system where instead of traditional coursework, students watch different films for homework assignments. The goal was to educate students to receive introductory information and foundational context on topics such as economics, society, and education.
Image: Website banner for Films For Action
In many cases, Films For Action works with filmmakers directly to help them and partner for revenue splits. While many of the films found on the Film For Action website are free, they support themselves mainly through donations and a gift economy format.
Other contributors, such as Andrew Butler, were so dedicated that he was given the privilege of being Films For Action’s first paid staff member from 2014-2017 working as an editor. Butler began contributing content to Films For Action and caught the attention of Hjersted from his consistent high quality submissions.
Additionally, they follow the Patreon model for monthly contributions, to fundraise for creators who want to make their work accessible for free.
“We have no advertising budget. We reach millions of people through social media. Thousands of people are sharing these films and the people have the power to share good content with their friends. We have the power to reach a lot of folks through social media. It may seem simple, but it’s a basic thing that everyone can do.”
Anyone can submit videos or articles and rate content on the website. Hjersted describes the website as a “community powered learning library,” with nearly 50% of the site's content coming from community submissions and crowdsourcing.
Films on the website can be searched for and are categorized on different genres such as social change and more.
Films For Actions Recommendations:
Hjersted has compiled a list of “The Top 100 Documentaries We Can Use To Change The World,” with the top four films being particularly important to Hjersted’s personal mission through the organization.
“The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they're starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm -- an economics of localization.”
Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective
“INHABIT explores the many environmental issues facing us today and examines solutions that are being applied using the ecological design lens of permaculture. Focused mostly on the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the United States, Inhabit provides an intimate look at permaculture peoples and practices ranging from rural, suburban, and urban landscapes.”
“The Corporation is today's dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives.”
The Evolution of Ecological Consciousness
“Permaculture designer Andrew Faust gives us an inspiring and heady narrative about the evolution of all life and human consciousness on Mother Earth.”
