Storytelling for Social Change
The human rights challenges of our world today require more than law and policy change. Holistic and sustainable progress requires a fundamental shift in society's attitudes about human rights. Art, film, and other visual culture have the power to disrupt entrenched narratives and catalyze positive social change.
“Lawyers tend to underestimate the power of popular culture not just to entertain, but to inform, advocate, and inspire. That’s why we launched Storytelling for Social Change,” says Executive Director Elisa Massimino, “to ensure that our community experiences directly the way art and popular culture can spark movements for positive change.”
Since 2021, the Human Rights Institute has hosted film screenings of The Territory, TIME, A Most Beautiful Thing, Flee, A Fire Within, Crip Camp, and Go-Go City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, D.C. We also hosted a book talk with Andrew Leon Hanna about his book, 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs, and welcomed Little Amal to Washington, D.C. on her journey through America.
Join us to watch extraordinary films, attend powerful plays, and discuss books with the filmmakers, artists, and authors who brought them to life.
2024-2025

Being BeBe
Being BeBe is a documentary telling the story of Marshall Ngwa (a.k.a. BeBe Zahara Benet). Ngwa came to the United States in pursuit of education, and discovered his own tremendous gifts in the art form of drag. The film parallels Marshall’s fight to maintain the trajectory of his career alongside a deep connection with his traditional African roots and family. Panelists explored the role of visibility and representation in challenging societal norms and art's ability to amplify marginalized voices in the post-film panel discussion.

Covering Their Tracks
Covering Their Tracks is a gripping podcast that tells the story of the survivors and dedicated lawyers who led a decades-long contemporary legal battle to hold SNCF accountable for its role in facilitating Nazi atrocities. During the Holocaust, the French national rail company SNCF directly profited by transporting Jews to concentration camps under a contract with the Third Reich. HRI invited the lawyers involved in the case for a conversation about how their tireless investigation and innovative legal strategies succeeded in bringing justice and reparations to survivors and their families.
2023-2024

The Territory (2022)
In October 2023, the Human Rights Institute hosted a screening of National Geographic's award-winning film The Territory (2022). Filmed partially by Uru-eu-wau-wau people, "The Territory" is an immersive, on-the-ground look at the courageous fight of the indigenous community against farmers and illegal settlers who are burning and clearing their land in the Brazilian Amazon. Georgetown Law students and faculty, members of the Human Rights Associates Program, and the general public attended the screening at the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library auditorium.

Book Talk on "25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs" by Andrew Leon Hanna
The Human Rights Institute welcomed Andrew Leon Hanna in September 2023 for a special conversation on his latest book, 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs (Cambridge University Press). Called “a powerful story of hope” by Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee and a chance to “discover humanity at its best” by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, Hanna's book tells the story of three Syrian women entrepreneurs in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan, and of the broader global refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon they represent.
2022-2023

Go-Go City: Protest and Displacement in Washington, DC
"For decades, Washington, DC has been a beacon for Black culture and community. Now, however, a wave of economic and cultural gentrification occurring at breakneck speed threatens to erase this history. Go-Go City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, DC, a documentary film by Samuel George dives into this rich and colorful tapestry and the forces behind the gentrification that stand to mute it. The film interweaves scenes of protest as displaced communities take to the streets to rally around the city’s beloved Go-Go music." — Bertelsmann Foundation Documentary Films

TIME
An Oscar-nominated documentary, TIME delves into the resilience and radical love necessary to prevail over the endless family separations resulting from America’s prison-industrial complex. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson, fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.
Believing that “to be free is to free others”, Fox and Rob Rich discussed their commitment to educating the public about sustainable solutions to America’s prison-industrial complex.
2021-2022

A Most Beautiful Thing
Based on the powerful memoir by Arshay Cooper and narrated by Grammy-winning artist Common, "A Most Beautiful Thing" chronicles the first African American high school rowing team in the United States.
Award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio, an Olympic rower and Georgetown Law alumnus, joined Elisa Massimino to discuss the film, its impact, and her work to advance social change through the power of film.

Flee
A poignant story of belonging and the search for identity—Amin’s life has been defined by his past and a secret he’s kept for over 20 years. Forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child with his mother and siblings, Amin grapples with how his past will affect his future in Denmark and the life he is building with his soon-to-be husband.
Robyn Barnard, Senior Advocacy Counsel in Refugee Protection at Human Rights First, led a discussion on the challenges that asylum seekers face.

A Fire Within
"A Fire Within" tells the true story of three Ethiopian women who immigrated to the United States after surviving torture in their home country, only to discover that the man responsible for torturing them is not only living in the United States but is working at the same Atlanta hotel as one of the women.
Christopher Chambers, the film's director, joined Elisa Massimino virtually to discuss the making of the film and his efforts to tell this inspiring true story through the survivors' own voices.

Crip Camp
Oscar-nominated "Crip Camp" tells the story of Camp Jened, a Catskills summer camp for teens with disabilities that fostered a sense of community and creativity. Many Jened campers went on to lead the American disability rights movement in the 1970s and beyond. The film documents the power of youth engagement to transform social narratives and deliver revolutionary change.