Director's Report 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, we are grateful for the strength, resilience, and creativity of the documentary and educational communities that continue to inspire us. Even in a turbulent climate, we’ve seen powerful grassroots organizing, renewed energy around equity and social justice, and an outpouring of support for films that illuminate truth and uplift underrepresented voices. Video Project, in keeping with our 40+ year history, remains committed to principled storytelling and to standing with the educators, students, and filmmakers who rely on this work to spark dialogue and create change.

At the same time, we recognize that this year has brought unprecedented challenges. The new presidential administration’s slash-and-burn approach to government, the arts, and education has left school districts, universities, filmmakers, and long-standing cultural institutions facing sudden and sometimes existential funding gaps. Threats to academic freedom have intensified, fueled by groups like Moms for Liberty and laws such as Ohio Senate Bill 1, which severely restricts what can be taught in public universities. Book bans, administrative pressures, and a general atmosphere of fear have led many educators to self-censor simply to protect their livelihoods. The impact has been deeply chilling and has reshaped the terrain in which documentary films are made, taught, and shared.

In response, our 2025 slate directly confronts these troubling trends and offers educators tools to push back with knowledge, courage, and community. Banned Together highlights students resisting book bans; Shifting Baselines examines the questionable public value of Elon Musk’s “Starbase”; and Break the Game has drawn national attention—so much so that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene cited it while arguing for cuts to PBS funding. Other titles, such as Following Harry and American Agitators, celebrate grassroots organizing and the power of collective action, while To Use a Mountain and Among the Palms the Bomb engage with difficult national histories that must be reckoned with in order to better understand our present moment. Across the board, these films equip classrooms and communities with honest, thoughtful stories that model inquiry rather than fear.

We are humbled to continue to undertake this work, even amid strong political headwinds. Over four decades we’ve weathered many shifts, and we remain confident that the pendulum is already beginning to swing back toward a more open, equitable future. Whether the change takes hold in 2026 or beyond, Video Project will be here—standing on principled values, supporting truth-tellers, and helping to build a society that benefits everyone. Thank you for your partnership.