The Social Change Film Festival & Institute (SCFFI) is a global community with a local presence, promoting transformative filmmaking & fostering social change. SCFFI features four days of films, panels, workshops, selected shorts and special events to inspire and build a global community focused on expanding the reach of conscious social change film and media.

By creating spaces for dialogue, education, and connection:

• We support filmmakers to be more effective social activists
• We support social entrepreneurs to become more engaging storytellers
• We promote transformative media and engagement
• We promote selected films and offer access to distributors post-festival globally on multiple platforms
• We continue working with our social enterprise and filmmaker partners for the long-term

The Social Change Film Festival & Institute chooses an annual theme that is explored in festival films, workshops, panels, campaigns, and symposia in order to raise awareness about critical social, environmental, and political issues.  The theme for the 2012 festival was Water: Challenges & Solutions and we continue to work with our partners across the global on water issues. Our theme for 2013 is Innovation, Creativity and Social Change. In 2013, SCFFI will have added panels and a summit focused on clean tech and clean energy weaving in our theme.

The Social Change Film Festival selects a new global locality to host the festival each year.  In taking award-winning social change films and an educational film institute across the world, we aim to foster a transnational network of filmmakers and activists. The 3rd Annual Social Change Film Festival & Institute will be held October 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The inaugural festival was held in Ubud, Bali Indonesia and in 2012 New Orleans.
Our partner in Rio for CFFI 2013 is the Festival do Rio.

The Institute, as the educational portion of the festival, offers intensive workshops from talented industry professionals on all aspects of filmmaking, distribution, fundraising, and social change media.  In 2011, the Institute brought the 4-day Documentary Filmmaking Course with Jonathan Stack to Indonesia, a country with only one film school. Since 2011, with generous support from the Ford Foundation, the Social Change Film Festival was able to provide fellowships for 15 aspiring filmmakers from across the globe.

SCFFI expanding list of partners includes: 350.org, Blue Planet Network, Games for Change, The Creative Coalition, Working Films, New Day Films, Earth Protect,Loyola University, Dillard University, Ubud Vibe, San Francisco Green Film Festival, A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity, and the 2020 Fund.