The work of independent documentary directors is vital and helps shape the consciousness of the people. We aim to protect this essential work by supporting, centering, and promoting directors, their artistic vision, and creating an inclusive, diverse, and safe industry environment where all people and art forms can not only be sustainable but thrive. We aim to do this while furthering progressive policies that impact our community and the betterment of the world including more just labour practices, accessibility to services like health care, and practices which center people and wellness over profit.
The pandemic, widespread precarity, and ongoing systemic racism have thrust the independent documentary ecosystem into an unprecedented crisis. In response, eight filmmakers came together in March of 2020 – Cecilia Aldarando, Samara Chadwick, Sara Dosa, Hannah Jayanti, Sonia Kennebeck, Ursula Liang, Eddie Martinez & Sasha Wortzel – to create a space of community with the intention of building collective power and support. In June of 2020 they co-created Independent Documentary Directors (IDD), a national US-based non-hierarchical and growing group of nearly 200 members who are collectively advocating for structural change relating to issues including diversity, fiscal sustainability, fair labor practice, creative freedom, transparency, mental health support, and solidarity.