Discover bold new voices that use film to help us see social justice differently. These six remarkable social justice films take audiences inside stories and issues they may never have encountered—and bring unexpected perspectives to issues they thought they knew.
The program features six exceptional short films, each under 30 minutes, selected from a highly competitive field of nearly 100 submissions from student and emerging filmmakers nationwide. These six emerging filmmakers rose to the top for their powerful storytelling, fresh perspectives, and distinctive approaches to social justice.
Time | Program |
12:30 PM | Joint Reception Bringing Together Student & Emerging Filmmakers |
1:30–3:30 PM | Screening of the 3 Emerging Finalist Films |
3:30–4:00 PM | Talkback with the Emerging Finalist Filmmakers |
Alexandra Strunin
Filmmaker, Visual Artist, and Musician
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Alexandra Strunin is a Polish filmmaker, visual artist, and musician. Her award-winning short films have screened internationally and received, among other honors, the Student Short Grand Prize at March On! Festival and Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival, Best Short Film at Maryland International Film Festival, and the Audience Award at Florida Film Festival.
Jalaya Liles Dunn
Director of the Southern Poverty Law
Center’s Learning for Justice Program
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Jalaya Liles-Dunn, Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice
program. A trailblazer in anti-bias training for educators Liles Dunn has over 20 years of
experience in social and racial justice pedagogy. She has also served as a social justice consultant for the University of Arkansas Academy for Educational Equity, and she created the House of J in South Carolina, a farm and wellness retreat to address the health disparities of poor communities of color, with a specific focus on women. Liles Dunn earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina-Pembroke and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Spelman College.
Come watch the films, then join us Saturday evening to see the winners announced during
New Orleans’ National Impact: Three Families Behind a Movement.
Register here to be there when the next generation of civil rights storytellers is recognized.
Ronald W. Walters Leadership & Public Policy Center, Howard University’s Office of External Affairs,
and the Department of Media, Journalism & Film
Myrtilla Miner Building Auditorium, Howard University School of Education
2565 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
(Entrance on 6th St NW)
OPAL HOPE BENNETT
Opal H. Bennett is the Emmy-winning Executive Producer at POV Shorts and Senior Producer at POV. Under her curation, POV Shorts won the 2020 and 2022 IDA Award for Best Short Form Series and the series broadcast the 2021 News & Documentary Emmy winner for Short Documentary, The Love Bugs.
Previously, Opal was Shorts Programmer and Director of Artist Development at DOC NYC and Senior Programmer at Athena Film Festival. Prior to that, Opal also worked with Nantucket Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Tribeca Film Festival and consulted for The Gotham (formerly IFP). She is a Programming Consultant for March On!. Opal is a member of the AMPAS Documentary branch. She has served on juries for SxSW, HotDocs, Aspen & Palm Springs ShortsFests, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Seattle International Film Festivals and IndieMemphis Film Festival among others. She has also served on the shorts selection committees for Cinema Eye Honors and the IDA. Opal has participated on various selection committees for film programming and grants.
A Columbia Law grad, Opal holds a Masters in Media Studies from the London School of Economics, and received her B.A. from New York University.