Firelight Media’s Beyond Resilience Series Announced as a Gold Winner in Community Outreach, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for The 3rd Annual Anthem Awards
Firelight Media announced today that it is a Gold Winner in Community Outreach, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in The 3rd Annual Anthem Awards.
This year’s Anthem Award Winners were selected from a pool of over 2,000 submissions from 44 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Anthem judges are intellectually diverse leaders from across the impact industry with expertise that spans across the Anthem cause areas. IADAS members include: Heather Dowdy, Director of Product Accessibility, Netflix; Alex Amouyel, President & CEO, Newman’s Own Foundation; Noel Kinder, Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike; Shaniqua McClendon, Vice President of Politics, Crooked Media/Vote Save America; Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq., Executive Director, American Psychiatric Association Foundation; Alison Moore, CEO, Comic Relief US; Christina Lang, Vice President of North American Marketing, Mozilla; Michelle Waring, Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good, Tom’s of Maine; and more.
Launched in 2020, Beyond Resilience is a series of panel discussions, essays, and film screenings created by and for communities of color that explore the challenges, strategies, and experiences of creating and distributing documentary media during periods of social transformation. Events in the series have been presented at BlackStar Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, DOC NYC, the New Orleans Film Festival, and the International Documentary Association’s Getting Real Conference, among other places. Beyond Resilience has established itself as a flagship event series for the documentary field, convening thought leaders from across public and commercial media, as well as filmmakers, artists, film critics, journalists, and scholars, among others, to discuss and address issues facing BIPOC communities.
“The Anthem Awards were born out of the desire to amplify and celebrate the voices that are creating sustainable change and to inspire others to take action,” said Patricia McLoughlin, Anthem Awards General Manager. “In a year where so much is at stake, it is incredibly important to recognize impact work and celebrate the progress happening globally. Congratulations to all of this year’s Winners.”
“I am honored that our Beyond Resilience series is receiving this recognition from The Anthem Awards,” said Firelight Media President Marcia Smith. “As I’ve long said, BIPOC filmmakers are the miner’s canary in the documentary film industry — as in many parts of American life. We work in a field in which opportunities and resources are not equitably distributed. The Beyond Resilience series has enabled us to assert our collective influence as BIPOC members of the industry at all levels: from executive leadership to emerging and mid-career filmmakers, journalists and critics, scholars and community leaders. Together, we stake our claim: No stories about us without us.”
By amplifying the voices that spark global change, the Anthem Awards are defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their communities. A portion of program revenue is allocated to the Anthem Award’s grant program, The Anthem Fund. This year the Anthem Fund partnered with Billion Oyster Project to support their work to restore and conserve New York’s waterways.
The Beyond Resilience Series is sponsored by Open Society Foundations. Beyond Resilience is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Field of Vision.
Learn more about Beyond Resilience and view past events in the series here:
About Firelight Media
Firelight Media is a premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color. Firelight Media produces documentary films, supports filmmakers of color, and cultivates audiences for their work. Firelight Media’s programs include the Documentary Lab, an 18-month fellowship that supports emerging filmmakers of color; Groundwork Regional Lab, which supports emerging filmmakers in the American South, midwest, and U.S. territories; and the William Greaves Research & Development Fund, for mid-career nonfiction filmmakers from racially and ethnically underrepresented communities, among others. Firelight Media also produces digital short film series, including the forthcoming season three of In the Making, with PBS American Masters, and a collection of regional short films, Homegrown: A Part Of/Apart From, with PBS.
About The Anthem Awards
Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, we’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Diversity; Equity & Inclusion; Education; Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment & Climate. Founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.
About The Webby Awards
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites; Video; Advertising, Media & PR; Apps, Mobile, and Voice; Social; Podcasts; and Games. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received more than 13,500 entries from all 50 states and 70 countries worldwide this year. The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include Verizon, WP Engine, YouGov, Brandlive, Canva, NAACP, KPMG, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Podcast Movement, and AIGA.
