DocedgeKolkata Master Class 2021 | Virtual Edition

May 18, 7pm - 9pm PST / May 19, 7:30am - 9:30am IST

Stories For Social Change: Optimising Impact

Global Media Makers Presents: A conversation about Filmmaking & Social Impact with
Heriselda Begaj-Viotti and Hamida Rehimi from Participant, USA

HERISELDA BEGAJ-VIOTTI Director, Social Impact, Participant		Heriselda oversees impact campaigns at Participant where she works across sectors with non-profits, multinational companies, government agencies, foundations and other organizations to raise awareness and mobilize viewers around film and episodic content. She’s currently building a campaign focused on engaging audiences around public health content and previously led campaigns for Oscar-winning films including ‘American Factory’, the first project out of President and Mrs. Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, and Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma’, which helped to support efforts for domestic workers in Mexico and in the U.S.
HAMIDA REHIMI Director, Marketing Participant		Hamida oversees marketing campaigns for documentary and speciality film and TV at She works across teams internally – including Sales & Distribution, Communications, and Impact – and with filmmakers, producers, and distribution partners to plan and execute impact marketing campaigns. Recently, she wrapped the campaign for double Academy Award nominee ‘Collective’ with Magnolia Pictures and is working on the release of ‘Final Account’ with Focus Features. Her past campaigns include ‘City So Real’, a docu-series by Steve James that takes an inside look at the colourful make-up of Chicago as well as Academy Award winner ‘American Factory’.

About the Session:

The intersection of social impact marketing, built into a film’s release strategy, has the power to shift people’s perspectives, creating cultural moments and social change. It is becoming an emerging trend in distribution campaigns and can take your film beyond the computer, television, or movie theatre.

Whether you are trying to activate people to see your film or to take social action, building an effective audience engagement campaign is at the core of achieving both goals and extending the life and value of any film.

Participant, the company behind such award-winning films as Judas and the Black Messiah, American Factory, and Collective, has pioneered using social impact campaigns to maximize the impact of the stories they tell, highlighting some of the most pressing issues of our time.

This Master Class will take an inside look at Participant’s impact on today’s storytelling landscape by exploring two of their films, ‘The Price of Free’ and ‘Roma’, through in-depth case studies. Led by Participant’s Director of Social Impact Heriselda Begaj-Viottia and Director of Marketing Hamida Rehimi, attendees will learn insights into strategies a filmmaker can use to create both social impact and box office success for their documentary films.

If you’d like to watch either film prior to the Master Class, ‘The Price of Free’ is streaming on YouTube and ‘Roma’ is streaming on Netflix.

DocedgeKolkata Masterclass will be held in association with Global Media Makers, USA

Global Media Makers

Launched in 2016, Global Media Makers is an innovative mentoring initiative by Film Independent in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program connects visual storytellers from around the world with leading U.S. entertainment professionals through comprehensive filmmaker education, business training, professional networking opportunities and especially tailored mentorships.

Film Independent

Film Independent is a nonprofit arts organization that champions creative independence in visual storytelling and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

Our Partners