The Experience
We are committed to the arts for their ability to transport us back in time through a record of human thought and creativity. Through our cultural platforms, we host rotating Films, Visual Art, and Music selections that open pathways to new cultures and modes of thinking.
Every month, we feature programming around a theme, ranging from the immigrant experience to women’s rights and living in conflict. We invite our filmmakers, artists, experts, and you to approach the theme from multiple angles. We host panel discussions that look at the work in context: what made that work of art possible? Does it give us a fresh way of looking at the past? And can analyzing the work through diverse perspectives lead us to new models for how to practice empathy in our daily lives?
We curate content that explores ages-old issues with a modern lens:
+ Grey Matter: How memory, identity and livelihood are shaped by adversity
+ No Turning Back: Movements of the modern era
+ The Future Tense: Exploring game-changing ideas and progressive research
+ A Sense of Place: What constitutes home and why are so attached to it?
+ Living in the Wild: Examining our complicated relationship with the natural world
Film
HUMANKIND brings you a compelling film selection every month of directors from the US, Latin America, Europe, East Asia and beyond. We are proud to partner with nonprofit organizations for each of our virtual screenings to support direct action in affected communities. We host screenings, director Q&As, panel discussions and more via the Projectr platform.
January
Angels are Made of Light + Save the Children
A stirring and beautiful documentary from Academy Award-nominated director James Longley (Iraq in Fragments), Angels Are Made of Light traces the lives of young students and their teachers at a school in the old city of Kabul. Interweaving the modern history of Afghanistan with present-day portraits, the film offers an intimate and nuanced vision of a society living in the shadow of war.
February
Bronx Gothic + National Black Theatre
From director Andrew Rossi (Page One: Inside the New York Times, The First Monday in May) comes an electrifying portrait of writer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili and her acclaimed one-woman show, Bronx Gothic. With intimate vérité access to Okwui and her audiences off the stage, Bronx Gothic allows for unparalleled insight into her creative process as well as the complex social issues embodied in it.
March
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin + PEN America
Best-known for groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy works such as A Wizard of Earthsea, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin defiantly held her ground on the margin of “respectable” literature until the sheer excellence of her work, at long last, forced the mainstream to embrace fantastic literature. Her fascinating story has never before been captured on film.
April
The Hottest August + NRDC
The Hottest August gives us a window into one city over one month: New York City, including its outer boroughs, during August 2017. It’s a month heavy with the tension of a new President, growing anxiety over everything from rising rents to marching white nationalists, and unrelenting news of either wildfires or hurricanes on every coast. The film asks, what does the future look like from where we are standing? And what if we are not all standing in the same place?
May
Ava
Living with her well-to-do parents in Tehran, Ava is a bright and focused teen whose concerns — friendships, music, social status, academic performance — resemble that of nearly any teenager. When Ava’s mistrustful and overprotective mother questions her relationship with a boy, Ava is overwhelmed by a newfound rage. Formerly a model student, Ava begins to rebel against the strictures imposed by her parents, her school, and the society at large.
June
Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? + The Innocence Project
“In 1946, my great-grandfather murdered a black man named Bill Spann and got away with it.” So begins Travis Wilkerson’s critically acclaimed documentary, Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?, which takes us on a journey through the American South to uncover the truth behind a horrific incident and the societal mores that allowed it to happen.
Visual Arts
Through visual arts, we are uncovering the histories of paintings, sculptures, monuments, clothing, jewelry, books, maps to tell unexpected (and often overlooked) stories about meetings at global crossroads, our relationship with nature, and how we build identities.
Each video is programmed to complement the month’s film, offering new perspectives on the themes we’re exploring. The videos can offer more background, or introduce unexpected narratives that don't get the attention they deserve in history books. The Humankind art library offers the best opportunity to understand our themes across time and across cultures.