February is Black History Month, celebrating the lives, innovations, and struggles of African American individuals and communities. New Day has an excellent collection of films for Black History Month, including Faubourg-Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans; Silent Choices, a history of African American women and abortion; and Beauty in the Bricks, about four African American teenage girls growing up in an urban housing project 20 years ago. To see the full collection, click here.
The third Sunday in January is annually celebrated as World Religion Day. New Day has a wide collection of films dealing with religion, including the new release Call to Witness, a moving depiction of three pastors fighting for LGBT ordination in the Lutheran Church. View our whole collection here.
Native American Heritage Month
November is Native American Heritage Month, and New Day has many films that celebrate the cultures and histories of those who were here before the colonization of Turtle Island (aka North America), and those who survive and continue to build futures for themselves and their children. Tracing Roots follows master weaver and Haida elder Delores Churchill on a journey to understand the origins of a spruce root hat discovered alongside a 300-year-old traveler in a retreating glacier. Shellmound is the story of how one Bay Area location changed from a sacred burial ground to a toxic late-stage capitalist consumer zone. In Whose Honor? follows the story of Charlene Teters, a mother and activist who went up against the University of Illinois to ban the use of a racist mascot. Check out these films and more here.
Transgender Awareness Month
November is also Transgender Awareness Month, a time to celebrate, raise the visibility of, and expose the challenges faced by transgender and gender non-conforming people. New Day’s catalogue includes a number of films about trans people. Prodigal Sons reveals a surprisingly universal story about identity, gender, adoption, and mental illness. Trinidad acquaints viewers with three trans women whose paths cross in Trinidad, Colorado, the “sex-change capital of the world.” The Year We Thought About Love is a story about a queer youth theater project, and includes the coming out process of a young black trans woman. Check out these films and more here.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In hopes of helping victims through their pain and moving forward in the fight to eradicate domestic violence from our world, two New Day filmmakers are making their films available for free streaming the entire month. Kimberly Bautista‘s feature documentary Justice for My Sister is a feature-length documentary that follows one Guatemalan woman as she pits herself against her country’s notoriously machista justice system in search of answers to her sister’s brutal murder.
Peter Cohn‘s Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America is a powerful and dramatic exploration of family violence in the US. The feature documentary is accompanied by two shorter, more specialized companion pieces: Domestic Violence in Law Enforcement and Domestic Violence and Health Care.
National Child Awareness Month
During National Child Awareness Month, we address the growing challenges and needs of children. New Day is proud to host a collection of award-winning films on youth, including our latest acquisitions The Land, a short documentary about an unusual “adventure” playground, Top Spin, a feature documentary about three teenagers coming of age in the competitive world of table tennis, and The Year We Thought About Love, a diverse theater troupe of LGBTQ youth.
Disability Awareness Month
Disability Awareness Month is a time to foster a greater understanding of disability in society, and to dismantle stereotypes and stigma. New Day Films has a wide range of films about disability that offer diverse perspectives challenging ableism and redefining “normal.” New additions to the New Day catalogue, such as E Haku Inoa: To Weave a Name, a filmmaker’s personal exploration of mental illness in her family, and Making Noise in Silence, a short documentary about Deaf immigrant teens, expand the dominant narrative of disability.
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of people whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. New Day has a wide range of award-winning films on Latinos in the US and beyond, including two new titles: Abrazos, a feature documentary about the children of undocumented Guatemalan immigrants visiting their parents’ homeland for the first time, and Life on the Line, a short film about a girl coming of age along the US-Mexico border.
Immigrant Heritage Month
World Day for International Justice
Every July 17, people around the world host events to promote international criminal justice, especially support for the International Criminal Court. Check out New Day’s robust collection of films on international relations and global issues.
May is Mental Health Month, which seeks to lift the stigma of and raise awareness about mental illness in the United States. Check out New Day’s selections of films on Mental Health and Psychology for your events this year.
Older Americans Month was established in 1963 at a meeting between President John F. Kennedy and members of the National Council of Senior Citizens. Celebrate the contributions of older Americans to our nation and our communities this May with these New Day titles.
Asian American Pacific Heritage Month is a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. New Day has a robust collection of films about Asians, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Earth Day
Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day! For your events, check out New Day’s diverse collection of films on the environment and sustainability.
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rab American Heritage Month
April is Arab American Heritage Month. New Day has a wide selection of films that represent the diverse population of Arabs in the US and globally.
Women’s History Month
The 2015 theme for Women’s History Month this March is “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives.” Visit New Day’s collection of films that present the individual and collective stories of women, and reflect on their importance in our society.
National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
This commemorative month, in its 27th year this March, calls on us to recognize the mixed-ability world in which we live, and the unique contributions, needs, and desires of every person. What does it mean for us to live in a world where people of all different abilities are supported and recognized? Explore New Day’s collection of excellent films on disability-related topics.
National Criminal Justice Month
March is Criminal Justice Month, established to promote societal awareness regarding the causes and consequences of crime, as well as strategies for preventing and responding to crime. New Day films on Law and Criminal Justice are the perfect vehicle for education and discussion about policing, the criminal justice system, and efforts to achieve justice through international and domestic courts.
