Subject Matter

We join 2,500+ actors, directors, producers, writers, comedians, filmmakers, and industry professionals to oppose the WBD-Paramount merger. We refuse to stay silent, as big media corporations seek to hurt our industry and consumers. Join us in our effort to Block the Merger at BlockTheMerger.com. #blockthemerger

What a pleasure to spend a day with this group mapping out how the Oscar winning short doc @alltheemptyrooms moves beyond the screen and into the halls of power. We hosted an impact campaign workshop with the film team and partner organization Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins University as part of our collaboration with @subjectmatterorg . They are building an impact campaign to rehumanize the issue and build urgency in the national conversation on gun violence by centering lived experiences of the families who have experienced it devastating impact. From Netflix to the steps of your state capital, this powerful film will be paired with rigorous public health research: Now that’s a strategy for impact!

Yesterday at Sundance, a panel featured Dawn Porter’s new documentary, When a Witness Recants. The film explores the lasting harm from wrongful convictions, the pressure on witnesses to give false testimonies, and the ripple effects these injustices have on communities. Thanks to Subject Matter, every donation made to Gideon’s Promise during the Sundance Film Festival unlocks an additional $100 gift in support of public defense. We only need 50 people to participate—a donation in any amount from 50 individuals will help us reach the $5,000 goal! 👉 Give and learn more! #SubjectMatter #Sundance #GideonsPromise

We’re headed to @sundanceorg to award our latest grants to SEIZED and @reporterscommittee ! 🎬 Seized is a gripping, stranger-than-fiction investigative thriller that plunges audiences inside the troubling police raid on the Marion County Record. What begins as a shocking small-town incident quickly spirals into a national story, exposing how corruption, politics, and decades-long tensions turned a quaint Kansas community into a battleground over the First and Fourth Amendments. The film unfolds in real time through police body-cam and surveillance footage, revealing the raid’s chaos, the bombshells that followed, and the devastating personal toll on the newsroom, including the tragic death of its 98-year-old co-owner. The film will premiere on Sunday, January 25th at The Ray Theatre in Park City and will also be available through Sundance Film Festival’s online program, screening from January 29th - February 1st.

We’re headed to @sundanceorg to award our latest grants to SEIZED and @reporterscommittee ! RCFP is the leading pro bono legal services organization for journalists and newsrooms in the U.S. The Reporters Committee provides legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources at no cost to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists across the country. From broadcast journalists to documentary filmmakers to independent freelancers, journalists of all kinds can contact the Reporters Committee for assistance — no matter what legal obstacles they face.

We’re headed to @sundanceorg to award our latest grants to WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS and @gideonspromise ! 🎬 In 1983, noted author Ta-Nehisi Coates remembers learning that a 14-year old boy was murdered in the corridor of his Baltimore middle school. Revisiting the case as an adult, he learns the truth about the three innocent teenagers who were convicted and sentenced to life. After 36 years in prison, it was revealed that false testimony led to their imprisonment. WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS explores the collateral damage the handling of this case had on the community, the wrongfully accused, and the young witnesses pressured to betray them. The film will premiere on Tuesday, January 27th at the Library Center Theatre in Park City.

We’re headed to @sundanceorg to award grants to WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS and @gideonspromise ! Since 2007, the mission of Gideon’s Promise has been to transform the criminal legal system by building a movement of public defenders who provide equal justice for marginalized communities. Gideon’s Promise, through its heroic public defenders, is working to reduce the effects of poverty, build stronger and more resilient communities, and keep families together. Founded in 2007 by MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellow, Jonathan Rapping, and former educator, Ilham Askia, Gideon’s Promise has trained and supported over 3,000 public defenders across the country to transform the way public defense is practiced in America. Over 80% of Americans arrested cannot afford a private attorney, and will have a public defender appointed to them. Gideon’s Promise answers the need to have caring, confident and committed public defenders in every courtroom across America. Gideon’s Promise is collaborating with systems and individuals across 27 states to make justice a reality for all.

Watch HOMEGROWN for free today, January 6th, courtesy of Subject Matter! HOMEGROWN is a timely and unflinching documentary that examines the rise of domestic extremism in the United States and the pathways that have led us to the present moment. The film received a Subject Matter grant in 2024 along with a grant to @22ndcenturyinitiative . The film is available direct to audiences now through President’s Day. Watch it today at HOMEGROWN.FILM.

THE DOC NYC DISPATCH // Last week @lowlandkidsfilm celebrated its 🇺🇸 US Premiere 🎥 at @docnycfest ! The film not only screened for two incredible sold out audiences but was also awarded a generous @subjectmatterorg grant presented to the film at this year’s festival. And now a shout out 🔊 to our generous partners at @weareevokemedia for providing a travel grant to bring @juliette_brunet to NYC 🚕 🗽as well as @minderoofoundation for supporting the festival release & activations. #climatecrisis #climatestorytelling #indiefilm #docnyc #documentary

LOWLAND KIDS just got a boost that goes beyond the screen. 👏 @subjectmatterorg has named the film a 2025 grantee, pairing a grant for the documentary with direct support for the First People’s Conservation Council (FPCC) and the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation. This means disaster relief, long-term planning, and Indigenous-led climate adaptation—real help for the community at the heart of the story. On top of that, at @docnycfest , every audience donation to FPCC will be matched up to $5,000. It’s a chance for viewers to turn empathy into action and stand with the people living climate displacement right now. We’re proud to see @lowlandkidsfilm join @refugethemovie as an Evoke-supported project recognized by Subject Matter. This is what it looks like when storytelling and community action move together!

Through a collaboration with DOC NYC, Subject Matter will award $90,000 in grants and activate audiences to create a positive community action in response to the documentary films @nunsvsthevatican and @lowlandkidsfilm . Lorena Luciano’s NUNS VS. THE VATICAN, which will make its U.S. premiere at the 2025 edition of DOC NYC, will receive a $25,000 grant, and a corresponding $25,000 grant will be awarded to the nonprofit BishopAccountability.org. In addition, Subject Matter is awarding a $20,000 grant to Sandra Winther’s debut feature LOWLAND KIDS, also making its U.S. premiere at DOC NYC. A corresponding $20,000 grant will be awarded to the nonprofit the First People’s Conservation Council. In NUNS VS. THE VATICAN, Gloria’s jaw-dropping sexual abuse story is just the beginning as nuns start to break decades of silence, exposing a system built to protect power. The film will premiere on Saturday, November 15 at 1:45 PM at @villageeastbyangelika in DOC NYC’s Investigations section. LOWLAND KIDS follows the story of the last two teenagers living on the once thriving Isle de Jean Charles, LA, their strikingly beautiful ancestral home that is now being swallowed by the sea. The film premieres on Saturday, November 15 at 8:00 PM at @villageeastbyangelika in DOC NYC’s Resilience program. Subject Matter provides funds & resources to documentary films highlighting urgent social issues and to nonprofits tackling the featured topics while creating roadmaps for inspired audiences to take action. Learn more about the award at the link in today’s story. Learn more about the award at the 🔗 in today’s story. #docnyc2025 #activatechange #subjectmatterorg #documentaryfilms #outreachimpact

We’re headed to @docnycfest to award $90k in grants! Congrats to @lowlandkidsfilm and First People’s Conservation Council. 

LOWLAND KIDS follows two teenagers and their uncle—on Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing Isle de Jean Charles. They face an uncertain future as the U.S. government makes an unprecedented effort to resettle their entire community before the island succumbs to the sea.