Impact

A-Doc members have long understood the vital role their films play in elevating Asian American history, perspectives and experiences in the public sphere beyond the nonfiction media ecosystem. As a collective, A-Doc has a strong track record of collaborating with civic and cultural organizations, but this work initially lacked strategy, coordination and sustained support. Understanding the need for greater coordination between filmmakers and organizers, we aim to elevate the network’s role within the social justice ecosystem strategically through our Impact Initiative. 

Since 2021, A-Doc has crafted an impact infrastructure for our network based on feedback from our membership and progressive AAPI organizations so that we can nurture relationships with independent AAPI storytellers across genres and geographies, facilitate opportunities for organizational partners to share their short and long-term advocacy and narrative change goals, and facilitate workshops about the filmmaking process, cultural strategy, and impact production. 

Through our Impact Initiative, we’ve launched an Impact Lab, formed relationships with respected organizations, hosted a speaker series with leading documentarians, launched the 2024 Impact Fellowship, and much more. And now in 2025, in collaboration with Asian American Futures, we launched the AAPI Futures Impact Producer Fellowship for Impact Producers to level up in a community of peers, collaborators, co-conspirators, and leaders within the documentary film and social justice ecosystem.