Can a Documentary Inspire Civic Action? How Film Can Move Audiences From Empathy to Engagement

When the lights came up after a collection of short documentaries about immigration enforcement in Chicago, the audience did more than applaud. Viewers contributed $4,000 to a legal-support fund and stayed to speak with filmmakers, attorneys, and community advocates working directly with affected families.

The event was part of Speak Truth, a new initiative within the 2026 Doc10 Documentary Film Festival. The premise was simple: A documentary screening can become more than a cultural event when audiences are given credible information, human connections and practical ways to respond.

That model has relevance far beyond one festival or city.

Sparking Civic Action Through Film

Americans are confronting book censorship, shrinking local journalism, political division, and declining social trust. The American Library Association reported that 4,235 unique titles were challenged in 2025, the second-highest number it has recorded. Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative reports that 213 U.S. counties have no local news outlet, while 1,526 have only one. Pew Research Center found that just 34 percent of Americans believe most people can be trusted, down from 46 percent in 1972.

Speak Truth brought those large concerns down to human scale through films addressing book bans, religious pluralism, journalism, authoritarianism, immigration, political rhetoric and control of food and water resources.

A screening of The Librarians, for example, connected the national fight over intellectual freedom with the experiences of librarians facing intimidation for defending access to books. Other programs paired films with journalists, faith leaders, public officials, artists, legal advocates and organizers.

The conversations were accompanied by opportunities to participate, including Freedom of Information Act training, opinion-writing workshops, coalition-building sessions and introductions to nonprofit organizations addressing the issues depicted onscreen.

Providing More Access to Transformative Art

Research suggests that this combination of culture and participation can be powerful. A National Endowment for the Arts study found that arts engagement is associated with volunteering, charitable giving and other forms of community participation. Research highlighted by the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, a Make It Better Foundation 2026 Philanthropy Award Winner, also found that narrative films can increase empathy and support for reforms affecting stigmatized groups.

But empathy alone does not produce change. Audiences also need access, relationships and a realistic next step.

Doc10 applied that principle by providing tickets and transportation for a Girl Scout troop from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood to attend Cookie Queens, a documentary about the ingenuity and ambition behind the annual cookie sale. The invitation recognized that community engagement begins with determining who can enter cultural spaces and whose experiences are represented there.

Documentary film cannot repair weakened institutions on its own. It can, however, make distant issues personal, introduce viewers to people already creating solutions, and replace isolation with a shared public experience.

A film begins with strangers sitting together in the dark. Its civic value may be revealed by what they decide to do when the lights come up.

This post was submitted as part of our “You Said It” program. Your voice, ideas, and engagement are important to help us accomplish our mission. We encourage you to share your ideas and efforts to make the world a better place by submitting a “You Said It,” which can earn a nonprofit that you champion a $1,000 donation from the Make It Better Foundation and eligibility for a Philanthropy Award, grant content partnership, and greater engagement with our audience.

How to Help

Supporting nonprofit documentary organizations that connect films with education, community partnerships, and public engagement can help make arts experiences accessible by underwriting tickets, transportation, interpretation, or neighborhood-based events.

Learn more about Chicago Media Project and the Doc10 Documentary Film Festival.

Paula Froehle is a filmmaker and co-founder of Chicago Media Project, the nonprofit organization behind the Doc10 Documentary Film Festival. Chicago Media Project builds community around documentary storytelling to spark action and civic engagement.

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