How Indie Theaters Are Reimagining The Moviegoing Experience

In India, videos made about the many social problems are secretly broadcasted in different villages to make people aware of the real problem and also aware of what they can do to fix it. Video Volunteers, an organization that coordinates these video productions, catalyzes community change through transparency and accountability.

India’s television serials are ubiquitous and wildly influential, bringing families of every background together every night. For some producers and screenwriters, that reach comes with responsibility, as they use their medium to fight rape and gendered violence.

Colorado has had challenges teaching climate change to elementary and secondary school students because of political divisiveness. Regional advocacy groups and professionals manage to teach climate change through engaging field trips, filmmaking, and outdoor learning.

By depicting crucial social issues such as infant mortality, domestic abuse, and alcoholism, TV and radio soap operas are being used internationally as a powerful tool for mass behavior change.

Compared with other developed countries, the United States has a higher rate of teenage pregnancy. However, Colorado has collaborated with foundations, private donors, and has taken advantage of Obamacare’s coverage to offer free long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) for several years. The program providing LARCs has contributed to a drop in the teenage abortion rate, the teenage pregnancy rate, and fewer children born in poverty, all while being a cost-saving measure for taxpayers.

Undergoing surgery is a stress-inducing prospect for anyone, but children are especially vulnerable to anxiety prior to operations. To avoid using risky anti-anxiety medications on young patients, two anesthesiologists at the Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford have developed creative techniques to distract children from their forthcoming surgeries. They use toys and a unique low-cost video projection system called BERT-Bedside Entertainment Theater.

In the United States, the incarcerated feel like they have no voices and their mistakes that led them to jail go unacknowledged. A documentary film spotlights the IF Project, a writing program that encourages female inmates and recently released felons to write down what they would have done to change the path they went on. With police and teachers as mentors, the convicted have support transitioning into society and can reflect on what they can do to change their lives for the better.

Many unskilled workers in Tanzania are women and, due to gender inequality, they are often disregarded and live with economic hardship. Oxfam Tanzania has a reality show that raises awareness of women farmers. The winners of the show go use their notoriety to promote women’s rights and improve the lives of other women farmers.

Uganda has some of the highest fertility and HIV prevalence rates in the world. Yet the government has banned comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and parents feel uncomfortable talking about the taboo subject. So Chicken & Chips, a television show about puppets, was created to educate the country’s young people about sexual and reproductive health.

Police officers often need to investigate a crime scene quickly, sometimes before other investigators can arrive. In the Netherlands, researchers and police are teaming up to develop an augmented reality system that allows remote investigators to watch a live video feed and provide suggestions and information in real time to officers on the ground.