The Redford Center

It’s live!! You can watch ‘Boyz N The Wood: Resilience in the Redwoods’ on YouTube right now.

Directed by Faith Briggs Rose, this short film follows a group of Black men (Boyz N The Wood) finding connection through brotherhood and the peace of the outdoors in the California redwoods.

Boyz N The Wood reminds us that healing happens in community and that nature can be a place to not only breathe but to simply belong. Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin when we simply give ourselves permission to slow down and be present 🌲

🔗 Watch now on our official YouTube channel: https://ow.ly/y5Ie50Ze1MM

Through shared experiences and time spent in nature, the men of Boyz N The Wood discover what can happen when they have the space to simply be.

🌲 Watch the journey unfold when ‘Boyz N The Wood: Resilience in the Redwoods’ premieres this Thursday on our official YouTube channel.

🔗 Subscribe to our official YouTube channel to tune in.

What happens when Black men are given space to breathe?

Set among the California redwoods, the short film ‘Boyz N The Wood: Resilience in the Redwoods’ follows a group of Black men (Boyz N The Wood) reflection and community through time spent outdoors.

It’s a story about brotherhood and belonging that reinforces a simple and important idea: “nature is for us.”

This is the first film in Our Nature Connection program, a short film series spotlighting REI Cooperative Action Fund grantees whose work reinforces the belief that we are nature, inseparable and interdependent.

🎬: The 3-part series kicks off next Wednesday, June 18th on our official YouTube channel.

🔗: Subscribe to our channel to see the full film: https://ow.ly/mMNp50Za5Gb

Huge congratulations to the team behind Redford Center Grantee Black Snow on its Emmy nomination for Best Documentary!! This is well-deserved recognition for such a powerful and deeply impactful film.

We also want to celebrate the incredible impact work conducted by filmmakers after the film’s completion. By creating shorter cuts of the film for scientific audiences, collaborating directly with researchers and environmental advocates, and helping connect communities working on coal pollution issues around the world, the Black Snow team has expanded the film’s reach far beyond traditional screenings.

Through their continued efforts, the filmmakers and their collaborators are now contributing to real-world conversations and solutions around coal pollution and public health, including work addressing the effects of coal toxins in the United States. Along the way, they have also helped support Natalia on her journey toward asylum while ensuring her story continues to inspire action worldwide.

Watch the full case study on YouTube to learn how Black Snow helped connect a remote story of coal pollution to communities, scientists, and advocates working toward change around the world: https://ow.ly/T75y50Z0oC6

Watch our full case study to see how Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya became a force for change: https://youtu.be/inmFiLqHNr8

Huge congratulations to the team behind Redford Center Grantee Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya on two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Music Composition in the Documentary category!! A special honor for a beautiful film.

In addition, we want to celebrate the extensive impact work that the film team at Thunderheart Films and their partners within the Blackfeet Nation conducted after the film was finished: screening the film far and wide outside of festivals so that real communities and policymakers can see it, creating educational curriculum to teach students who may want to take care of buffalo on their own land one day, building relationships within the Blackfeet Nation that didn’t previously exist, and so much more.

By creating this film and making a concerted effort to share resources with the Blackfeet nation, the folks behind Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya have continued to create impact where it matters most: with the people and communities at the heart of the story.