Spotlighting Gender, Work, Family, and Care at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Blog Post
Feb. 25, 2026
Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and Care advises creatives on integrating character elements and contextual circumstances that reflect people’s lived experiences. We were thrilled to take our work and expertise to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival last month, where we presented at six public events, launched a new resource for creatives, and met with incredible creatives and executives. We’ve recapped an incredibly productive four days below, and look forward to future programming at South by Southwest (SXSW) and the Tribeca Film Festival.
Jasmine Heyward (right) speaks at Solidarity House's closing gathering, alongside Aisha Goss (Center for Cultural Power) and Elijah McKinnon (OTV).
Solidarity House
We’re proud to be a founding member of Solidarity House, a collaborative space and activation presented by more than 50 purpose-driven media, narrative, and cultural organizations at Sundance. Solidarity House was designed to create an intentional and accessible home for imagining a future for independent media-making that supports building a better world.
Read more in IndieWire.
We offered short consultations on our audience research and ways to embed work, family, and care themes into stories during Liberation Labs, a working session that welcomed creatives into conversations with Solidarity House partner organizations, and presented alongside other coalition members at Solidarity House’s closing gathering.
Jasmine Heyward spoke about audience interest in authentic stories that explore complex identities and experiences on a panel called “What Comes After the ‘Breakthrough,’” organized by the Transgender Film Center and featuring representatives from SisterSong, GLAAD, Latina Squad, and the Undocumented Filmmaker’s Collective.
Watch the panel recording.
We also organized the panel, Centering Job Quality, Family, and Care Considerations as Sustaining Practices in Storytelling,” moderated by Vicki Shabo and featuring three filmmakers with works selected for this year’s festival, the feature film Take Me Home and the episodic pilot, Freelance, as well as representatives from Kashif Incubator and FWD-Doc.
Watch the panel recording.
Vicki Shabo speaks at Level Forward's Bans Off Our Stories event.
Bans Off Our Stories and THE STORY CARE5
Our initiative sponsored Bans Off Our Stories, an evening of storytelling and celebration on global gender equity and civic engagement, hosted by Level Forward and Population Media Center. Vicki spoke about the value of telling authentic stories about the work, family, and care realities faced by millions on a panel with the writer-director of the award-winning festival selection, LADY, and representatives from Level Forward and the African American Policy Forum.
See more on Instagram.
We were also excited to launch THE STORY CARE5, a new initiative to promote authentic storytelling in film, television, and live theater with Level Forward. The initiative asks storytellers to consider characters’ circumstances in five key areas: work, family, care, identity, and possibilities.
Learn more on the initiative's website.
Vicki moderates a panel at the Impact Lounge, alongside filmmakers Charlotte Lubert and Nisha Pahuja.
The Impact Lounge
The Impact Lounge is a curated space for exploring how entertainment media can create social change. Vicki moderated two panels:
“Story as Catalyst: Confronting Hard Topics and Mobilizing Allies Through Film” brought together the filmmakers behind the episodic documentary series Unmuted and the documentary feature To Kill a Tiger, along with the social-impact agency Picture Motion, to discuss film as a conduit for cultural and policy change.
See more on Instagram.
“From Plan A, B, to C: New Stories Around Reproductive Health” brought together leaders from Planned Parenthood, Population Media Center, and Level Forward, and a producer from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival selection Plan C to discuss how storytelling on-screen and in real life can shape access to essential reproductive care and work toward a more equitable future.
See More on Instagram.
A group of filmmakers and social-impact leaders discuss the state of the film industry over dinner.
ReFrame x New America Dinner
We co-hosted a private dinner with Women in Film’s ReFrame project, bringing together filmmakers, media executives, and advocates for informal discussion on the current state of the entertainment industry and future opportunities. Supporting creatives with our audience research and issue-area expertise is central to our work, and we’re always excited to gather with aligned groups like ReFrame.
Looking Forward
Our initiative will be at South by Southwest and Tribeca Film Festival in the coming months, and we’d love to connect. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on our upcoming programming, and please reach out to us here if you’d like to connect.