Profile PictureGroundswell Educational Films

Groundswell films are the ones that move audiences to action and create momentum for social change. Our work is powered by the involvement of many people who want to use media to make a difference, starting with the participants in our own films. They are people who would never have a chance to tell their story to the world. Together we not only make documentaries, we make news. And we offer a variety of entry points where you can join us. If you are interested in making a cross-cultural film, or shining a powerful light on a hidden issue, or booking a documentary screening and bringing a participant in the film to an event in your community, work with us to build a Groundswell experience. We work with universities, schools, non-profit organizations, professional associations, government agencies, foundations, religious institutions, museums, broadcasters, film festivals and individuals. We look forward to working with you. Our Mission Groundswell Educational Films is a non-profit organization with a mission to collaborate cross-culturally in all facets of documentary filmmaking, transfer media skills into disadvantaged communities, and partner with stakeholders to stimulate local actions that address social justice issues raised in our films. Groundswell engages audiences through film, live performances and multi-arts programming and amplifies marginalized voices through new and traditional media. Our Filmmakers Jeff Spitz is an Emmy Award winner who creates original documentaries for broadcast on PBS and cable. His credits as a writer/producer/director include: The Return of Navajo Boy, a one-hour documentary that reunited a Navajo family, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and has screened and won awards at film festivals internationally; From the Bottom Up, a one-hour, national PBS public affairs report on community activism; The Roosevelt Experiment, a half-hour documentary for ABC-TV telling the story of an integrated college in a segregated city; and America’s Libraries Change Lives, celebrating the immigrant experience in America’s public libraries, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. A California native and graduate of UCLA, Spitz teaches documentary filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago. Jennifer Amdur Spitz is co-founder of Groundswell Educational Films and Executive Producer of The Robben Island Singers Project. She is also principal of Amdur Spitz & Associates, Inc., a national agency providing issue-oriented marketing communications, public relations, program planning, and video production services to museums, universities, foundations, and other nonprofit, government and business clients since 1992.

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The Return of Navajo Boy

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