The Way We See is an advocacy organization that uses documentary films as a catalyst for change across social justice issues. We use visual, human-centric storytelling to challenge narratives and shift perspectives. A budding organization, The Way We See is piloting its approach in the criminal justice space, collaborating with defense attorneys and social workers to create short, documentary-style videos about their clients. These 5-15 minute videos are shown to those who hold power in the criminal justice system—judges, prosecutors, governors, even presidential administrations—to provide a holistic picture of the individuals they are sentencing or considering for clemency. In this sense, the videos inform decisions that hold matters of life, death and human dignity at its core. We have been doing this work for two years with profound outcomes. One judge noted that our work was the most impactful advocacy he’d ever seen.
As filmmakers, we believe in the power of documentary filmmaking and storytelling to offer new perspectives, generate emotional responses, and confront truths in a different way. Our films show who a person is—their family, their community, their struggles, their heart, their failures and successes, who they are now. The result is simultaneously a work of art, a life story and a representation of a hopeful future that decision makers wouldn’t otherwise see—a perspective that is rare but urgently needed in the criminal justice system. We build their stories using original interviews and verite footage with the client, family, and influential people in their lives; archival footage of their upbringing, thorough research, and historical and societal context.
The Way We See centers on the principles of accountability and proximity. We embrace the leadership of those most impacted by the topics we address. By insisting on this proximity, we amplify the voices of people with lived experience and make our work more accurate and transformational as a result. Therefore, we willingly step into spaces that may challenge our comfort, recognizing the need to transcend our initial discomfort to yield breakthrough results. This practice of shifting perspectives holds immense value in both the process and the outcome. We want to revolutionize the way people see by cultivating stories that prioritizes human dignity, context, history and community instead of presumptions of worth, potential, risk, morality and money.
While we are piloting our approach in the criminal justice space, we plan to expand our work to create videos about the environment, public health, education, and fair housing—all to provide new perspectives to decision makers and/or educate the public.
Although our organization is new, we are accomplished, award-winning documentary filmmakers with a track record of creating advocacy narratives that change outcomes. While we could act individually and donate our time, individual efforts will have a nominal impact at best. We formed The Way We See to leverage our experience and amplify our impact, but we need resources to sustain our work. Because if this work isn’t done, things will continue as they are.
