Filmmaker Development Program

We train LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers at every stage — from first-time creators to working professionals. All of our programs are free, accessible, and grounded in our Film AS Movement framework.
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Filmmaker Development

Where Filmmakers Lead

Year-round training, mentorship, and creative leadership for LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers—rooted in accessibility, collective care, and social justice.
Film & Freedom Academy

Film & Freedom Academy

The Film & Freedom Academy is a free, 4-day filmmaking intensive for LBTQIA+ BIPOC creatives. Cohorts rotate: past workshops have served youth, disabled filmmakers, LBTQIA+ Muslims of color, trans women of color, survivors of violence, and more. Participants work with professional equipment, a dedicated Film Mentor, and close support to create a 5-minute short film, with a $500 stipend and a premiere (the following year) at our annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival (QWOCFF).
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Critical Juncture

Critical Juncture is an 18-month fellowship for emerging and early-career LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers at the career moment when many filmmakers of color are pushed out of the field. Fellows receive film grants, 12 months of mentorship, professional development in budgeting and fundraising, peer learning sessions, and connection to funders and financiers. Completed films screen at our annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival (QWOCFF).
Level up your filmmaking journey
Critical Juncture
QTWork

QTWork

QTWork is a pathway from first film to full-time filmmaking career. Building on the Film & Freedom Academy, QTWork includes paid internships, production work through QWOCMAP Productions, and the first federally registered National Apprenticeship in Media Arts & Creative Technologies. Participation includes 2,000 hours of paid employment as Digital Editors, Multimedia Producers, and Digital Archivists, with full health, vision, and dental benefits.
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Our Impact

Our Collective Impact

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515+

films created

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80

workshops across the U.S. and Mexico

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$95,000+

in stipends through Film & Freedom Academy

Community support icon
$226,000+

in direct support to Black filmmakers through Critical Juncture in its 1st year

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Community Voices

What Our Community Says

Filmmakers, audiences, and supporters on what QWOCMAP means to them.

Like
Kristin Wygal
Candy Guinea
Christine Liang
Kristin Wygal

Filmmaker

quote

QWOCMAP gives communities of people that do not typically have a voice in mainstream media a chance to find their voice and be heard. QWOCMAP opens doors. And those of us that have somehow managed to be so lucky to make it in are opening up more doors.

Candy Guinea
Kristin Wygal
Christine Liang
Candy Guinea

Filmmaker

quote

I recently became a recipient of a Princess Grace Award in Film and I think that has so much to do with how QWOCMAP is able to shape artists and lmmakers to tell their own truth and to believe in their work. Those are very powerful lessons to learn.

Christine Liang
Kristin Wygal
Candy Guinea
Christine Liang

Filmmaker

quote

Having had that community of queer women of color filmmakers has been the foundation of my resolve to face the sexist, racist, and homophobic perspectives of the larger filmmaking community. It is very easy to become lost within the confines of one’s present world, and I always think back to QWOCMAP to find my way back to me.

testimonial-overlay
Community Voices

What Our Community Says

Filmmakers, audiences, and supporters on what QWOCMAP means to them.

Kristin Wygal
Kristin Wygal
Filmmaker
quote

QWOCMAP gives communities of people that do not typically have a voice in mainstream media a chance to find their voice and be heard. QWOCMAP opens doors. And those of us that have somehow managed to be so lucky to make it in are opening up more doors.

Candy Guinea
Candy Guinea
Filmmaker
quote

I recently became a recipient of a Princess Grace Award in Film and I think that has so much to do with how QWOCMAP is able to shape artists and lmmakers to tell their own truth and to believe in their work. Those are very powerful lessons to learn.

Christine Liang
Christine Liang
Filmmaker
quote

Having had that community of queer women of color filmmakers has been the foundation of my resolve to face the sexist, racist, and homophobic perspectives of the larger filmmaking community. It is very easy to become lost within the confines of one’s present world, and I always think back to QWOCMAP to find my way back to me.