Sign In

Help Us Build the Best Free Knowledge Library on the Internet

Films For Action is a people-powered media library — a curated collection of the best videos, documentaries, and articles on the topics that matter most. We've reached over 100 million people with zero ads, funded entirely by our community.

But our library is only as good as what's in it. There's only so much one person can watch, read, and review in a day. We need your knowledge, your expertise, and your eyes on content we haven't found yet.

How You Can Help

Library Editor (Primary Need)

This is the heart of volunteer work at Films For Action. Library Editors find and add outstanding videos and articles to our library, building out one of the largest curated collections of social change media on the web.

We share the best submissions with our supporters on Facebook, where our community of 800,000 fans helps us reach millions of people every month. Your contributions don't sit in a database — they get seen.

Time commitment: 1-2 hours per week (more if you want, but consistency matters more than volume).

You can start immediately. Create an account and begin adding content right away using the Add Video or Add Article button at the top of the site (these options will show up once you're signed in). To filter out spam, we manually approve new posts at first. After a few quality submissions, your posts will be automatically approved.

Web & UX Advisor

We're also looking for people who are passionate about web design and user experience. This can be as simple as browsing the site and flagging things that could work better — broken features, confusing navigation, ideas for new functionality, or ways to make the site more usable. No coding required, just a critical eye.

To connect and collaborate with us directly: Use our Volunteer form.

What the Library Editor Workflow Looks Like

Here's what a typical session looks like, step by step:

1. Find content worth adding. Browse YouTube, Vimeo, or Creative Commons-licensed websites for videos, documentaries, and articles. Follow the topics and sources you already care about — that's the whole point. Your existing media diet is an asset.

2. Evaluate it against our content criteria (see below). Not everything that's good is right for the library. We're curating the best of the best. For every 10 videos we watch and review, we may only add 1-3. The criteria below will help you develop a feel for what makes the cut.

3. Add it to the site. Click Add Video or Add Article at the top of the site, paste the URL and click “Load Data from URL.” Our website will attempt to fill as many fields as possible. Clean up or complete any remaining required fields, and submit. See the formatting tips at the bottom of this page for the details.

4. We review and share. New submissions go through a quick review. The best content gets shared with our full audience on Facebook and across our networks.

5. Go deeper (optional but encouraged). After you've made a few solid contributions, you'll have the opportunity to connect directly with Tim, our director, to discuss editorial priorities, topical focus areas, and how to sharpen your curatorial eye. This isn't a top-down training — it's a collaboration. We want people who can help us decide what to cover, not just upload what we point them to.

What Makes Content Worth Adding

The Essentials (Every submission should meet these)

Is it accurate? Our values should never interfere with truth and accuracy. If the content supports our worldview but isn't accurate, it doesn't belong here. If a piece is mostly solid but contains some inaccuracies, note the discrepancies in the description.

Is it evergreen? Our favorite content stays relevant months or years after it's published. Timely news coverage has its place, but the library's backbone is content that people will still be finding and sharing long after the news cycle moves on.

Is it the best of the best? Our goal isn't to index all activist-related content — only the top 10%. Ask yourself: is this one of the definitive videos or articles on its subject? Would I send this to someone who's never encountered this topic before?

What Makes Content Exceptional

Does it reach beyond the choir? The best content doesn't just preach to people who already agree. It introduces ideas in ways that attract rather than repel people who might be encountering the subject for the first time.

Is it shareable? Would you share this with a friend? Would you share it again a year from now? The best content gets shared many times over the years because it's genuinely one of the best things available on its subject.

Does it focus on root problems or root solutions? We prioritize content that goes deeper than surface-level symptoms — the kind of material that helps people understand why things are the way they are and what structural alternatives exist.

Does it inspire action? The reality of the struggles we're facing can be depressing, but we're not here to create more apathy warriors. We want people motivated to remain fiercely defiant. 

Does the message unify or divide? Content that expands our ability to experience universal empathy and compassion for all people — and that avoids reinforcing artificial divisions based on nationality, race, religion, political affiliation, or any other category — is exactly what we're looking for.

Is the framing smart? The best ideas often have broad appeal, but how they're framed can limit their reach. Many people agree with principles like mutual aid, direct democracy, or universal healthcare but may not identify with the political labels often attached to those ideas. Content that leads with the idea rather than the ideology tends to reach further. That said, what matters most is...

Is it transparent about its values? We prefer content from people who are honest about their perspective over content that pretends to be neutral. Media outlets like FOX or CNN lose credibility because they pretend to be "fair and balanced" while keeping their actual commitments obscured. Quality independent media — Democracy Now!, Common Dreams, Films For Action — is transparent about its values. That honesty builds trust.

Does it have good production values? This isn't a dealbreaker, but poor production quality can undermine a viewer's trust and engagement with the content, no matter how good the ideas are.

Topics We Cover

Films For Action covers just about every topic related to building a better world. Our library maps the ideas, movements, and solutions driving the transition from empire to earth community:

• Economic democracy and post-capitalist alternatives
• Permaculture and regenerative living
• Indigenous and ecological wisdom
• Nonviolent resistance to war, corporate rule, and authoritarianism
• How-to guides, local action, and big-picture vision

Browse our library for examples of what we're looking for.

Formatting & Style Tips

Trailers: Include the title only. We'll add (trailer) after you submit it.

Note: The title also becomes the URL for the video or article. Example: filmsforaction.org/watch/this-is-the-film-title

Description tips: Use the Tx button to remove formatting weirdness when pasting from other sources.

Put web links at the end of the description or embed them in the text. Links at the beginning look bad on the site.

Turn web URLs into active links using the paperclip button, or by clicking at the end of a full URL (with https://) and pressing the space bar.

Multi-part videos: If your video submission is a series or split into multiple parts, submit Part 1's URL first, then add the additional parts in the Other Parts (optional) section. Please don't submit each part as a separate video — it keeps the library clean and organized.

Recommended Sources

These are starting points to help you find content worth adding. We're always looking for great sources we haven't discovered yet — if you follow something that belongs here, let us know.

Recommended Article Sources (Creative Commons)

These sites publish under Creative Commons licenses, which means their articles can be republished on Films For Action with proper attribution. This is where a lot of our best article finds come from.

Common Dreams — Nonprofit progressive news outlet covering politics, economic justice, human rights, and climate. One of the most consistent sources of high-quality, republishable reporting and opinion. (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Truthout — Independent nonprofit news organization focused on social justice, the environment, civil liberties, and government accountability. Publishes original investigative reporting alongside opinion and analysis.

ZNetwork — One of the longest-running left media projects, founded in 1987. Publishes original commentary and analysis rooted in participatory economics, anti-authoritarianism, and movement strategy. Contributors have included Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and bell hooks.

Shareable — Covers the sharing economy, commons, cooperatives, community land trusts, participatory budgeting, and other models for building a more democratic economy. Especially strong on practical, solutions-oriented coverage.

Resilience — A program of Post Carbon Institute covering community resilience, energy transition, ecological economics, food systems, and local alternatives. A go-to source for post-growth and sustainability content.

OtherWords — Free op-ed service published by the Institute for Policy Studies. Publishes short, polished, accessible opinion pieces on inequality, democracy, climate, and foreign policy. Designed to be republished. (CC BY-ND)

The Observatory — A wiki-style knowledge platform publishing expert-written articles on ecology, economics, cooperatives, indigenous knowledge, and systemic alternatives. All content published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Recommended YouTube Channels

Channels that consistently produce the kind of video content that belongs in our library. Look for their best, most evergreen uploads — not necessarily their most recent.

Democracy Now! — Daily independent news covering war and peace, climate, civil liberties, and movements worldwide. A foundational source, though look for the interviews and segments that have lasting relevance rather than daily headlines.

Double Down News — UK-based political commentary featuring interviews and monologues on imperialism, inequality, and corporate power.

Al Jazeera English — One of the best sources for international news coverage, particularly on the Global South, Palestine, and stories underreported by Western media.

Climate Town — Funny, well-researched video essays on the fossil fuel industry, greenwashing, and climate policy. Highly shareable with general audiences.

Geopolitical Economy Report — Independent journalism and analysis on U.S. foreign policy, imperialism, de-dollarization, and the Global South. Run by journalist Ben Norton, with frequent interviews with economist Michael Hudson.

LJ — Video essays on imperialism, capitalism, and political economy with a personal, accessible style.

Matthew Cooke — Short, punchy political commentary on war, the justice system, inequality, and American empire. Direct and shareable.

Our Changing Climate — Video essays on climate justice, environmental policy, and the systems driving ecological crisis. Strong production values and accessible framing.

Second Thought — Well-produced explainers on capitalism, imperialism, labor, housing, and economic alternatives. Good at reaching people who aren't already steeped in left politics.

Andrewism — Covers anarchism, solarpunk, mutual aid, and visions of post-capitalist futures. Optimistic, solutions-focused, and unusually good at making radical ideas feel inviting.

Not Just Bikes — Urban planning, walkable cities, public transit, and why car-dependent infrastructure fails communities. Highly shareable and appeals well beyond the choir.

Then & Now — Short, thoughtful video essays on philosophy, political theory, and intellectual history. Covers thinkers from Marx to Foucault in an accessible way.

The Juice Media — Australian satirical news covering government corruption, climate inaction, and corporate power. Their "Honest Government Ads" series is iconic.

BreakThrough News — Independent left media covering U.S. foreign policy, labor, and social movements with original reporting and panel discussions.

Bioneers — Conference talks and short films on regenerative agriculture, biomimicry, indigenous wisdom, ecological restoration, and visionary solutions. A deep well of paradigm-shifting content from speakers like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Michael Pollan, and Janine Benyus.

More Perfect Union — Original reporting on labor, economic inequality, and corporate power. Tells stories of workers organizing and fighting back, with strong production values and broad appeal.

Literate Machine — Video essays exploring media through the lens of capitalism, power, and ideology. Examines how the stories we love shape and are shaped by politics — from Paw Patrol to Snow Crash. Written and performed by Eric Rosenfield.

Jimmy The Giant — Political commentary covering Palestine, U.S. foreign policy, and media criticism.

Prince Shakur — Video essays and commentary on race, capitalism, imperialism, and social movements.

Novara Media — UK-based independent media covering politics, economics, and social movements from a left perspective. Sharp analysis on austerity, labor, housing, and the rise of the far right.

The Market Exit — Explores post-capitalist economics, degrowth, cooperatives, and alternatives to market-driven society. Solutions-focused content on what comes after capitalism.

Uncivilized — Video essays analyzing colonialism, empire, and resistance — particularly focused on Palestine, settler-colonialism, and the structural dynamics of imperial power.

AJ+ — Short-form video journalism from Al Jazeera's digital arm, covering social justice, inequality, climate, and stories from underreported communities worldwide. Designed for social media sharing.

Zeteo — Independent media outlet founded by Mehdi Hasan, covering politics, foreign policy, and civil liberties with original reporting and interviews.

Recommended Documentary Sources

These channels regularly upload full documentaries. We're only looking for the best of the best — not everything on these channels belongs in our library, but they're reliable places to find gems.

DW Documentary — German public broadcaster's documentary channel. Strong coverage of global issues including climate, inequality, geopolitics, and culture. Consistently high production values and free to watch.

PBS — America's public broadcasting system uploads a wide range of documentaries and series. Look for their coverage of social issues, science, history, and investigative journalism.

FRONTLINE — PBS's flagship investigative journalism series. In-depth documentaries on corporate power, government accountability, war, and systemic issues. Some of the best investigative documentary work in the U.S.

Journeyman Pictures — Independent documentary distributor with a massive library of international documentaries, particularly strong on conflict zones, human rights, and underreported stories from around the world.

Free Documentary — Large library of free full-length documentaries on a wide range of topics. Quality varies — look for the standouts on environment, society, and geopolitics.

Documentary Platforms & Databases

These sites specialize in curating social impact and independent documentaries. Good for finding films that haven't made it to YouTube. If a good film we find isn't available online (free or paid), we just add the trailer with a link for where to watch.

• Culture Unplugged — Free streaming platform focused on social impact documentaries and short films from around the world.
• Means TV — Worker-owned streaming cooperative featuring anti-capitalist documentaries, series, and original content.
• WaterBear — Free streaming platform dedicated to environmental and conservation documentaries.
• OVID — Independent streaming service featuring documentaries, art cinema, and global films from independent distributors.
• Films For The Planet — Curated collection of environmental documentaries.
• Films For Change — Streaming platform for social impact documentaries covering human rights, environment, and social justice.
• Cinema Politica — Canadian network for independent political documentary, hosting screenings and curating films on social justice worldwide.
• Kanopy — Free with a library card in many cities. Large collection of independent and documentary films, including many that are hard to find elsewhere.

As always, thank you for contributing. A ton of our best content was added by our members. Films For Action wouldn't be what it is without you.