The Hunting Ground

1 in 5 women is sexually assaulted while in college, according to the Campus Sexual Assault Study of the National Institute of Justice. We intend to change that.

Which is why we are pleased to announce that our Founder Ruth Ann Harnisch is one of the Executive Producers for the film The Hunting Ground.

From Oscar-nominated Producer/Director team Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick (The Invisible War), comes a startling exposé of rape crimes on U.S. campuses, institutional cover-ups and the brutal social toll on victims and their families. Weaving together verité footage and first-person testimonies, the film follows survivors as they pursue their education while fighting for justice — despite harsh retaliation, harassment and pushback at every level.

As a result of The Invisible War (and the incredible network of concerned individuals Amy and Kirby built around it), the problem of sexual assault in the military was made public and Congress took action. We believe that with this film, we can shine a light on similar issues unfolding on college campuses across the country and again move people to act. We want to challenge — and change — the current culture of consent, which all too often allows sexual violence to thrive.

Join us. Find a screening of The Hunting Ground near you, and learn how you can take a stand today.

The Hunting Ground is just one example of how we invest in storytelling as a way to make the world a fairer place. Typically, we provide support in one of the following ways:

Partnerships

We partner with organizations that share our vision for systemic change, then chart bold new ways to collaborate. The new Film Circle we co-chair within Women Moving Millions and our Coaching Initiative with the Sundance’s Women Filmmakers Initiative are two examples of how we’ve done that.

Investments

We invest in the organizations, individuals and content challenging the way gender and race are portrayed in media. The films below and partnerships outlined give insight into our approach. As our friends at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media say, “If you can’t be it, you can’t see it.”

Production

Microgrants allow us to support smaller works while larger investments provide us the opportunity to go deeper into the process, campaign and/or lifespan of media. Acting as a “creative producer” — a term we borrowed from our friends at Sundance — is the chance to put our money where our values are.