We’ve had the honor and privilege of working with many great organizations since starting the Open Air Cinema Foundation. It’s inspired us to push further and redouble our efforts to improve the lives of people throughout the world with our technology, products, and passion for education and empowerment. Learn even more about each of our partners by clicking on their photo.
Google and the Kenya Field of Dreams
With the support and assistance of Google, UKSport and Moving The Goalposts (a Kenyan development program which uses football as a means of empowering local girls and women) the Kenya Field of Dreams project was founded. The idea was to bring football to remote areas of the country and to act as a mobile classroom for further education of the community. Using satellites, inflatable outdoor cinema screens, and their own passion and creativity, the people of each village have been given a voice, allowing them to broadcast content that informs and engages the local community.
FilmAid International
FilmAid International was founded in order to share the healing effects of film all over the world, specifically focusing on developing countries that don’t have the same availability of electricity or film as more industrialized nations. Using messages of inspiration, they are attempting to enact social change and address the relevant needs of each specific community it serves. FilmAid has worked in partnership with other global aid organizations to bring critical information to more than 1 million people, in places as diverse as Macedonia, Kenya, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Thailand and the US Gulf Coast.
Rwanda Cinema Center and Hillywood Film Festival
The Rwanda Cinema Center was created in 2002 as a response to violence erupting all over Africa, the seed being planted during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. By notifying the world of these atrocities through the power of film, the Rwanda Cinema Center hopes that this violence will end with the help of global leaders and advocates. With that in mind, The Rwanda Cinema Center trains youth in filmmaking practices so that they are able to share their own stories. They also organize the annual Hillywood Film Festival which takes films to remote villages in the hills of Rwanda.
War Dance: Shine Global and Fine Films
Shine Global was founded in 2005 in order to empower children who are at-risk or have been victims of exploitation and abuse all over the world. Shine Global accomplishes this through the production of films that “raise awareness, promote action and inspire political change.” By enabling children to tell their stories, it provides hope and inspires social action to make these urgently needed changes in the world. In 2008, the Open Air Foundation partnered with Shine Global to bring the Oscar-nominated documentary War Dance back to the refugees of Patongo.
UNICEF: World Cup in My Village
UNICEF was established to support the needs and concerns of children in developing countries, specifically in relation to health and nutrition, education, protection from violence, and sanitation. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup UNICEF and Open Air Cinema partnered together to help expedite the spread of UNICEF’s message of education and quality of life improvements and through the empowerment that comes from these village communities creating their own films to address specific needs of the areas where they work.