C35 Films is a Washington, DC-based film production and consulting company focused on non-fiction storytelling in the public interest. With over a decade of experience in the industry, we create social justice driven films to advance new narratives from underrepresented perspectives as well as impact-focused distribution strategies to engage global audiences that inspire narrative and social change.

Our independently produced feature debut, FIRST VOTE, qualified for the 93rd Academy Awards and was released in theaters, including AFI Silver Theater, Carolina Theatre, and Nightlight Cinema. It was broadcast nationally on PBS and awarded grants from Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, ITVS, CAAM, Southern Documentary Fund, and Kartemquin Films. We partnered with Asian American civic engagement organizations to mobilize voters in battleground states for the 2020 presidential election.

Our latest documentary feature, DISSIDENTS, premiered at New Zealand’s Oscar qualifying Doc Edge Festival and won Best Documentary Feature at the DC Independent Film Festival. It was selected for grants from New York Foundation for the Arts, Open Society Foundations, and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Supported by Human Rights Foundation, the film’s impact campaign partnered with 14 organizations in North America to increase awareness of transnational repression. 

Our films have screened at Berlin, IDFA, HotDocs, AFI DOCS, and more. They have been presented at DOC NYC Pitch Perfect, Tribeca IF/Then, IDA DocuClub, DC/DOX, and Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival. Our work has been featured in NBC News, Washington Post, BBC News, NPR, Salon, Indie Wire, Politico, Documentary Magazine, and Radio New Zealand. 

Our clients include National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens, National Geographic Studio, WAMU 88.5, Investigative Reporting Workshop, and United Nations Foundation. Acclaimed Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang’s Berlinale Special, ABIDING NOWHERE, was produced in association with C35 Films.