“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE-ISSUE STRUGGLE BECAUSE WE DO NOT LIVE SINGLE-ISSUE LIVES.”
OUR purpose
In 2016, Shontina Vernon was awarded the Robert Rauschenberg “Artist as Activist” Fellowship, launching Visionary Justice StoryLab as a multi-year performance and media-based project using story to address the impact of incarceration and systemic oppression in communities of color. Over time, the project expanded to include story-based trainings and workshops that used art and film as a foundation for dialogue and coalition building. Today, Visionary Justice StoryLab centers on filmmaking, which we believe is one of the most powerful vehicles for driving cultural change.
OUR PURPOSE
Visionary Justice StoryLab (VJS) is an Atlanta-based independent film collective that builds narrative power through intersectional storytelling. We produce our own films and facilitate social impact initiatives for emerging and experienced filmmakers. We engage intergenerational communities throughout the country with media and curriculum to amplify new voices and create space for the emergence of bold ideas and perspectives.
PRODUCTIONS
VJS creates episodic and film projects drawing from and centering the lives and experiences of women of color and QTPOC. Our productions support a creative economy where we are the authors of our own stories.
FILMMAKER INITIATIVES
VJS supports filmmakers in creating powerful work through the Resisting Narratives of Erasure emerging filmmakers fellowship and the Women of Color Narrative Initiative, an annual award for mid-career writers and filmmakers.