Your participation contributes to a movement that takes media arts beyond entertainment; it's about socially transformative filmmaking, digital literacies, building bridges through cinema and media, and formulating public scholarship experiences in the public arts and humanities that can change perspectives.

Your involvement helps FBAFF realize its mission of linking theory to practice and showcasing the transformative power of feminist, queer, and socially conscious analog and digital media arts.

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this Google Doc:

For NMSU Students: Earn Course Credit.

Are you an NMSU student interested in blending academic study with hands-on experience? You can earn course credit through Gender & Sexuality Studies Independent Study and Practicum courses when you volunteer with us. Click here to learn more. 

Explore these volunteer opportunities as well:

Grant Writer: Fueling Social Transformation Through Arts Funding

Role: Assist in identifying, writing, and submitting grant applications to support the initiatives, projects, and festivals of Feminist Border Arts.

Skills Needed: Strong writing and editing skills, attention to detail, and a basic understanding of the organization’s focus on media arts, feminist, queer, and social justice themes.

Impact: Contribute to the financial sustainability of FBA, ensuring its mission can be fully realized. Your work helps to bridge academic research and community engagement, bringing a transformative platform and venue to life.

Responsibilities:

1. Research potential grants, fellowships, and funding opportunities that align with FBA's mission and activities.
2. Draft grant proposals and applications.
3. Review and edit proposals to ensure they meet grant guidelines and effectively communicate FBA’s impact and needs.
4. Assist in gathering necessary materials for grant submissions, such as budgets, organizational info, or supplementary media.
5. Work closely with the FBA team to submit finalized grant applications before deadlines.

Screening Committee: Curating Transformative Narratives

• Role: Participate in the selection process for films, digital projects, and media to be featured in FBA24.
• Skills Needed: A keen eye for storytelling, an understanding of feminist, queer, and social justice themes, and the ability to critically evaluate media.
• Training: Orientation on FBA24's selection criteria, guidelines, and objectives.
• Impact: Play a crucial role in shaping the festival's content, ensuring that it aligns with our mission of fostering critical engagement across U.S. and global contexts.

Responsibilities:

• Review film and media submissions according to the festival's guidelines and criteria.
• Provide constructive feedback and recommendations for festival inclusion.
• Participate in finalizing selections.

Accessibility Team: Bridging Gaps Through Inclusive Viewership

• Role: Enhance accessibility with subtitles and closed captioning.
• Skills Needed: Interest in accessibility; experience in transcription or translation a plus.
• Training: Provided as needed; includes software usage and accessibility guidelines.
• Impact: Embrace inclusivity; allow transformative content to reach more audience members.

Festival Operations Team: Volunteers

• Role: Support various festival functions such as logistics, guest relations, welcoming, and circulating festival program and materials.
• Skills Needed: Organizational skills; interest in arts administration and event planning.
• Training: Orientation to festival operations and guest relations protocols.
• Impact: Foster a welcoming environment; facilitate seamless experiences for attendees.

Event Photographers, Videographers:

• Role: Document FBA events through photography or videography.
• Skills Needed: Experience in photography or videography, and a keen eye for capturing moments that align with FBA's mission.
• Impact: Your work will contribute to the archival and promotional materials that help FBA reach wider audiences.

Community Engagement Liaisons

• Role: Promote FBAFF's programming within various community segments, including local groups, businesses, educational institutions, cultural entities, social justice organizations, and special interest groups such as PFLAG.
• Skills Needed: Passion for feminist, queer, trans, social justice; interest in film, media, digital literacy, social change, and diverse cultural forms like zines, comics, graphics, memes, public art; ability to communicate and connect with a wide array of community entities.
• Training: Comprehensive orientation on FBAFF's programming, mission, and outreach strategies, including guidance on engaging with different cultural forms and community segments.
• Impact: Extend FBAFF's reach and influence, weaving a network that fosters connections, amplifies marginalized voices, and engages with a multifaceted spectrum of community members, enhancing cultural understanding, and advancing social justice through media arts.

Educational Partnerships: Curriculum Integration (Faculty, Instructors, Teachers Volunteers)

• Role: Collaborate with FBA to weave FBAFF's programming into academic curricula, connecting classroom learning with real-world applications in feminist, queer, trans, media arts, and social justice fields.
• Skills Needed: Educational experience in relevant disciplines; commitment to interdisciplinary learning; interest in integrating film, media, digital literacy, and cultural forms like zines, comics, graphics, memes, public art into education.
• Training: Individualized support and resources for successful curriculum integration, including access to FBAFF's digital media kits, films, zines, and other materials; workshops on best practices for connecting media arts with pedagogy.
• Impact: Enrich educational experiences through innovative curriculum design; foster connections between academia, creativity, and socially transformative media; inspire students to engage with media arts as tools for understanding, advocacy, and change.

Join the Conversation: Panels, Workshops, and Discussions (Academics, Artists, Community Members, Organizers, Other Knowledge Holders)

• Role: Engage in intellectual and creative discourse by participating in or leading panels, workshops, and discussions that support the festival's year-round programming. Bring together insights from academia, arts, community organizing, activism, and diverse knowledge practices to explore media arts, social justice, feminist, queer, trans perspectives, and transformative storytelling.
• Skills Needed: Expertise, passion, or lived experience in feminist, queer, trans, media arts, digital literacy, social justice, community organizing, or related fields; ability to foster inclusive and stimulating dialogue; willingness to share knowledge and engage in collaborative conversations.
• Training: Ongoing support in content development, moderation techniques, and engagement strategies; access to FBAFF's research, media resources, and community networks; collaboration with a diverse array of participants.
• Impact: Enhance the intellectual vibrancy of FBAFF by weaving diverse and thoughtful conversations that bridge theory, practice, creativity, activism, and community wisdom; inspire new perspectives and understandings; foster a sense of community, inquiry, reflection, and creativity that resonates with FBAFF's socially transformative mission.