Using films to empower fathers
Amid pandemic, local nonprofit Reel Fathers has prioritized social media, video campaigns
Reel Fathers wants to empower real fathers in New Mexico.
But as the novel coronavirus continues to sweep across the state, the local nonprofit, which uses film and other creative outlets as educational tools to strengthen families, has had to shift its focus to online efforts.
Organizers of the nonprofit say having time to prioritize social media networking and new film campaigns is a silver lining amid these uncertain times. With plans to relaunch in-person programs and social gatherings sometime in 2021, they say the hope is that Reel Fathers will be bigger and better in a post-pandemic world.
The pandemic “made it mandatory to develop our social media presence, which we’d been slow to do,” said co-founder Deborah Boldt. “It gives us exposure to so many more people than in real time programs.”
Since the nonprofit’s inception in 2008, Reel Fathers has partnered with organizations across New Mexico to provide bilingual sessions that use animated films to stir dialogue about what it means to be a positive role model for children. Whether it’s a single dad, a divorced parent trying to earn custody of a child, a great-grandfather trying to connect with their grandchild — whatever the dynamic — the goal is “to lift up fathers,” said Selim Sandoval, father program coordinator and media director.
While in-person, six-week “Father Care” programs have been put on pause amid the pandemic, there are still ways to share videos online, Sandoval said. And even in quarantine, film can continue to be an “educational catalyst that sparks reflection and dialogue,” said Boldt, a filmmaker who uses animations in Reel Fathers’ programs.
Although the films shared on social media are not the same animated clips typically shown during Father Care — and there’s no art project or formal Q&A afterward — they can be shared with much wider audiences across the state and beyond, Boldt said.
One of the videos shared to Facebook is a two-minute snippet called Fatherhood is Sacred, which features Sandoval and his 6-yearold daughter Gabriela, or “Gaba,” playing in the woods near their home in Glorieta. In just the first couple of weeks, the video had more than 1,100 views, Boldt said.
Another clip from Sandoval, who has six children from three different partners, includes him braiding Gaba’s hair. He also searches out relevant clips and photos from other sources, from fathers dancing with their kids, to cooking and baking together.
Boldt said building connections online and amping up social media will “really increase our numbers” once in-person programs resume next year. While it was not uncommon for more than 40 dads to attend a Father Care session in the nonprofit’s early days, now the number is closer to 12, she said.
In addition to the Father Care programs, Reel Fathers had just started offering informal “daddy meetups” last year when Sandoval joined the staff. They hosted quarterly Cooking with Dad nights and a big barbecue at Swan Park. Once it’s safe to do so, they plan to organize hikes, picnics, birdwatching adventures and fishing trips. In the meantime, Reel Fathers plans to launch Zoom meetups in the fall to continue this type of relaxed engagement. The meetups are “not about telling anyone how to be a good dad. … It’s just to make community,” Sandoval said.
Offering a similar safe space to youth is an equally critical part of Reel Fathers, Boldt said.
Identity in Ink, Reel Fathers’ poetry program for underclassmen at Capital and Santa Fe high schools, is the sole focus of the organization’s youth programming, led by Noah Kass.
The curriculum — which asks kids to answer writing prompts such as “Where do I come from?” and “Where am I going?” — usually involves an in-school curriculum in collaboration with English teachers. Because of the stay-at-home order this spring, Reel Fathers could not complete its programming with Santa Fe High and instead provided a lesson plan online that involved watching poetry performances on YouTube.
Capital High School’s final project was compiled into a publication titled Collective Voices, which was shared digitally in a Facebook album rather than performed by students in a classroom.
Another focus since the pandemic began has been collaborating with professional film producers to launch a campaign called Thriving Families. These films aim to highlight healthy parenting in varied family situations.
The first of the series features Roberto Aponte, his ex-wife Lianne Joy Aponte and their 11-year-old son, Ari Aponte. Though Roberto and Lianne are no longer married, the film highlights the ways they have worked together to raise Ari.
“Maybe our paths have evolved in different directions, but there’s a path of being a parent to our child that will never go away,” Lianne says in the film.
The video goes on to show the family gathered for taco nights at Lianne’s home and the parents cheering for Ari at sports games from the bleachers, side-by-side.
The other two films scheduled for Thriving Families will tell the stories of Rick Iannucci, founder of Horses for Heroes, and Ralph Martinez, founder of Española’s homeless shelter. These will likely be released sometime this fall, Boldt said.
Whatever the project, every aspect of what Reel Fathers does, Boldt said, is an effort to break negative stigmas of fatherhood and encourage dads to play an equal role to mothers in shaping their children’s lives. “There’s a stereotype that men are on the back burner and don’t take initiative in family life,” Boldt said.
Fortunately, she said, the media is starting a new narrative with better representation.
“We’ve been uplifted by that movement [of showing fathers engaged with kids] and we feel we’ve been contributing to it,” she said. “There’s this increasingly positive story about dads. These stories are going out into the ether and are impacting culture.”