A renewed commitment to California stories, documentary storytellers, and the communities whose experiences shape our understanding of the state.
After a short pause, the California Documentary Project is returning.
This year, California Humanities will reopen both the California Documentary Project Production and Research and Development grants. With their return comes a renewed commitment to the nonfiction storytelling that has long been at the heart of CDP.
We are looking for stories that help us see California in all its dimensions. Stories that illuminate the experiences, histories, cultures, and ways of knowing that make this state what it is. Stories that have been overlooked, underrecognized, or left out of mainstream narratives.
And stories that help us better understand one another.
That feels especially important right now.
At a time when our differences can too easily become sources of division, documentary storytelling can create another way in. It can spark curiosity. Challenge assumptions. Bring overlooked histories and perspectives into view. And it can help us recognize both what makes our experiences distinct and what we share.
That is the work we want to continue supporting.
A Return Shaped by Listening
The pause in CDP also allowed us to listen.
We spent time in conversation with documentary filmmakers, grantees, advisers, peers, and field experts. We wanted to understand what the documentary landscape looks like today. What is changing? Where are the challenges? What possibilities are emerging? What stories and perspectives are still not being seen?
And importantly, what does this work need from us now?
Those conversations reinforced something we deeply believe: the people doing the work must help shape conversations about its future.
They also reminded us that no documentary exists in isolation.
There are storytellers and communities behind the work. Organizations are helping make it possible. There are audiences, funders, institutions, and distribution networks helping stories find their way into the world.
All of those relationships matter.
As resources become increasingly limited across the field, we want to be thoughtful about how California Humanities shows up within that larger ecosystem. That means listening closely. Building trust. Supporting the people closest to the work and continuing to learn where our resources can make a meaningful difference.
New Leadership for CDP’s Next Chapter
As CDP begins this next chapter, we are also excited to welcome Cinthia Carvajal to California Humanities.
Cinthia brings deep experience in community-centered, trust-based, and social justice philanthropy, along with expertise in narrative strategy and equity-centered grantmaking. She will help lead this next phase of our grantmaking work and continue the conversations already underway with California’s documentary community.
“I’m so excited to join California Humanities at this moment and to be part of the return of the California Documentary Project after its short break. I’m especially looking forward to continuing conversations with the incredible documentarians across California. I want to listen, learn, and explore together how we can support their work and the stories that deepen our understanding of one another and the many experiences that make California what it is.”
What Comes Next
The return of CDP is part of a broader moment of renewal at California Humanities.
We are introducing new programs and bringing back longstanding ones with fresh perspective. Across that work, we are asking how the public humanities can help Californians better understand who we are, how we came to be, and how we might shape our future together.
We are grateful to everyone who has shared their experiences, ideas, hopes, and questions with us along the way. That listening doesn’t end with CDP’s return. The conversation will continue.
For now, we’re happy to say it:
The California Documentary Project is back. And we are excited about the stories, people, and possibilities ahead. Production and Research and Development grant guidelines and application details are coming soon.
