From mid-June through early September, newportFILM outdoors screens new, critically-acclaimed documentaries at iconic outdoor locations throughout Aquidneck Island. Free and open to the public, newportFILM outdoors, held every Thursday, is a Newport treasure where audiences gather for sunset picnics, great live music, and impactful and entertaining films all summer long. Read about the newportFILM Outdoors 2025 line-up in Variety.
newportFILM’s Cinematography Lab provides creative support and mentorship to emerging documentary cinematographers. In this intimate, focused environment, lab participants will share their work with peers, reflect on their process and connect around the aesthetic and professional issues that confront working DPs.
newportFILM integrates environmental documentaries with experiential learning to spark curiosity in our next generation. In partnership with City of Newport public schools, University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and 11th Hour Racing, edu uses the power of nonfiction storytelling to inspire and energize young Rhode Islanders about ocean science and discovery.
Throughout the year we curate the best documentaries to educate and entertain the Rhode Island community. Working with studios, distributors and filmmakers, newportFILM creates opportunities to screen impactful nonfiction films both in-person and virtually. When possible newportFILM brings in filmmakers and/or film subjects to create a dialogue and partner with local organizations to forward mutual missions.
Documentary Unbound, launched in February of 2022 – in partnership with FabNewport, The Met School and Creative Communities Collaborative – is a community-based documentary learning lab rooted at the Florence Gray Center in Newport. Participants meet weekly during the school year to co-learn the fundamentals of nonfiction storytelling and collaborative filmmaking.
