Silent Images

08/13/2026

At Silent Images we have spent years turning cameras toward the stories that often go untold. Allowing the people who live them to speak for themselves through documentary filmmaking, their stories can spark curiosity, conversation, and lasting change.

Join us at Queens University of Charlotte on October 1 for a film screening followed by a community conversation about the issues raised on screen.

07/02/2026

In Paraguay, HOPE International works with a local partner, Diaconía Py | Apoyo a emprendedoras to offer aspiring entrepreneurs the support needed to build thriving businesses. The partnership pairs micro loans with vocational training, chaplaincy support, and community connection, weaving together the practical and the spiritual. 

Antonia, a resident of Asunción, has spent more than 40 years as a seamstress, holding her family together through the loss of her partner, illness, and long stretches without steady work. Joining a Diaconía group gave her a place to start again. Her first loans bought fabric and additional loans allowed her to purchase an industrial sewing machine. This year, a housing loan let her build toward a new dream: a shop in front of her house.  

“My dream is to fill the shop with what we make here and turn it into a family business,” she shares.

Liz Fretes, a resident of Itagua, has spent 20 years practicing Ñandutí, a traditional Paraguayan lace craft. When one of her children was diagnosed with asthma, she needed to seek out opportunities to increase her income. A friend led her to a Diaconía vocational class where she received tools and information that helped her turn her crafting business into something sustainable that would support her family.

“I feel capable,” she says. “Being an entrepreneur makes me feel strong.”

06/25/2026

In rural Guatemala, the distance between a child and an education can be measured in rivers crossed and kilometers walked. For thousands of children, daily life means long treks to classrooms without stable roofs or proper desks — a reality shaped by poverty and inequality that puts both schooling and basic healthcare out of reach.

More than twenty years ago, Iglesia Galilea responded by founding Fuente de Esperanza schools. Today, that network serves over 300 children across two campuses. For the students who attend, the schools function as more than classrooms. They are places of safety and guidance, where children are encouraged to believe that their futures can look different from their present.

This story was brought to life by José Ramírez Cinerama Studio , a Guatemala-based videographer working to connect people using the medium of film. José’s project was made possible through a Silent Images Story Grant. The grant exists to empower filmmakers in Charlotte and around the world to seek out and help share stories from their own communities. 

Watch José’s full film at the link in our bio, and learn more about his work at cineramagt.com

06/08/2026

Eustorgio was the kind of father his kids went to for everything. He was their primary provider and a constant support and caregiver in their lives.Everything suddenly shifted in December 2024 when Eustorgio suffered a stroke, leaving him in need of constant care.

His hospitalization marked the beginning of a financial crisis in his family. In addition to losing Eustorgio’s income, the medical and prescription costs his care required were overwhelming. The new expenses quickly forced difficult decisions about how to allocate an already stretched budget.

For uninsured families navigating a medical crisis, the cost of prescription medications can be as destabilizing as the illness itself. After his stroke, Eustorgio’s wife stepped into the role of full-time caregiver. His children picked up additional work — full-time jobs and second jobs — to help cover the gap. Each month brought the same competing bills: medications, groceries, housing. 

A referral through helped connect the family to . Now, NC MedAssist covers the cost of Eustorgio’s prescriptions allowing his family to redirect resources toward other pressing expenses.

NC MedAssist is North Carolina’s only statewide nonprofit pharmacy, providing prescription medications at no cost to uninsured residents, along with over-the-counter medicine through its Free Store and Mobile Free Pharmacy events.

Watch more of Eustorgio’s story at the link in our bio.

05/27/2026

For the women and students of Mtinko, a small village located in the Singida Region of Tanzania, the search for water begins before the school day does.

During the long months of the dry season, residents wake early, before 4 a.m., and walk far distances to collect water for the day. Instead of being in school, local youth use shovels and axes to dig into the ground, searching for water that flows under the surface. The village’s health clinic and school operate without running water and when water is collected, it often isn’t safe to drink. The consequences ripple through the entire community, impacting health outcomes, education, and family relationships. 

Tanzanian filmmaker Asaph Bimila () is dedicated to telling stories that uplift and empower his community. In his project detailing life in Mtinko, he interviews students, village residents, and a local doctor to capture the human cost of water scarcity in their own words.

This film was made possible through a Silent Images Story Grant — a grant program that exists to empower filmmakers in Charlotte and around the world to seek out and share stories from their own communities. Through these grants, we support filmmakers in connecting with individuals and communities whose stories deserve to be told, furthering our goal of uniting a broken and divided world.

Watch Asaph’s full documentary at the link in our bio.

05/22/2026

The story of African Bible Colleges began in the 1970s deep in the forests of Liberia. Nell and Jack Chinchen attended a high school graduation and, after the celebrations ended, they realized the student’s options for after graduation were extremely limited.

That moment grew into a lasting and thriving institution that has provided opportunities to hundreds of students across the African continent.

Today, ABC operates across three campuses in Liberia, Malawi, and Uganda, offering six academic majors, a K–12 academy, and a full mission hospital. Its graduates go on to start businesses, enter medicine, lead churches, and take on roles in government and civil society.

Rev. Neah Malue’s journey at ABC Liberia started over a decade ago when he took a position working as a security guard. In 2013, he earned his degree from ABC and now he serves as the college’s Vice Chancellor.

“I see ABC University becoming one of the top universities, not only in Liberia, but in all of Africa,” he says.

He carries that vision forward with a personal urgency — working to ensure that the same doors that opened for him remain open for future generations of students.

Watch more of ABC and Rev. Malue’s story at the link in our bio.

05/16/2026

For Candis, the math of renting never added up.

Each month she watched her money disappear with nothing to show for it. She wasn’t able to build a strong foundation or generational wealth for her family.

“I feel like I’m not getting anywhere,” she says. “It just felt draining.”

So, she took action and enrolled in homebuyer education classes with . She worked hard to eliminate her debt and waited, patiently, for the right opportunity. And when the moment finally came, the feeling, she says, was indescribable.

This year, as she moves into her new home, Candis will also walk across the graduation stage to receive her bachelor’s degree in public health — all while raising her children as a single mother.

“I feel like I have exceeded my own expectations,” she says.

Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region has spent decades making homeownership accessible to working families priced out of the Charlotte market. Since its founding, the organization has served more than 4,200 local families, offering a pathway out of the cycle of rent dependency and into lasting economic stability.

For Candis, that pathway led her somewhere she had long dreamed of.

“Peace. Safety. Accomplishment,” she says. “I made it. I did this.”

05/11/2026

At Silent Images, we believe in the power of story; but we’ve also seen how lack of resources and access limits storytellers around the globe.

The Silent Images Story Grant exists to remove the barriers between a storyteller and their story by equipping filmmakers in Charlotte and around the world to document the unheard and unshared stories within their own communities.

Our first five grantees of 2026 are already out in the field. Among them is André Arana, a filmmaker in Guatemala who used his grant to partner with El Centro and share stories of hope from youth in Guatemala City.

Applications are open now for Silent Images Story Grants.
🔗 Learn more and apply at SilentImages.org and at the link in our bio.

04/10/2026

“It’s really expensive to be poor…”

Everyone carries a story. For many immigrants and refugees in Charlotte, that story includes resilience through hardship — and the search for a place to heal.
At Hope Community Clinic, care means more than treating symptoms. It means addressing trauma, restoring dignity, and helping people move forward. Through Project 658, this work becomes part of a larger mission — to build a community where people are welcomed, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive.

Watch the documentary: https://youtu.be/VKJLPRctxnc

Learn more about Project 658
🎬 Produced by Silent Images
📍 Charlotte, NC

If this story resonates, share it. Stories like these deserve to be seen.

“It’s really expensive to be poor…”Everyone has a story. Different paths, different struggles — but at some point, we all need help.In Hope Community Clinic,...