EVENTS
& Programming
Where film, fatherhood, & community meet.
National Events &
Community Activations
Throughout the year, The Dads Foundation leads high-impact events rooted in film, storytelling, cultural connection, and community healing.
Events include screenings, fatherhood forums, barbershop dialogues, sports activations, faith gatherings, and university screenings.
SCREENINGS & EVENTS
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SCREENINGS & EVENTS *
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Sunday June 7th, 2026
7:00 PM EDT
Screening Room
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmaker
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Friday, June 12, 2026
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM CDT
Hemisfair Park Great Lawn
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Sunday, June 14, 2026
4:oopm PST
Smith Rafael Film Center
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Thursday, June 18, 2026
3:00 PM CDT
Skylight 5 Theater
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Saturday, June 20, 2026
10:45AM EST
Terrace Theater
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Sunday, Father’s Day, June 21, 2026
2-5 PM CDT
Abbott Hall, Northwestern University Chicago Campus
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmaker
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Event Info TBA
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More info TBD
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Upcoming Retreat:
LOcation to be announced - May 2027
This three-day gathering will include facilitated fatherhood circles, workshops, time outdoors, and opportunities for rest and connection. Programming is designed to support both personal growth and collective strength, while honoring the diverse experiences dads bring with them.
Visit this page soon to learn about our 2027 Retreat..
Please fill out the Pre-Registration form below to get started.
Host a screening
or Fundraiser
Supporters across the country have hosted screenings of the original The Dads short, community dinners, film-inspired conversations, and fundraising gatherings that help sustain the Foundation’s programs.
If you’re interested in hosting:
We’ll provide the film, materials, and support. You provide the space and the community.
The Dads Screening #2 @ Milwaukee Film Festival
The Dads screening at Milwaukee Film Festival.
Tickets available starting April 8th.
Expanded from MFF alum Luchina Fisher's award winning short documentary of the same name, THE DADS follows fathers of trans and nonbinary children as they confront attacks from a newly empowered right-wing administration and conservative Supreme Court. Fathers from across the county (including Wisconsin!) gather together for a retreat, gain healing and respite in nature, and reveal fatherhood as an act of profound, radical resistance.
The Dads Screening #1 @ Milwaukee Film Festival
The Dads screening at Milwaukee Film Festival.
Tickets available starting April 8th.
Expanded from MFF alum Luchina Fisher's award winning short documentary of the same name, THE DADS follows fathers of trans and nonbinary children as they confront attacks from a newly empowered right-wing administration and conservative Supreme Court. Fathers from across the county (including Wisconsin!) gather together for a retreat, gain healing and respite in nature, and reveal fatherhood as an act of profound, radical resistance.
The Dads Screening #2 @ Florida Film Festival
The Dads screening at Florida Film Festival.
Get tickets here.
Faced with escalating anti-trans hostility, a diverse group of fathers must decide whether to stay and fight or flee the country to protect their children. In this expansion of the Emmy®-winning short from director Luchina Fisher and producer Dwyane Wade, quiet fishing retreats become a sanctuary for vulnerability and growth. Dads is a moving portrait of men deconstructing their own beliefs to redefine fatherhood as a radical act of resistance and unconditional love.
The Dads Screening #1 @ Florida Film Festival
The Dads screening at Florida Film Festival.
Get tickets here.
Faced with escalating anti-trans hostility, a diverse group of fathers must decide whether to stay and fight or flee the country to protect their children. In this expansion of the Emmy®-winning short from director Luchina Fisher and producer Dwyane Wade, quiet fishing retreats become a sanctuary for vulnerability and growth. Dads is a moving portrait of men deconstructing their own beliefs to redefine fatherhood as a radical act of resistance and unconditional love.
The Dads @ Violet Crown 1
The Dads will be hosting a third showing of The Dads at SXSW, continuing the film’s powerful presence at the festival. This third SXSW screening offers another opportunity to engage with a story of love, resolve, and fatherhood as an act of radical resistance.
The Dads @ Violet Crown 3
The Dads will be hosting a simultaneous third showing of The Dads at SXSW at the Violet Crown Cinema (theater 3), continuing the film’s powerful presence at the festival. This third SXSW screening offers another opportunity to engage with a story of love, resolve, and fatherhood as an act of radical resistance.
The Dads @ AFS Cinema
The Dads will host a second screening at SXSW, offering audiences another opportunity to experience this deeply personal and urgent documentary. This second SXSW screening continues the conversation around love, courage, and fatherhood as an act of radical resistance.
The Dads (feature) World Premier at SXSW
Inspired by the Emmy-Award winning short documentary of the same name (Netflix, 2023), "The Dads" chronicles fathers of trans and nonbinary children as they are forced to choose between country and family when a new right-wing administration and conservative Supreme Court take hold in the United States. Filmed over the course of a year spanning retreats in rural Maine and Minnesota, protests, family milestones, a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision, and the collapse of gender-affirming care for youth, "The Dads" captures this national reckoning with remarkable intimacy through verite footage and interviews with the film’s main protagonists. This is fatherhood as an act of radical resistance.