1000 Dreams

On View: April 3 – May 11, 2025

Bronx Documentary Center
614 Courtlandt Ave, Bronx, NY 10451

1000 Dreams seeks to change harmful refugee narratives through a storytelling project that tells the stories of 1000 refugees across the world.

Spanish translations by Maria de la Paz Galindo. 

Funding for the New York City work was provided by The Joseph Handleman I Believe in You Foundation, cameras by Sony Electronics, and venue by the Bronx Documentary Center.

1000 Dreams is entirely authored by storytellers with a refugee background. Witness Change, the organization behind 1000 Dreams believes that for the narrative to change, the lives of refugees have to be authentically represented – their voices must be heard. They have hosted a series of intensive storytelling workshops, training people with refugee backgrounds on how to make portraits and conduct interviews. With these new skills, the refugee storytellers collect testimonies from other refugees. Their stories amplify the voices of refugees and provide insights into their individual lives and the emotional impact of current policies and attitudes.

About Witness Change:

Witness Change (@witness_change) produces highly visual storytelling on seldom-addressed human rights abuses. The non-profit organization exists to improve life for marginalized groups by amplifying their stories. Their projects have reached more than 250 million people worldwide and have been on the cover of National Geographic and Time magazine.

Witness Change’s current projects include Where Love Is Illegal, stories of discrimination and survival from the LGBTQI+ community, and In My World, a campaign to amplify stories of people living with mental health, psychosocial, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities.