This initiative uses the internet as an open source gathering space for publishing print and video - feature films, documentaries, travelogues, news features, music videos, essays, satire, or opinion pieces - that creatively make a bold statement about a vital social issue or expand international horizons while entertaining or engaging people. Through ratings and guest editors, the community of "nomads" enables programmers themselves to set the editorial agenda.

Inclusivity is the hallmark of NomadsLand. Anyone - from professional filmmakers to video enthusiasts to students and amateurs - can upload their films to the NomadsLand website, as long as their offering seeks to make a social commentary, stimulate political conversation, or encourage social action. In order to bring mass media "back to the masses" with its global mission, the English text is translated into 9 different languages. "We seek to amplify voices marginalized by traditional media outlets especially voices in the developing world and crisis areas."

Although much of the video material can be viewed for free, NomandsLand offers secure downloads and rentals on premium films featured on the site, sharing 50% of its revenues with each director. To cite 2 examples of films featured here, Dhruv Dhawan's "From Dust" examines the socio-political aftermath of the Asian tsunami; it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, HotDocs, OneWorld Human Rights Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, and the Kara Film Festival. Davin Hutchins' "The Art of Flight" traces the trail of Sudanese refugees from Darfur to Egypt and their tales of survival. Other films explore topics such as homelessness in San Francisco, belly dancing in Egypt, and the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. According to the founder of NomadsLand, "[m]ost independent films are grossly under-distributed....Through viral e-mail, search engines and RSS, they can reach a vastly larger audience. Likewise, film aficionados can see quality films they'd never see otherwise..."

In-person events are developed to extend the network built online through those who care deeply about the social issues highlighted in the films. As part of its "Virtual Theater Network", NomadsLand hosts regular monthly screenings of independent feature films and documentaries that explore crucial social and political issues of international importance. Filmmakers, activists, policymakers, and others in cities such as Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and London gather on a regular basis to watch an independent feature film and to participate in a 30-minute panel, roundtable discussion, and planning campaigns. Filmmakers join the groups via Skype videoconferencing from all corners of the globe in order to field questions from the live audience.

Rights.

Organisers believe that their purpose as "nomads" is "not only to inform but catalyze – to progressively point towards untried solutions. Old guard journalists anachronisticly believe that informing the public is enough, when nearly every institution that delivers mass media today is in collusion with the corporate, political even military structures who seek to preserve the status quo. Good journalism or filmmaking doesn’t assume that by merely informing the public, civic and political institutions miraculously provide the tools to solve pressing problems. In fact, it's usually these institutions that need investigating the most."