Brighten Your Day

Award Winning Documentary About Kindness Features Ben Affleck, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks And More

April 16, 2023

Performing acts of kindness, even anonymously, releases endorphins that make you feel good and increase your self-esteem. But what about the far-reaching impact of kindness on the recipients?

In the new documentary Case For Kindness, award-winning filmmaker Steven Sawalich interviews celebrities and everyday people to find real life moments where kindness made a huge difference.

"This groundbreaking humanitarian documentary is a journey around the United States in an effort to better understand the importance of kindness and its impact on our culture and society. Through interviews with scientific experts, world and thought leaders, we delve deeper into the science behind kindness from its evolutionary beginnings to its modern day impact. Along the way we highlight inspiring acts of kindness changing communities and perceptions around the county."

Garth and Trisha in The Case For Kindness / Boulder International Film Festival

Case For Kindness has won dozens of awards as it continues to circulate film festivals around the world, including Best Picture, Best Documentary, and Best Director.

"I've traveled to 126 countries without knowing a lot of the culture and people and language in many, and the thing that bound us together was kindness," Sawalich told Forbes in an interview. "I looked at the state of the world and at film, and there weren't a lot of things about kindness. There's a lot of things about happiness. And I've always looked at is as, Happiness is for the individual, and kindness is for the whole group."

The film features interviews with Ben Affleck, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and more.

Referencing Lady Gaga's organization The Born This Way Foundation and its Channel Kindness initiative, Sawalich said, "I like that they used to be about anti-bullying and now they are about kindness. I remember Mother Teresa said she would never attend an anti-war rally but would attend a peace rally, and that's what Lady Gaga did to shift their organization into a positive space."

In addition to kindness, Sawalich says community it a theme throughout the film.

"If you can help the life a person, you help their family, and if you help their family you help the community. We're not meant to be isolated—that was an important theme throughout," he said.

Watch the trailer for Case For Kindness below.