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Advocacy Film 101 |
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Advocacy Film 101 |
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In the last ten years, advocacy, or issue film as it is sometimes called, has become an increasingly important sub-genre of documentary. Thanks to the mean, lean and downright aggravating Bush-years, documentarists everywhere have felt the need to address the issues that the administration chose to ignore. The popularity of many of these films has brought issue film in all of its forms to the front and center of filmmaking, and allowed their directors to influence the opinions of the general public, NGOs and even policymakers.
An Inconvenient Truth, for instance, greatly helped to change public opinion on global warming. In conjunction with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the wide-spread dislike for both the Bush-administration's handling of the catastrophe, as well as their environmental policy-making (or lack thereof), the film helped create a kind of a perfect storm; almost overnight climate change went from being kooky tree-hugger-lingo to a legitimate phenomenon.
While it is obviously not possible for every advocacy documentary to have as far-reaching consequences, all these films have the potential to change someone's way of thinking, or inform people and communities about issues that effect their lives. Especially if the film in question is purposely geared towards their particular demographic.
Advocacy films that seek to address a specific audience can find funding and distribution through less traditional channels. Whether a film targets middle school girls (3 Girls I Know), expecting mothers (The Business of Being Born), or the relatives of people with mental illnesses (Crises And Control), it can reach out to its intended audience in a variety of ways, like packaging for public entities (like schools), or direct online viewing.
For a documentary to be successful does not necessarily require a nationwide theatrical release. Titles like The Real Dirt On Farmer John, or Made In LA, have had great success being circulated trough community screenings. The makers of Made In LA even have a "community screening kit" that makes organizing a screening of their movie easy, and pays for itself (more about that in an up-coming article).
Though advocacy films tackle a wide range of topics, employ varying cinematic styles and story-telling techniques, their main object is to inform, rather than entertain the viewer. Often their hope is to enrage the viewer enough to provoke them into action.
That said, such high-profile documentaries as Bowling For Columbine and Super Size Me, have proved humor a successful tool in spreading outrage. The success of popular documentaries such as these, has paved the way for other, often more serious, advocacy films, helping them gain financing and distribution.
With a growing public interest on issue-film, grants from organizations like moveon.org and backing from big-name production companies on the look-out for the next Michael Moore, (not to mention awesome fund-raising tools like camgrants.org) there has never been a better time to be an advocacy filmmaker.
Because these films come in varying on-screen durations, budgets big and small, and topics ranging from the micro-impact to the macro-impact, making an advocacy film is a great project for the upcoming documentarist and the seasoned professional alike. All one needs is a passion for a topic, a vision of how to bring it to the screen, and an interest in addressing the public and one's peers alike. And don't forget: We are here to help you.
Check back soon for an interview with the lovely and amazing advocacy filmmaker Delaney Ruston.
Milla Prince, Editor at Large, CAM
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