To document with a purpose

I am quite sure that every documentary film maker wants to believe that through their work they will change the world. They are the self-proclaimed editors of truth.

One could argue that the “raison d’etre” of a documentary film is to expose a set of facts that will leave the audience with an innate desire to change the status quo; it is not just to document, it is to document with a noble purpose.

Journalists, at least in their idealistic days, wish to do the same. So do communications staff members at non-profit organizations. Perhaps even altruistic politicians.

The skill of external relations is to craft the facts to effectively capture the attention of the audience and have them believe and embrace the importance of the message. But the documentary film has a special place in the marketing tool box, as it draws upon a certain air of authenticity and truth. It is not blatant spin doctoring. It is narrated by a confident, trustworthy voice. It is the antithesis to advertising.

Yet its goal is the same.

Sadly, for most people, documentary films represent the offspring of an elite subculture, reserved for the “repertory cinema” intellectual literati. Documentaries are the non-fiction of the film world, where the often unpleasant facts are put on display to make us THINK. On the other hand, the vast majority of Western citizens live in a culture of escapism where films—or more often movies—offer the sanctuary of brain candy.

It seems we only take notice in extraordinary cases, when documentary films merge with pop culture: An Inconvenient Truth, Supersize Me, The Killing Fields, Bowling for Columbine, When We Were Kings, The Last Waltz, Koyaanisqatsi, to name a few. I suppose that pop culture adds a sort of “everyperson” appeal, and this might explain why narrators of documentaries are chosen from the ranks of celebrities: Al Gore, Michael Palin, Morgan Freeman, and Sir David Attenborough (who narrates 98 titles, by one count!).

And of course, we take notice when documentary meets technology at the IMAX if only for the sheer spectacle of the natural world.

But in truth, the documentary film is an artform that spans from the 15 second news story to the 30 second public service announcement, to the hour long expose, to the multi episodic “period pieces” that recount a chapter of history.

These works of art are very effective tools for social change.

The crafting of these visual essays makes them remarkably accessible to most. Of course, it is challenging to fund and then market documentaries in a crowded media environment, but if done well, the documentary is an edited visual synopsis through which a social problem or story can be described succinctly.

The pages of ink to accomplish the same would defeat all but the most avid reader. Although fine art, dance and other art forms may also have the ability to convey these messages, they are even more rarified and subject to (mis)interpretation by the viewer.

The challenge, then, is to bring to a wider audience the documentaries that are made. There are literally hundreds of thousands of documentary films that fade into obscurity. Even from a list of the most highly acclaimed documentaries, only a handful of titles might be recognized by anyone but a film buff.

However, in today’s world, the documentary has a new life. You can download documentaries from the web, they are available on social networking sites, and streaming videos are commonplace on cause specific sites now that the constraints of dial-up access are all but lifted. (see a forthcoming blog from jonsview describing sites that are effectively helping to promote social causes through film and video)

The real issue, then, is that documentaries must be part of a marketing mix.

By themselves the film may be extraordinary, but its success in fostering social change relies on getting reviewed, promoted, marketed to and viewed by right audiences. Films need to be buttressed by speaking tours, posters, online campaigns, festival screenings, media releases, public viewings, blog “buzz,” email broadcasts and other marketing streams.

Of course, to know which streams to use, we need to test each stream for its relative effectiveness.

In the spirit of supporting integrated marketing efforts for documentaries and testing the value of face-to-face pitches, I invite all who are interested in human rights causes to join me at The Good Pitch at HOTDOCS on May 7th in Toronto.

At this public forum, producers and directors of five human rights documentaries will be pitching their work to an audience of non-profits, foundations, governments representatives and others in order to generate new audiences, new marketing opportunities, and to foster discussion on the cause of human rights.

Documentary films provide the intersection between austere facts and necessary response.

No wonder they offer such potential for change.