‘eel to real: con documentaries change the world? Thu 6 Oct 2011 22.00 AST Fest published on Thu 6 et 2011 22.00 887 fen € Jone ‘The Creative impact award aims to henour thos lm makers whose documentaries bring burning isues to our attention, ut just how effective are they? "Nuclear nor. Into Eternity. ‘Movie people are forever telng the rest ofus that movies can change the world ~ but they would say that, would’ they? It jutiies tne outrageous salaries, the decadent lifestyles and the grandiose awards tceptance speeches. Ceaily, If James Cameron could point to figures detaing 2 fallin ocean-tnerficeberg colisions following Tai’ lease, his" the king ofthe world” Oscar proclamation right have been mare forgivable. But beyond the bluster of Joy of escapism, what kind of real word impact can cinema realy have? The erator of the Puma Creative impact award believe it can be massive. s stated aim? "To honour the documentary ‘lm creating the most significant impact inthe wor" Aste documentarist Megan Spurlock, a juror fo the award, ays “There's real power in a documentary, and there's real power in movies to begin with, Movies transcend culture: they \ranscend countries, and to beable to have something that can create global awareness is necessary today” I's ths ‘shared belief that helped assemble the jury including royalty [Queen Noor of Jordan), documentary bigwigs (Spurlock) and Hollywood stars Thandie Newton) that wil ge a €50,000 (£43,000 pret the winner n London next week Spurlocks most famous fm can more easy lim to have changed the world than most Oscar winners In 2004, Super SizelMe kk started a pubic nutton debate that has since been adopted by others including Jamie Olver and Michelle ‘Obama, and which si continues. ix weeks after the fim premiered, MeDonal's announced that it was eliminating the ‘Supe Sze option from its mend. Peshaps the negative publklty Surrounding Ken Loach. and Franny Armstrong’s documentary MeLivel had already woun down the fastfood giant. Armstrong would goon to make The Age of Stupi, a finalist forthe Creative impact award, which launched the 10:10 carbon cutting_iniiatve in 46 countries and "ised almost E1m in funds to sustain it ‘AS Soon a5 we finished the fim, the audiences at screnings al tated asking the same question: what can we do? contribution tothe ight against climate ‘Armstrong sys. "So, even thovgh we'd intaly thought the fim would be ou ‘atastophe, we felt that we probably should come up wth speci answer "The Puma award is new, but these sorts of successful campaigning docs are not. Erol Morris's 1988 fim ‘ine about a wrongly convicted man on death row, sadly did not change the world, butit certainly changedthe Meal one man Randal Adams, who ad been imprisone fr murdering Texas police officer in 1976, was exonereted ond elessed from prison in 190, thanks to More's persuasive argument The Thin Blue ‘he stories of narrative cinema’ effet on the real world are almost as plentiful. We know how OW Grit’ gleefully ‘ace enc The Bith of Nation contributed tothe resurgence of the ku Klux Kl in the American south. Ken Losch’sSat Come Home, when it frst aired in 1966, was watched by 2 quarter ofthe Bish population, and the volume of Bone cals it prompted crashed the O6CS switchboars. The homelestesschariy Shell was set up as ¢ real br perhgsthe pretest testament tote pouerocnenais how te shat Crk Gale's bre chet in hospane Oe ‘Wht caused a massive drop in sales fr men's undershits. Bont to the Great Depression a5 a more plausble explanation Simlarh, McDonal' always atvbuted the dere ize St to 2 alin sales, not any documentary; andthe foundition of heter was well underway before Coto Coe Home's broadcast (although the fm ai recruit new supporters, Tet fr evry agenda-changing fim ofthe kind the award recognizes, there are a hundred smaller documentaries on cavaey warty sues that barely register with audiences lt alone leaves lasting impression on acety Saterday night dosect mare usualy choose the mindless ation movie over acrusding documentary onthe plight of Neatageon Dosket avers. An, sad mindless ation movie features, say, an Au beng Given by Dail alg ire prbaivneee ® more meesurabie impact on our behavior, oo ~in the form of carsales rset eae amPalening documentarieshave done alto i themsehes ofthe reputation or dingy worthiness. te arity (2020) was a thorough exploration of nucear waste disposal yes, butt was alo brant creepy, norsk ore Tre Oust nominated inside Job (2010) used a vokcever rom ave star Nat Damon and sweeping sate ay sings {988s audiences upto speed on subprime mortgages—animpcesive fea in ise Meanwhile, feature ms have becone aiSitcaly minded as camaignng documentaries, Socal conscious blodbustrs suchas theo indutrydroma sve {2005}, Sitad Diamond (2006) and the upcoming Machine Gun Preacher, which tackles the subject of child sold Sedan, have successfll married themes of contemporary justice wth Holand stonyeling hat al these movies boast san ably to rage awareness” amon the audience and in some ces that's enough When Plaladepna came out in 1993, the simple decsion to east the unimpeachably wholesome Tom Henke ay homosexual man hing af an Aiea ins dl ore to confontRamoghabia and estgmatize Hi Rds on ny umber of government programmes. Unfortunately fo srmehairactvsts bring aware of pote si the same thing as adresng it famavie ike Machine Gan reach as to leave is auence adeaute energie, it rases the diate poss iy hat humor caean lust anther entertainment genre. AS 9 despaing character comments in Hotel Awanda, 22008 drone aon fwandan gene" people se this fotage, the sy‘ my God, Hat's tribe and they goon ang toe dinners” Trev are now severl organizations, suchas Good Screenings, Boe and Resist that attempt to captalie on that armorosingy be moment by making orca inks between campaign documenta mth acive perce UCathy Come Home ag been leased oda, hose cles tothe BC phon lines wouldhavebeendicces oer were they cou have signed anon pettn, donated money toa related good cause and ound ou ihe aa once tet ant government cuts emo. aera ht the wr stil doesn’ change, maybe snot the ove ae sec, blaming Grea moves can tum aulencs ito activ, bt des that make up for al the tine woned news Transformers: Dork the Moon when we soul have been ou, defendngour cl bers? Pokabiy ree Token fom the Guardian newspaper. htps://witheqvrdan.cam/m/2011/a/06/ documentaries pum creatCritical Reading Questionnaire you * What is your purpose for reading the text? * What do you already know about the topic and author? + What is your attitude towards the topic and author? WRITER ‘© What is the author's background on the topic? ‘+ What is their attitude towards the topic? * What prompted them to write the text? © What is their purpose for writing the text? READER ‘* Who is the intended audience for the text? ‘* Whaat is the audience expected to already know? ‘* What is the intended audience's attitude towards the topic? TEXT ‘© When and where was the text produced? © What kind of text ist (research, review, etc.)? ‘© What is the main message or idea of the text? * What is the text’s style? * How is the text organized?