We want to make a film about inequality with the impact of An Inconvenient Truth. You can help make it happen
I've long been passionate about the role that film can play in creating social change, and in the last few years it is starting to look as though this potential is being realised.
In 2006, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth was credited with raising global public awareness of climate change. Gore had been making presentations on the issue around the world for some time, but it was the film which took the message to millions. Why was it so effective? Film has the power to engage people on a number of levels: it can bring data to life, showing stories, themes and arguments in ways that words on a page cannot. And Gore's film also showed what could be done about the problem.
Films can also show the human side of statistics, such as in Franny Armstrong's 2009 Age of Stupid, which combined drama, documentary and animation to expose the human crisis that would result from climate change if we do not take action. Also in 2009, Rupert Murray's The End of the Line was extraordinarily successful in not just raising awareness of the threat of over-fishing to the world's oceans, but also achieving tangible policy change.
A report into the film funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation showed that within weeks of the film being released three British food retailers revised their fish sourcing policy, the sandwich chain Pret A Manger reviewed its fish purchasing policy (to only buy from sustainable stocks), and for every person who saw the film, more than 800 people heard about it.
This last point is an important one. Long ago, such films would only have been shown on television, but the digital revolution has opened up a new world for documentary makers, reducing the cost of showing films in cinemas and enabling them to be shown directly – online, in public screenings and at events. Independent documentaries released in this way are now more powerful than one-off television programmes. They connect to social movements, create a lot of "noise" in the print media, and have longevity – often being shown again and again in different venues and circumstances.
With these new methods of distribution have come new methods of financing. No longer are filmmakers beholden to the gatekeepers of television, but through online platforms they can democratise the process. The Age of Stupid pioneered the "crowd-funding" model, using thousands of small contributions to not only fund the film, but also to build a network and community around it.
I believe the next issue a documentary should tackle is one of the biggest problems faced by the developed world: inequality. Working with Christopher Hird, the man behind The End of the Line, I am adapting the award-winning book The Spirit Level, with the support of its authors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, so the message about how inequality harms our societies can be taken to millions.
Like an Inconvenient Truth, we aim to make a film that is seen and talked about worldwide. It will be funded by advance purchases of downloads, available to buy here. Most importantly, it will provide the means to create real changes in policies and attitudes by setting out what can be done by individuals: as consumers, as citizens and as campaigners.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/the-spirit-level-documentary
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