Breaking New Ground The social and cultural impact of Canadian documentaries

1
Breaking New GroundThe social and cultural
impact of Canadian documentaries

• Prepared for the Documentary Policy Advisory
  Group
• Doc Summit 2005
• April 25, 2005

2
Context

• Doc Summit 2004 and Get Real 2
• NFB ongoing interest in evaluating the social and
  cultural impact of its films
• Demonstrated interest on the part of the
  Documentary Policy Advisory Group
• Challenges
• Data and information availability and reliability
  (ie. objectivity)
• Causality
• Aggregation
• Timeframe
• Cost

3
Methodology

• Three part approach
• Case studies
• Annotated bibliography
• Measurement methods and framework
• Outcomes The study
• Generates useful information and baseline
  findings
• Presents a course of action for the future both
  for immediate action and long-term opportunities.

4
Methodology Case studies

• Seven cases were selected
• Silence of the Strings
• The Corporation
• FIX Story of an addicted city
• Kanehsatake
• SQUAT!
• Lerreur boréale
• Qulliq

5
FINDINGS CASE STUDIES
IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS
Media Community Local/Prov Natl/Intl Policy or Legislative change Advocacy, Part of a mvt., campaign Raise awareness Legitamize an issue
Silence of the Strings X Community Local Provinces Municipal budgets X X
SQUAT! X Local No X X
Kanehsatake X Provincial National International Change in approach of authorities X X
Qulliq Community National International No X X
6
FINDINGS CASE STUDIES
IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS IMPACTS
Media Community Local/Prov Natl/Intl Policy or Legislative change Advocacy Part of a mvt., campaign Raise awareness Legitamize an issue
LErreur boréale X Provincial Public Commission X X
FIX X Local Provincial National Municipal Election Policy X X
The Corporation X National International No X X
7
Silence of the Strings (2002)

• Produced by Sherry Lepage and Sher Morgan of A
  Morgan/Moonbeam Production. SoS resulted in
• Made monies for music education an issue in
  school board elections
• Program funding was restored and enrollment in
  the elementary strings program is up 325
• Building new community partnerships
• Healing relationships between board, music
  educators and the community
• Use as an advocacy tool in other parts of the
  country
• A local story used to animate other communities

8
SQUAT! (2002)

• Produced by Nicole Hubert of Les Productions du
  Rapide Blanc and directed by Ève Lamont. SQUAT!
  resulted in
• Radical shifts in points of view (re. Squatters)
• Putting a human face and voice on a media
  carricature
• Gave legitimacy to the squatters struggles and
  to other organizations working on behalf of
  affordable housing
• Large organizations such as FRAPRU and smaller
  organizations making use of the film
• Use in a college and university departments

9
Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

• Produced and directed by Alanis Obomsawin (and
  producer Wolf Koenig). Kanehsatake resulted in
• Tremendous impact on aboriginal communities
• Municipalities and authorities not responding in
  a similar fashion (not repeating what occurred in
  1990)
• Stimulating ongoing debate about recognition of
  aboriginal land rights
• Consistent use in university departments and a
  catalytic force for many professors and students

10
Lerreur boréale (1999)

• Co-Produced by ACPAV and the NFB and directed by
  Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie. Lerreur
  boréale resulted in
• Raising awareness and initiating broad public
  debate
• The creation of a coalition of environmental
  groups, religions organizations, forestry
  workers, First Nations and unions (representing
  in total some 200,000 members).
• A call for an independent public inquiry into the
  forestry regime in Quebec (Coulombe report
  released in Dec 2004)
• Political and policy change
• Important impact, shifts in viewpoints of
  forestry engineers
• Continuing to be used as an advocacy tool by
  educators and environmental groups
• An excellent pedagogical tool and a powerful
  catalyst
• Impact has been sustained over the six (6) years
  since its release

11
Qulliq (1992)

• Produced by Marie-Hélène Cousineau for Arnait
  Video Productions. Qulliq resulted in
• Raising awareness and consciousness among Inuit
  women and the larger Inuit community
• Preserving and enhancing Inuit culture and
  language
• Creating jobs and economic development (i.e. an
  indigenous and independent industry)
• In part contributed to making Isuma an
  internationally recognized model of
  community-based media production

12
FIX Story of an addicted city (2002)

• Produced by Nettie Wild and Betsy Carson (of
  Canada Wild Productions) and directed by Nettie
  Wild. FIX resulted in
• Creating a shift in awareness and a shift in
  action
• Helping to build community
• Brought the debate about drugs and what to do
  about them out of the shadows and into the open
• Nurses getting a clearer picture of drug use
  (than through traditional research)
• The documentary being one of seven major events
  affecting the outcome of the Vancouver municipal
  election
• Opening North Americas first Safe Injection Site
• FIX screenings and forums across the country
  making the subject an national issue

13
The Corporation (2003)

• Produced by Mark Achbar and Bart Simpson of Big
  Picture Media Corporation and co-directed by Mark
  Achbar and Jennifer Abbott with Joel Bakan,
  writer and co-creator. The Corporation resulted
  in
• Public discourse, generating discussion about
  social versus purely economic goals
• Learning and improvement of high level corporate
  CEOs, business people and students
• Major impact in the educational system
• Westerns Richard Ivey School of Business
• Part of social responsibility program at a
  university in Seattle
• Varied uses (in academic disciplines and
  community orgs.)

14
Findings Case studies

• TV broadcast useful in sensitizing the public to
  issues or broadening the perspective, but no
  carry-through to action
• For a most effective follow-through to action,
  the films
• Need to be part of a larger social group, movt.
• Thrive when part of media discourse
• Can have their most enduring impact through the
  education system
• Greatest impact comes from integrated marketing,
  outreach and promotion ( means )

15
Findings Case studies

• Is evaluating social impact useful?
• Yes, but with some skepticism
• Difficulties in quantifying and qualifying impact
  over the long-term worth doing but not on a
  short-term basis (3-5 year plan)
• Crucial to pay attention to intangibles like
  impact (dont get factored into funding
  decisions)
• Exercise caution quantification can simplify
  and sterilize

16
Findings Case studies

• What to evaluate? To collect?
• Concrete results what has been achieved
• How the film has been used
• Cast net wide collect both anecdotal and
  quantitative data from community orgs. and
  educational institutions

17
Findings Measurement Methods

• Research traditions the Case study method and
  the Survey method.
• The case study method
• Case studies of individual films
• Controlled experiment studies
• Within the survey model four approaches are
  reviewed and evaluated
• Systematic cataloguing of documentary usage
• Surveys of people working in the film industry
• Surveys of audiences or the public at large
• Social indicators research

18
The Road Ahead

• Immediate priorities
• Dialogue and consultation with individuals and
  groups who use documentaries
• Capture  usage and viewership statistics and
  other experience and actions
• Ex. schools, libraries, community and grassroots
  organizations
• Establish systematic tracking standards and
  processes
• Systematic tracking of distribution
• Establish systematic tracking standards and
  processes

19
The Road Ahead

• Immediate priorities (contd)
• Some tracking on a case-study basis
• Provides whole picture
• Define a representative sample
• Survey of filmmakers and producers
• Know what documentary filmmakers think about
  social impact
• Will reveal range of intended uses and impacts
• Surveys of audiences,  users  and citizens
• Will provide direct evidence of impacts

20
The Road Ahead

• Long-term opportunities
• Controlled experiments
• Best done by academic researchers
• Work to generate interest in university milieu
• Development of social indicators
• Holds some promise but has proven difficult in
  practice
• Leave research to academic milieu