| Long gone are the days when documentaries largely encompassed the realms of animal mating rituals and African pygmy colonies. The most popular documentaries of today run the gamut from fast food exposés, to the origins of skateboarding, to pressing political issues. Moviegoers are rewarding Calgary theatres with a surge in documentary ticket sales.
"With documentary filmmaking, there have been more people who have been able to crack the mass market, so to speak, and make docs unlike those we remember from school educational films 20 years ago, 10 years ago," says Andy Eyck, film programmer for Movies that Matter and Arusha Action Film Series. "The docs tell stories in a much more artistic way."
In an increasingly individualistic society, perhaps their growing popularity is also due to that fundamental need for people to feel they belong to a community.
"I think part of it is the camaraderie of sitting in a theatre to watch docs," says Sharon Stevens, info-active co-ordinator of the Arusha Centre. "We could be sitting in our living rooms watching them in our 500 channel universe, but people want to come together and talk about what they're seeing.
"As we get bigger, the city sprawls," she says, "and as the divide between wealth and poverty gets bigger, people are seeking a way to connect with others."
Documentaries can provide a window to little-known worlds, highlighting stories that aren’t always on the mainstream radar. Both Movies that Matter and Arusha Action Films try to screen a wide range of films that might not otherwise reach viewers.
"With this," Eyck says, "we wanted to bring great films to Calgary that don’t get the exposure they deserve. People can explore issues that they might not be aware of, or discover a new way of looking at something."
On a monthly basis, both series showcase subject matter that can be linked to local issues, with the potential of inspiring viewers to take action. They then provide both a platform for screening documentaries and a forum for discussion afterwards. In this way, filmgoers are invited to become agents of change, rather than passive audience members.
"It’s centred around activism," Stevens says, "it’s around motivating and mobilizing people. When you're watching a doc you can be watching heavy subject matter, and we want to give people the opportunity to be able to do something about it."
And whether it's the Iraq War or global warming, people want access to information in order to come to an informed opinion on their own, Eyck says.
But documentary films don’t always operate with a Chicken Little perspective.
"Documentaries have a reputation as being gritty and brutal," he says. "But just as fiction can transport someone to another time and place, so too can documentaries – they can be a mirror to the better things in life."
For more information on Movies that Matter and the Arusha Action Film Series, visit their websites at www.moviesthatmatter.org, and www.arusha.org. |
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