Documentary as a Tool for Action

video: Bukeni Waruzi, on the use of his footage of child soldiers in the Congo in the International Criminal Court trial of a warlord:



Last week I was able to go to the Center for Social Media's annual conference at American University in DC. To put it simply - this was a conference of people who make documentaries, and then go out and use them to organize for social justice. It was completely and utterly inspiring. Documentary filmmakers are simply too hip to begin with, and then I meet these folks, and they are all that plus the idealism and some rebellion. They were making the art/journalism (or journalism/art?) that will change the world.

Highlights that I want to pass on:

- The Hub. This is world's first participatory media site for human rights. "Through the Hub, individuals, organizations, networks and groups around the world are able to bring their human rights stories and campaigns to global attention and to mobilize action to protect and promote human rights," according to their site. The video work on the site covers Egypt, India, Congo, Zimbabwe... and the list goes on. Most hopeful and moving, though, is the work of their regional director Bukeni Waruzi, whose videos documenting the insanely cruel "child armies" used to fight their civil war has, a decade later, provided some of the evidence required to bring one of the most powerful warlords to trial. This is one of the most potential powerful forms of journalistic innovation I have seen in a long time, and is yet another argument as to why the Internet must be protected from all tampering by either corporations or national governments, and net neutrality provisions written into law as soon as possible.

- Using documentary as teaching/organizing tool. The documentary department of PBS, AmDocs/POV, will lend you for free any of their hundreds of documentaries, which come with downloadable Facilitator/Discussion Guides on how to host the event, and Lesson Plans for educators. Some of the documentaries they have available: "Flag Wars," about gentrification, "The Camden 28," about the 1971 trial of an anti-war raid on the New Jersey Draft board, and "Thirst," about the global water shortage. You can also search by topic. Link here.

- Snagfilms. This is a Beta site hosting all sorts of dox you can watch for free. And you can also pick five of them and set them up on your website in a little theatre!

- The Unheard Voices Project. Based in NC, this is a project aiming to document the impacts of globalization and economic displacement.

- DoGooder.tv is sort of a hosting space for videos about nonprofits.

- Info on the conference and sponsor: Center for Social Media here. And information on Making Your Media Matter, the conference itself, is here, with video to be posted soon. Information on all the great documentarians who were there should be up as well.