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! • L’erreur boréale • Qulliq

5. FINDINGS: CASE STUDIES

6. FINDINGS: CASE STUDIES

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. L’erreur boréale (1999) • Co-Produced by ACPAV and the NFB and directed by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie. L’erreur 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 America’s 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 • Western’s 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 (don’t 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 (cont’d) • 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