Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change

Explores the rise of social-issue documentaries, focusing on the tactics and impact of such films as Blackfish, The Invisible War, 13th, and CitizenfourOnly a few years after the 2013 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Blackfish - an independent docu... Read more

Explores the rise of social-issue documentaries, focusing on the tactics and impact of such films as Blackfish, The Invisible War, 13th, and CitizenfourOnly a few years after the 2013 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Blackfish - an independent documentary that indicted the treatment of captive orcas - visits to SeaWorld declined, major corporate sponsors pulled support, and performing acts canceled appearances. Unfolding against a steady drumbeatof public criticism, the "Blackfish Effect" culminated in a stunning 2016 corporate policy change announcement from SeaWorld - an end to its profitable captive orca shows.Social-issue documentaries like Blackfish are art for civic imagination and social critique. Today''s documentaries interrogate topics like sexual assault in the military (The Invisible War), racial injustice (13th), government surveillance (Citizenfour), and more. These artistic nonfiction filmshave changed national conversations, influenced media agendas, and mobilized communities and policymakers -- accessed by expanding audiences in a transforming media marketplace. In Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change, Caty Borum Chattoo explores howdocumentaries disrupt dominant cultural narratives through complex, creative, often investigative storytelling. Featuring original interviews with award-winning documentary filmmakers and field leaders, the book reveals the influence and motivations behind the vibrant, eye-opening stories of thecontemporary documentary age. Less