Can Cinema Change The World?

Can the same art form that pacifies mobile phone-fiddling prepubescents also bring about social and political change? We put this question to some of the filmmakers and activists attending <b>Take One Action Film Festival 2011</b> (19 Sep - 2 Oct). Here's what they had to say

Feature by Jamie Dunn | 29 Aug 2011

Holly Lubbock

Director: Fezeka’s Voice

Cinema is an immersive experience. Within a couple of hours we can be transported to someone else's world or submerged in another's life. We are led to places we might never go, meet people outside of our spheres and, if we've very lucky, have our minds opened to ideas that inspire discussion and spark a real desire to see change.
 
At the core of every great documentary is a humanity which allows us to relate to those we see on screen. Whether we laugh, cry, rage or are silenced by the stories we see, our empathy often turns to compassion, which then can incite anyone to act. Some Ethiopian coffee farmers have seen their beans nearly double in price because of a film; chefs and restaurants are thinking twice about where their fish comes from because of a film; and an innocent man was released from life in prison because of a film. Documentaries like Black Gold, The End Of The Line and The Thin Blue Line have the power to change hearts and minds at a global level, but I've seen change happen at the other end of the spectrum too. Six months ago, at a Fezeka's Voice screening, one audience member was inspired to donate enough money to help give one child from Gugulethu township [the Cape Town ghetto where the documentary was filmed] a university scholarship.  I know that the act of one person giving to one child may not in itself change the world, but that child armed with a university education might.

Fezeka’s Voice, followed by Q&A with director Holly Lubbock: 28 Sep, 8.30pm, GFT; 29 Sep, 3pm, Filmhouse; 29 Sep, 8.25pm, Filmhouse

Clare Short

Activist and MP for Birmingham Ladywood from 1983-2010

Film cannot alone change the world, anymore than any of us can alone. But it can reinforce or create powerful images of what is cool and good. Because big money tends to control the films that are made and their distribution, they tend to support values that do not threaten big money. But there are always new and better films trying to get through, and they can be an important part of our struggle to make credible an idea of a better tomorrow, which once generally thought credible is easily doable.

Clare Short in Conversation: 24 Sep, 4pm, Filmhouse

John Christensen

Filmmaker and activist featured in The End of Poverty?

Cinema has been a large part of my life. Many of my favourite childhood memories involve those delicious moments when the house lights dim, the curtains part and the opening credits roll. Since then I have been President of Jersey’s Film Society, did weekly films reviews for a BBC arts programme for many years, and had parts in three films, including The End of Poverty?. I am currently working as associate producer on a forthcoming documentary thriller called Cashback (due for release in 2013) which explores the dirty world of tax havens and illicit financial flows.

Never underestimate the power of film to shape the way we see the world. My sense of justice and injustice owes much to films like Twelve Angry Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. My commitment to protecting our ecology has been shaped by films like Inconvenient Truth and China Syndrome. Talented film makers can inform (Inside Job), challenge (Bowling for Columbine), inspire (Invictus), and reveal emotions (The King’s Speech), without losing their artistic or creative integrity. Watching film is a collective activity which stimulates conversation and debate. Could anyone seriously doubt that cinema can be a powerful force for good?

The End of Poverty? challenges views about why poverty persists. Spanning the 500 years since Europeans conquered the Americas, the film explores the structural roots of contemporary capitalism and shows how the rulebooks remain rigged in the interests of powerful elites. These insights can help people understand that charity (aid) is not the same as justice.

The End of Poverty/Life and Debt double bill, followed by debate with John Christensen: 27 Sep, 6.00pm, Filmhouse

Cosima Dannoritzer

Director: The Light Bulb Conspiracy

When The Light Bulb Conspiracy [a documentary about planned obsolescence, the practice of manufacturers reducing the lifespan of their products to increase demand] came out in Spain a few months ago (under the title Comprar, tirar, comprar) it spread like wildfire through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. People were talking about it on the bus, at the hairdresser's, at dinner parties. Links appeared on blogs with themes as diverse as design, consumer rights and ethics. Obsolescencia programada became a Twitter trending topic after the first broadcast, and students were asked to write essays and exams about it ('What is planned obsolescence? Explain one example...').

It was not that we explained anything new — people had been suspecting for a long time that it was more than just bad luck that made their consumer products break down all the time — but the film presented the evidence in close-up and explained the logic and the systematic approach behind it. By providing the facts, the film helped move on the debate from 'Does planned obsolescence exist or is it just one of these urban legends on the Internet?', to 'It exists and this is how it works, so what are we going to do about it?'  

Often, we spend too much time discussing with each other if something is true or not, without having the relevant information at hand. That kind of debate doesn't go anywhere, however lively it is. What a film can do is set out the facts clearly, backing them up visually and through interviews, and do so in an entertaining way so they reach many viewers. And when we have the facts we can do something about them: discuss them with friends, come up with our own ideas, look for solutions. Facts empower us, help us make decisions and to instigate change. For me, as a filmmaker, this is where film can make a small contribution to social change.

The Lightbulb Conspiracy, followed by Q&A with director Cosima Dannoritzer: 29 Sep, 5.45pm, Filmhouse; and 30 Sep, 12.30pm, Filmhouse

Zoya Phan

Producer: Nargis: When Time Stopped Breathing

The dictatorship in Burma is trying to persuade the world it is changing, but the truth is human rights violations are increasing, not decreasing. Films exposing what is happening in my country are essential to break through the censorship and lies. The people of Burma need your help, through films you can learn, and then act.

Nargis: When Time Stopped Breathing, preceded by Q&A with producer Zoya Phan: 1 Oct, 4.00pm, Filmhouse

Marc and Nick Francis

Directors: When China Met Africa

For us, it is about the film's effect, and how cinema can effect an audience, on both an emotional and intellectual level. The impact of that effect decides the degree to which change can occur. Our job, really, is to tell the story in a way that can connect to audiences, to make them see the world slightly differently. Hopefully that empowers them to do something with that information.

What we're really interested in, as filmmakers, is the story architecture of an issue. We're thinking about the film and how we're going to tell that story, and then we're thinking how we can have that conversation with the audience to take it a step further. So I think the actual film itself plays a part in a kind of longer narrative of social change.

From our own experience we've seen direct impact — direct changes as the results of our films. For example: Black Gold. That had a massive impact in affecting fairer export for the coffee farmers featured in the film, through to massively increasing the awareness of the coffee trade in mainstream consumers.

When China Met Africa, followed by Q&A with co-director Marc Francis: 25 Sep, 3.15pm, GFT; 25 Sep, 8.30pm, Filmhouse

 

Fezeka’s Voice website: www.fezeka.com

Clare Short's website:www.clareshort.co.uk

The End of Poverty? website: www.theendofpoverty.com

The Light Bulb Conspiracy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheLightBulbConspiracy

When China Met Africa website: whenchinametafrica.com

http://www.takeoneaction.org.uk