Why do we need more documentaries in today’s world?

Can you just take a second and imagine an average statistical film-admirer? Probably that’s a person who adores influential Hollywood movies which are usually popular book adaptations or something directed by authoritative filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, or David Fincher. No one doubts that most of the movies they create are masterpieces which usually help you satisfy your esthetical needs and boost your imagination.

If you are lucky enough, the answer to the cliche question of “which is your favorite movie?” could be something that’s not made in Hollywood. For example, if you ask me, I will immediately remember the Three Colors Trilogy created by the Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski, the Youth of Italian genius Paolo Sorrentino, or maybe even French movies of young Xavier Dolan. Yes, Europeens indeed make good-quality movies as well, but still, the typical person who adores the film industry will immediately come up with a fiction movie. But fiction is not everything that’s created in the film industry nowadays.

Today there is a tendency of making more documentary movies than ever before. Some people think that there’s no need to fill society with reality-based facts, and they consider that movies should be about the non-real world because we are already aware of the real world around us. We have so many other sources to get information about real-life events other than documentaries and simply, we can just search everything on Google, but generally, everything presented in a good documentary can have absolutely different influences on us. We believe that we can quickly get informed on important issues in the process of entertaining and that’s one of the reasons why creating documentaries is slowly becoming a new trend in the film industry.

Growth of documentaries

We can certainly say that these days documentaries matter more than ever! This genre has radically evolved in recent years. In case you are not sure, the documentary is a broad term to describe a non-fiction movie that captures reality in some way. They are used to reveal unusual, important, problematic, or unknown angles of the topic. Documentary filmmakers usually are motivated to make their films because they feel that a particular story is not properly covered by the mainstream media. So we can say that documentaries are another way of keeping the public informed about the important issues.

Documentary movies are in-depth and informative sources which is a perfect way to create a dialogue with the public. They have an important mission to bring problematic topics to the table in a way that sparks conversation and sometimes even pushes people to start social movements and change the world for good. Directors of documentary movies are focused on the stories of real people and try to show the public global issues that usually seem distant and irrelevant to them.

Poverty, homelessness, climate change, and ecological problems, bullying and discrimination, social exclusion, and addiction are just a few of global problems that sometimes seem too far away from us but directors have found a way to bring this issues to a human face and this way is making documentaries. Seeing and hearing the real experiences of the people deeply touches our minds and helps us feel empathy towards these people on the screens. While seeing the real stories we realize that we could be the ones in their shoes, which push us to take action and make changes.

But providing an opportunity to understand and connect with the world is not the only advantage of the documentaries. They are not just a source of important information, but also they are a great way to gather people with friends, watch these important cases together, and talk loudly about all of it. While scrolling through social media 24/7 we often miss face-to-face conversations which are essential. This is what reminds us that there are real people on the opposite side, experiencing different conditions that may need our help to raise the awareness of the public. So, we can certainly say that documentaries have the power of changing the world!

Documentary festivals around the world

Currently, we are certainly living in the Golden Age of documentaries. Today more excellent quality films of this genre are made than ever before. For promoting the idea of making more documentaries many film festivals are successful worldwide and have a deep influence on our thinking and decision-making process. Among them are the world’s leading documentary film festival, IDFA in Amsterdam, the prestigious Toronto festival called Hot Docs or Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland.

Moviemakers today tend to realize that it’s important to deliver their ideas to the audience in creative, yet influential ways and this is why there is a tendency of promoting documentary films with festivals even in small countries. For example, in the little country of Georgia, there is an annual festival of CineDOC-Tbilisi. It’s an international film festival in the Caucasus that focuses on reflecting critical social issues in addition to seeing inspiring, powerful, and memorable films.

What makes all of these festivals truly special is that they are not only about film screenings but also organize workshops, discussions, and industry meetings for young documentary filmmakers and producers, which always makes a magical atmosphere.

Why should we make more documentaries?

First of all, if you want to have an impact on society and send your message to the audience, there is no better and more powerful way than making an excellent documentary, There you can include enough information to make your case and it’s worth it as more people will watch a movie nowadays than for example, read a book.

Also, generally, documentaries are supported by non-profit organizations. Finding investors in this field is pretty easy because all they want is to make a great movie and creatively tell a story. By doing this, they have a high chance to get their money back and make a profit, while you get yours, as it’s a good way to spread your message without any costs.

So, hopefully, you agree with us that in the times of fake news and alternative facts, there is an urgent need for the stories of people’s real-world experiences. Now we need documentaries more than ever to engage people’s hearts and minds with evocative, emotional, and inspiring storytelling and perhaps, to make our world a little bit more compassionate. Let’s connect to the global community through docs and keep in mind that now is the time to make a change in our collective future.