Abstract
My first realization of the power of documentary came during the making of Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy, a film I produced about two disability rights activists. We were rolling through the halls of the U.S. Capitol following Diana who has Down syndrome and Kathy who has cerebral palsy and who uses a wheelchair. They were there to fight for their right to live independently. As their battle unfolded, I now understood how watching a person’s story can powerfully distill a complex issue. It is this force for change that is the focus of Caty Borum Chattoo’s singular
Borum Chattoo’s text has at its heart a profound validation for the necessary work of today’s documentarians. Rooted in history, case study analysis and scholarly inquiry, this book gives the reader a visceral understanding of what social-issue filmmaking can do to help create a more just world. It celebrates the power of non-fiction film to foster progress on structural oppressions from racism to homophobia to domestic violence. Containing both insider industry acumen, and post-millennial cultural awareness, the book evaluates the artform’s contribution to public engagement and social action.
As the global pandemic, civil unrest, and economic crisis continue, Story Movements appears at a vital time. Social-issue documentary is a crucial tool in reckoning with the deep-rooted beliefs fueling today’s pressing challenges and exposes the ability of the documentary form to both rattle the status quo and urge new solutions.
Borum Chattoo is a film scholar and practitioner in the fields of communication, strategy and philanthropy, and also a film producer whose work lies at the intersection of storytelling, creativity and social change. As an academic-minded film producer, I find Borum Chattoo’s knowledge of history, industry trends and public affairs commendable, as is the author’s grasp of visual storytelling for meaningful social change.
Story Movements is organized in nine chapters. It opens with Borum Chattoo setting the stage with her foray into creative nonfiction as a researcher/producer of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. The documentary unearthed underhanded practices by one of the world’s largest corporations through stories of ordinary people and communities, thus unleashing a maelstrom of public and community action. Borum Chattoo uses this example to make one of her most salient points, noting the film’s timing, 2005, which was at the cusp of social media and streaming media networks. Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and YouTube would create participatory culture, forever changing social movements. Meanwhile new funding and distribution outlets were emerging, as well as more advanced production equipment. Documentary’s ‘participatory networked era’ (p. 4) was now giving way for its evolution into the social-issue documentary practice.
Chapter Two proceeds with a historical look at the transformation of documentary film into a proactive engagement of publics toward social change. Borum Chattoo deepens the reader’s understanding of how non-fiction storytelling grew into its present-day iteration by following social movements, advanced digital technology, social media, alternative distribution channels, and form-changing storytelling. Chapter Three delves into the technology shifts and new media platforms that expanded the investigative documentary form for digital era vérité. Also emerging from the modern-day social-issue documentary field came a new role labeled ‘impact producer’, which Borum Chattoo describes in Chapter Four. Impact producers work hand-in-hand with filmmakers to ‘design and implement intentional audience-engagement strategies’ (p. 87) from educational screenings to legislative advocacy.
Chapters five through eight focus on documentary case studies of the 2010’s through four central themes: mobilizing; humanizing; shaping; and interrogating. Chapter Five (‘Mobilizing for Change: Inside the Blackfish Effect’) retraces how the highly publicized documentary Blackfish which looked at the issue of captive orcas used tactics like narrative persuasion and the strategic use of news media and grassroots activism to spark public fury and significant corporate change. Chapter Six, ‘Humanizing the Headlines: Documentary’s Interpretive Framing’ highlights the extraordinary feat of Ava DuVernay’s 13th which awoke audiences to the fuller story of mass incarceration and race in American issue which had not been portrayed in dominant news coverage. Subsequent chapters discuss documentary film examples such as The Invisible War and Citizenfour that shape and change laws and those that interrogate power. Throughout, Borum Chattoo provides language and framework while unpacking the power for practical application and learning.
For all the promise of the field, Borum Chattoo concludes with warning signs regarding the ever-changing nature of social-issue documentary. Media consolidation and profitability aims ‘do not necessarily guarantee the civic values of intimate nonfiction stories,’ (p. 187). Moreover, she calls for the continued imperative for a diversified funding system to maximize the future of documentary in democracy. Supporting diverse nonfiction stories and storytellers and career sustainability is crucial for the industry to live and evolve. She champions experimentation behind, on, and beyond the screen.
Story Movements should be in the toolbox for all the change-maker-minded. Borum Chattoo’s command of language, filled with clarity and passion, makes her readers want to pick up the camera, tell their stories, and change the world. This multi-disciplinary book is essential for academics, filmmakers, philanthropists, media distributors and any practitioner, from climatologist to social worker, seeking an understanding of the power that documentaries can wield. As I think of my own work in the arena, Borum Chattoo helps me crystalize my motivation in bringing the social-issue documentary model into other media art forms, such as narrative fiction. For those of us who have made social change our life’s mission, this book will no doubt inspire further growth of the field’s ecosystem. It will fuel us to keep documentary thriving, funded, supported and reflective of the full human experience as we work toward ending the vicious cycles of systemic and structural ‘isms’ that plague us today.