The Advocacy Part of It

Who carries forward the social issue once the film is done and the filmmaker may be moving on to other projects?

There are two models. One is that the filmmaker is very involved in the outreach part of it. But that is not necessary. You can build partnerships with other people who are passionate about the issue that will carry on that agenda. (Patricia Finneran, Managing Producer, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program)

After completion of the film Budrus, we built up partners that were advocacy oriented. (We didn’t use them to help fund the film because we didn’t want to build expectations of what editorially is going to be in the film.) Disparate groups are now using the film as a way to talk about non-violent resistance — from political activists to religious organizations both Muslim and Jewish. (Julia Bacha, Filmmaker, Budrus)

Here are some social issue sites related to documentary:

Active Voice
Putting a human face on public policy. Using film, television and media to spark social change.

Witness
Basically a socially relevent You Tube for human rights. Their tagline: See it. Film it. Change it.

MediaRights
An online database of films that are socially relevant. Become a member and have your film listed. Find potential collaborators, funders and outreach partners.

Samara
Their purpose is to educate and help cause change. Their current project does something nobody’s ever done before — conducting exit interviews with outgoing Members of Parliament in Canada with the idea to gain vital information and feedback on how best to improve the experience of current and future PMs.

ViewChange on LinkTV
A digital media hub that highlights progress in reducing hunger, poverty and disease in developing nations by harnessing the power of storytelling.