In an age of increasing global citizenship, the art of filmmaking and the written word are important devices through which the community can explore "the great beyond."
The recent International Writers Festival and the upcoming One World Film Festival in Ottawa expand our knowledge of international current affairs through arts mediums. Both allow us to explore and make sense of our world, without having to travel to other countries.
But when given a choice between watching a documentary film about an issue and reading a book of non-fiction, which medium works best? Is the video camera mightier than the pen?
Both documentary films and non-fiction books offer a wider range of perspectives than what we see in the news. This allows us to get closer to a sense of what is really happening.
“There’s a whole level of empathy that you just don’t get through mainstream media and that’s not the job of mainstream media, it’s the job of artists to share the real personal experience of what it means,” says Sean Wilson, artistic director for the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
Wilson says storytelling, particularly through the written word, has been used throughout history as a key form of communication.
“Great writing is as close to a perfect vehicle as I think there is.”
Yet as much as writing is important for storytelling, it is difficult to deny the strength of filmmaking these days. Just look at the success of An Inconvenient Truth in opening up our eyes to the impacts of climate change.
Other films like Invisible Children and Black Gold have taught us about the issues facing child soldiers in Uganda and coffee farmers in Ethiopia. Books such as The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs and Not for Sale by David Batstone have educated people about economic development and human trafficking.
None of these issues would be easily accessible to the public without the efforts of filmmakers and authors. After all, we don’t have time to become experts on all issues. It is important to look at an issue through non-fiction literature as well as through documentary films, as both offer unique ways of providing intimate perspectives on a topic.
But the reality is that films prevail in the taste of the general public. They tend to be more entertaining as filmmakers are able to use cinematic techniques such as lighting and visual perspective to captivate audiences.
Most of us are too busy balancing work or studies (or both) with maintaining a social and family life to read a lot of books. We don’t always have the attention span to concentrate on a comprehensive report on an issue. Film appeals to us for these reasons, as it can give us the key information in a fast and effective manner.
It is important that we make the effort to seek out alternative perspectives on issues instead of letting the mass media tell us what is happening in the world.