Socially Conscious Docs Take Center Stage

It was a busy week in the world of socially conscious, message documentaries. Michael Moore unveiled details of his latest project, Capitalism: A Love Story,  which will be released in the U.S. on October 2 by Overture Films, with Paramount Vantage handling international distribution.

"It will be the perfect date movie," Moore said in announcing the title of the new film. "It’s got it all—lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It’s a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let’s just say it: It’s Capitalism."

Moore’s statement followed news from the Sundance Institute of a new $1.5 million three-year grant, underwritten by Cinereach, supporting documentary and feature-film projects "with themes that evoke global cultural exchange and social impact." The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute aims to have supported a minimum of 12 films within the next three years. Cinereach, created in 2006, has already assisted in the funding of a host of projects, including A Jihad for Love, a doc feature about Islam and homosexuality.

The day after the Sundance/Cinereach announcement, the Tipping Point Film Fund (TPFF) launched in the U.K. It, too, aims to assist in the financing of socially conscious films by tapping into the idea of "crowd funding." Used by filmmakers such as Fanny Armstrong (The Age of Stupid) and Robert Greenwald (Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers), crowd funding solicits donations from fans and activists.

As Deborah Burton, TPFF’s co-founder, tells TV Real Weekly, "We had this idea of being able to create a new revenue stream from the model of committed giving: You or me giving £10 a month, £20 a month to a charity. Let’s lay this model onto creating a film fund for a certain class of social-action feature documentaries."

With a background in both NGOs and film development, Burton is confident in TPFF’s ability to raise funding for quality projects. And the non-profit organization already has some high-profile support. The actor Danny Glover, who executive produced Bamako—a film set in Mali, exploring the impact institutions like the World Bank have had on the African nation—has endorsed the organization. He said at the time of TPFF’s launch: "To use the medium of film to move and inspire people to get involved in important social justice issues is critical. In the U.S., we have an opportunity right now—with an administration that is hopefully listening—to exert an influence on how policy is shaped and implemented. We must make use of that opportunity and momentum and ensure our voices are heard."

The Co-operative, a consumer-owned retail chain with some 3 million members across the U.K., has also lent its backing to the TPFF. Burton says that organizations such as The Co-operative will be key as TPFF develops its base of regular donors. "We’re thinking about reaching organizations that are very active, politically switched on, with a strong membership. We’re about donors, not investors."

Burton continues: "The idea is that [the donors are] starting on a journey with us. The films are new, we’re new, it’s new for them, they follow the development process, they follow the production process, they’ll be part of the distribution and marketing, and the campaigning with these films afterwards. Every film will have a campaign strategy built in."

Burton has set herself a target of £1.5 million, which she expects will be able to fund a couple of documentary projects per year. "We could make a very big difference with a fund of that size," she notes.

And TPFF already has a handful of projects waiting for funding. The first is The Road to Bethlehem, by the Palestinian filmmaker Leila Sansour. "It was shot in Bethlehem over four years, with the war going on," Burton notes. "We’re working with her to raise completion funding to edit the film and we’re already working on the campaign strategy for after the film is released. We’re hoping it will be Christmas 2010."

Also on the slate is a new film from Nick and Marc Francis, the filmmakers behind the award-winning Black Gold, as well as Here Comes the Sun, an exploration of solar power, and Corporation versus Cooperation. "The issues are international. We’re looking for the stories behind the stories that most people think they know."

Burton says the release path for these titles will follow a "fairly traditional route," beginning with the festival circuit followed by theatrical rollouts, TV distribution, DVD and online. The priority right now, however, is raising the money. "The bigger we can grow the fund, the more we can do."