Big Stories Always Upset Somebody. It's Great!!

Michael Hedges March 16, 2015 - Follow on Twitter

The documentary form never gets old. Subject material is vast, from injustices in the world and conspiracy theories to the real stories of the real and not-so-real. These moving pictures are moving at a time when attachment is considered out of fashion and escape considered a necessity. What have we learned?

When authorities in India ordered the documentary India’s Daughter not to be shown in the country “in any form” the effect was immediate and worldwide. The film written and directed by Leslee Udwin was to be broadcast on Sunday, March 8th, International Women’s Day, in several countries, including in the UK on BBC4 and India on NDTV. Efforts were made through diplomatic channels to prevent the film from being viewed anywhere.

India’s Daughter tells the story of a brutal gang-rape and murder in 2012 of a 23 year old on a bus by five men and a teenager, one of whom was interviewed in the film showing no remorse, empathy or shame. Lawyers for the perpetrators were shown blaming the victim for the crime and, ultimately, convictions carrying the death penalty. The film also gave certain cultural context to slum life in urban India.

Undeterred - at the very least - BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen, in a letter to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Rakesh Singh, quoted by the Independent (March 5), noted the “strong public interest in raising awareness of a global problem an the BBC is satisfied with the editorial standards of the film. Although the BBC is happy to take your views into consideration, we are not planning to transmit the film in any territory which lies under Indian legal jurisdiction.” Cohen then informed Secretary Singh the broadcast would be moved forward to Wednesday, March 4th, with simultaneous release on YouTube.

NDTV, a privately-owned broadcaster directly under Indian regulation, did not broadcast India’s Daughter but showed during the scheduled hour a stationary slide of the documentary’s title and a crawl of comments about the ban. Canadian public broadcaster CBC broadcaster aired the film as scheduled as did public TV broadcasters in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Google acceded to demands of the Indian government to bloc the video hosted on YouTube in India but not before nearly three million views.

Delhi High Court justices refused hear two public interest litigation filings claiming the ban violated India’s Constitution, effectively passing a decision on to the court’s chief justice who will hear arguments March 18th. Government lawyers said the film “is not suitable for unrestricted public view,” reported news agency IANS (March 12) and cited pending death penalty appeals by those convicted for the rape and murder.

Another documentary associated with the BBC incensed the government of Rwanda to the point of threatening legal action. Rwanda’s Untold Story, produced by BBC current affairs and broadcast in October 2014, investigated the possibility that President Paul Kagame was involved in the 1994 death of his predecessor Juvénal Habyarimana which sparked the mass murder of - by most estimates - a million people. The documentary presented the view of academic researchers that both sides in the Rwandan conflict participated in the killings.

The Rwandan government released in early March a report on Rwanda’s Untold Story, unsurprisingly critical of the BBC. “The documentary made a litany of claims and assertions that are problematic in a number of ways and which we consider to violate Rwandan law, the BBC’s own ethical guidelines and limitations to press freedom,” it said, quoted by the Guardian (March 2). “The transgressions are deemed deliberate because the BBC failed to use the mechanisms it has established to moderate the output of its journalists to ensure that it is in line with what it expects from its journalists and producers in order for the institution to retain trust and credibility among its viewers.” The report claimed the BBC complicite in “criminal offences” and noted the findings were influenced by the UK broadcaster declining to provide those involved in the documentary for questioning.

In response, the BBC reiterated its “duty to investigate difficult and challenging subjects” and “strongly reject any suggestion that any part of this documentary constitutes genocide denial.” Shortly after the BBC2 broadcast of Rwanda’s Untold Story, seen only in the UK, the Rwandan government banned BBC World Service radio programs from the country.

Tackling “difficult and challenging subjects” has long drawn writers and producers to the documentary form, whether for theatrical or broadcast distribution. The World Wide Web has opened ever wider possibilities for divergent points of view. This has not ended censorship.

Environmental issues in China are the subject for journalist Chai Jing’s self-produced web-only documentary Under The Dome. It has, with some surprise, become a major hit; attracting 200 million views during the first week after late February release and critical recognition comparing it to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring and Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. After that first week Under The Dome “disappeared from the Chinese Web,” reported Bloomberg (March 12). The real surprise is that it remained easily accessible for even a short time.

Air pollution blanketing China’s major urban areas is epic, which the government has pledged to tackle, so long as it doesn’t negatively effect the economy. Under The Dome points to the relationship between coal production and GDP in China. “People are not surprised by such facts,” said Chinese free-lance journalists Lijia Zhang to Bloomberg. “The days when Chinese authorities can brainwash its citizens are over in this internet age.” Bloomberg also noted that people in China can still see the documentary “if they try hard enough.”

The Laura Poltras documentary about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden Citizenfour was awarded the 2015 Academy Award for best documentary feature. Ms Poltras has long been associated with Mr. Snowden and the film is essentially a long sequence of the principal actors in the NSA leak release talking about it all. Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian (October 11, 2014) described it as “crackling with the nervous energy of revelation.”

The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been honoring documentary films since the 1940’s. Winners almost always reflect the American zeitgeist of the moment. Woodstock won in 1970. Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, a scathing critique of American politics and the highest grossing documentary ever, was ruled ineligible because it had first been released on television.

The documentary may well be having a renaissance as broadcasters and the Web chew through video content. Every subject, every point of view can find a place, resistance of authorities notwithstanding. Audiences, too, are evermore attracted as the search for authenticity becomes more than virtual.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Press/Media Freedom - Challenges and Concerns

Press and media freedom worldwide is facing challenges from many corners. As authoritarian leaders impose strict control over traditional and new media with impunity, media watchers have concerns for democracy. This ftm Knowledge file accounts the troubles of this difficult decade. 88 pages. PDF (December 2011)

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