Only a few years after the 2013 Sundance Film Festival premiere of
Blackfish - an independent documentary that indicted the treatment of captive orcas - visits to SeaWorld declined, major corporate sponsors pulled support, and performing acts canceled appearances. Unfolding against a steady drumbeat of public criticism, the "Blackfish Effect" culminated in a stunning 2016 corporate policy change announcement from SeaWorld - an end to its profitable captive orca shows.
Social-issue documentaries like
Blackfish are art for civic imagination and social critique. Today's documentaries interrogate topics like sexual assault in the military (
The Invisible War), racial injustice (
13th), government surveillance (
Citizenfour), and more. These artistic nonfiction films have changed national conversations, influenced media agendas, and mobilized communities and policymakers - accessed by expanding audiences in a transforming media marketplace. In
Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change, Caty Borum Chattoo explores how documentaries disrupt dominant cultural narratives through complex, creative, often investigative storytelling. Featuring original interviews with award-winning documentary filmmakers and field leaders, the book reveals the influence and motivations behind the vibrant, eye-opening stories of the contemporary documentary age.