We Need Documentaries More Than Ever In The 'Fake News' Era

Documentaries have taken on a new importance in an era when even mainstream media organizations are being accused of disseminating “fake news," according to a recent panel discussion about the media's role in society. 

“Documentaries in the Post-Truth Era” was the topic of the panel discussion, which took place during “Doc Day." The May 23 event was part of Le Marché du Film, an international moviemaking conference affiliated with the Cannes Film Festival in France. 

The panel discussion was of special interest to me as an independent filmmaker who journeyed to Cannes to promote my documentary, “Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring.” 

Documentaries serve a larger purpose beyond shedding light on a specific subject, said Christophe Tardieu, director general of the Centre National du Cinéma, which stages Doc Day. 

"Documentaries are essential for understanding the world," Tardieu said. 

Documentaries also bring voices to the forefront that wouldn’t be heard elsewhere, said Kathleen Lingo, executive producer of “Op-Docs,” The New York Times’ video series that gives independent filmmakers and journalists a platform to explore different subjects. 

"We're open to filmmakers from all around the world, and really diverse voices," Lingo said, "which is why I'm here at Cannes."

Documentaries play an important role of exploring complicated issues in an in-depth format, as opposed to posts on social media platforms that don’t offer enough context, said Laurent Richard, an investigative filmmaker and founder of the Freedom Voices Network. 

"The documentary can bring complexity,” Richard said. “This is the difference between a tweet and a feature-length documentary." 

Part of the discussion centered on whether channels such as PBS have an obligation to broadcast programming that give all sides of an issue, rather than just the so-called “liberal” perspective. 

PBS and other outlets often don’t get credit for exploring many perspectives, including points of view that can be described as “conservative," said Kathy Im, director of Journalism & Media at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“If you look at the body of work supported by liberal organizations or public television, it's quite diverse,” Im said. “I think our work is being mischaracterized." 

Documentary filmmakers can advocate for a particular cause but still give opposing views, which can help broaden their audiences, said Carrie Lozano, director of the IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund. 

Documentary filmmakers should “find a way to tell the stories in a way that can reach more people,” she said, “and that can be done a lot of the time.”

Including many different perspectives can ultimately make a documentary more interesting to watch, Lingo said. "Instead of focusing on an 'us vs. them' mentality, it's about finding the great story and trying to have these difficult conversations.” 

And of course, no panel discussion about documentaries would be complete without a dialogue on how filmmakers can find more funding to tell their stories. 

Rather than randomly applying for every possible grant, Im suggested that documentarians work as hard as they can to match their subject areas with the interests of potential funders: "It's almost like we need a matchmaking site: 'I want to make a film about this' and 'I want to fund a film about that.'"