New Documentary Genre Afoot

Have you ever shied away from seeing a documentary because you knew it would be violent, horrifying or depressing?

That’s why I initially resisted seeing “The Ghosts in Our Machine”. I didn’t want to subject myself to another hard-to-watch documentary portraying animals in cages, headed for slaughter houses. But I went anyway to support a vegan friend.

Within minutes, I was pleasantly surprised, and by the time the credits rolled, I was transformed to the point of reconsidering my choice to eat meat! How was director Liz Marshall able to hold my attention and leave me feeling hopeful rather than guilty?

She didn’t vilify the meat industry. She didn’t show gratuitous animal suffering. She focused on a solution-oriented character on a quest. And she used cutting-edge artistic choices to foster a connection between human viewers and the animals on screen.

For filmmakers who are directing transformational documentaries, these techniques are part of the exciting artistic palette of an emerging genre. In Marshall’s case, these editorial choices won her the 2013 AwareGuide Viewers Choice Award for Top Transformational Film.

Here at New Doc Editing, I’m excited to train and empower filmmakers to make impactful, transformational documentaries. Check out our new, 4-week tele-seminar, “Directing the Transformational Documentary”, which begins Monday, September 15th.