In 2011 the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival introduced panel conversations with filmmakers and other industry professionals. This panel on Art and Advocacy, covered the following ground:
As documentarians struggle to finance their films, organizations with advocacy agendas become a rich source of funding. Does this present a dilemma for filmmakers who might not have the capital to follow less agenda-based subjects? What is more important, the narrative power of a film or the issue it highlights? Is the purpose of the documentary to tell a compelling narrative or to bring to light an issue that filmmakers feel is neglected?
The panel was held on April 16th, 2011. Panelists included: Alex Gibney, filmmaker (Magic Trip; Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer); Steve James, filmmaker (The Interrupters; Hoop Dreams; D.A. Pennebaker, filmmaker (Don’t Look Back; The War Room); Diane Weyerman, Participant Media Executive Vice President, Documentary Films.
