What a time for documentary film makers, perhaps the most interesting since the advent of hand-held 35mm cine cameras in the 1920s and 30s.
Today’s digital film technology is accessible and affordable to a vast number of people in a multitude of economies. Social media has allowed film makers of all kinds the opportunity to promote their creations to a potentially limitless audience. These are also the most interesting times since the 1960s. We are witnessing the greatest cultural and socio economic changes experienced by western economies since the soft revolutions of the previous century.
For Irish documentary filmmakers the potential canvass has never been so rich in subject matter. Who will document the new and dramatic realities of Ireland today?
The Economist Film Project is an initiative by The Economist, in partnership with PBS NewsHour. Here’s what The Economist has to say about the project:
“The project seeks submissions of completed documentary films on a rolling basis beginning January 10, 2011 and continuing monthly through January 2012. Both documentary shorts and feature-length films may be submitted. The Economist will provide filmmakers whose films are chosen with a grant of $4,000 to produce six to eight minutes of footage from the film (or footage captured during the making of the film) for airing on PBS NewsHour as part of the segment. NewsHour plans to feature approximately three films each month. After airing, the film-oriented news segments will be packaged independently and given additional exposure through various outlets, including this website, The Economist’s YouTube channel and Facebook fan page, and the PBS NewsHour website, YouTube and Hulu channels. Our goal is to showcase the selected segments, films, and filmmakers as broadly as possible.”
