One Minute to Midnight: Making Social Justice Documentaries

Social justice and ‘impact’ documentaries come in many forms, and with the current state of the world, they only continue to gain momentum for audiences globally.

With deep roots in the history of cinema including Barbara Kopple’s "Harlan County USA", Steve James’ "Hoop Dreams", Joshua Oppenheimer’s more recent "The Act of Killing" and of course works from Australian greats like Tom Zubricki, John Hughes, Dennis O’Rourke and John Pilger, the forms place in the screen cannon are right on the surface.

In the last few years, a new generation of First Nations and young screen artists working across traditional and immersive documentary forms have emerged to reach audiences with powerful messages.

In this session, we hear from filmmakers across the board on where contemporary audiences live, how to create works that reach them, and the science of working of documenting social justice in action. This session includes panelists from this year’s film program.