The Power of Documentary
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in this world.”
—Philip Pullman1
Documentary storytelling is arguably the most powerful change-creating art form available to us today. The power of documentary lies in its unmatched ability to inform and educate an audience in a manner that is both entertaining and authentic. The results can move people in astonishing ways.
Errol Morris’s pursuit of truth in The Thin Blue Line2 led to the reopening of a murder case and Randall Adams’s eventual release from jail. Adam Curtis’s The Power of Nightmares3 changed the way in which those who watched it perceive the threat of Al-Qaida and challenged the way in which, as a society, we often ...
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