ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a history of the interaction among documentary, video activism, and political movements, and explores the new distribution methods that have emerged. It presents two case studies that show the range of efforts by videomakers to reach politically engaged audiences. The Gulf Crisis Television Project and Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films production and distribution system demonstrate the technological and organizational changes in video activism over the past generation. With these changes, documentary's relationships to political movements, subjects, and audiences have moved toward closer models of participation and interaction. Using social media and other Internet features that assist in reaching and organizing publics, documentary makers and video activists have pioneered new exhibition strategies to create engaged audiences. The field of documentary can help sustain activist organizations and movements in their political efforts, by both publicizing their issues and providing a focal point for their organizing efforts.
