The recipient does not care anymore about the quality of the picture … The minimum is enough if the content of the shot is unique. Do the TV channels give up their strict criteria, and broadcast amateur films?

Documentary films have a history, a market and a channel in the Arabic World; however does it have any impact on the society? Some may find my question strange; especially that Al Jazeera TV spends hundred thousands of dollars every year to buy and finance documentary films and broadcast it on its news and specialized channels. Many of those filmmakers gained fame and most Arabic TV channels are following the same course in the west and give it a great concern in its program maps  … so what is the benefit of the question?

By giving a closer look on the methods of field shooting, finance conditions and broadcast criteria set by TV channels, you will find documentary filmmaker in a critical situation, whether to avoid shooting in many places (such as police station and governmental institutions) and give up even partially his own vision and reach perfection in the quality of picture and direction or to submit his work to the decision makers to amend and review it and in such case it might never be broadcasted on TV. This will keep the society from discussing its vital issues freely and deprive the viewer from realizing new technical styles; and accordingly will hinder the documentary filmmaker from daring to use the traditional patterns required in the Arabic documentary film market. Consequently; documentary films have a little effect on society as long as the freedom in expression is so much limited regarding all issues.

Modern media came with the solution for all that; one of its features is simplicity and the most important characteristic is interaction and its main effect is based in circulation. By having a cell phone with camera and access to internet, you will be able to make a film and broadcast it to the whole world immediately. Technically this does not compare the level of the documentary films we watch on Al Jazeera TV, Discovery Channel and International Geography; however it will include – objectively – the social conquests that the traditional documentary film failed to achieve in the past. The most prominent examples of that are the documentary films produced through this modern pattern clarifying the violence in police stations, domestic violence and the wide spread of drugs in schools and sport clubs. The cameraman will reach the depth of such issues and take all the shots he needs – bearing in mind the ethical principles – without going through all the complications that professionals suffer from with their heavy tools and the need to acquire shooting permission pursuant to specific criteria. Accordingly, the viewer will enjoy more realistic shots which enable him to realize a new world from a closer look … the difference is clear.

The viewer does not care anymore about the quality of the picture … the minimum is enough if the content is unique; the thing that urged TV channels to consider broadcasting this kind of films which are easily produced. This provided a rare opportunity for amateurs to catch the track of professionals and enriched the world of documentary film with new thoughts stemmed personally from the user who realizes his needs more than the producer … he is the (Produser) as identified by Axel Brown in 2005. This conviction encouraged many amateurs to learn the principles of the work and urged a lot of media institutions to organize workshops to train amateurs and semi-pros on documentary filmmaking. A good example of that is the workshop organized for this purpose at El Ibrahimia Media Center in Alexandria on December 2009 and I had the honor to teach in this workshop. It resulted in training ten amateurs on the rules of this industry and they entered the field from its tailgates: Modern Media Gate.

How many brave films we are going to watch? How many exciting issues we are going to deliberate? How many talented persons we will know? These are the questions that will be answered in the future if we gave the opportunity for this phenomenon to prosper?