Diversity and Inclusion
Have shifts in the digital landscape impacted diversity and inclusion in the documentary industry? If so, how, and if not what do you think is preventing it? Hear input from women and people of color with first-hand experience.
While many aspects of the film industry have been criticized for a lack of diversity, as exemplified through the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag that was trending for a period of time, the study “Oscars So White: Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Diversity and Social Issues in U.S. Documentary Films (2008–2017).” as published in Mass Communication and Society analyzed the racial makeup of the documentary genre as represented in the Oscars, and discovered that although a majority of winners were made up of "White, male directors, and producers'', the types of stories that were represented were more likely to feature social justice topics rather than have topics that were pure entertainment.
Borum Chattoo, Caty. “Oscars So White: Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Diversity and Social Issues in U.S. Documentary Films (2008–2017).” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 21, no. 3, May 2018, pp. 368–94. Taylor and Francis+NEJM, https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2017.1409356.
Lane, Jim. The Autobiographical Documentary in America. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2002.
Peirano, María Paz. “Connecting and Sharing Experiences: Chilean Documentary Film Professionals at the Film Festival Circuit.” Documentary Film Festivals Vol. 2: Changes, Challenges, Professional Perspectives, edited by Aida Vallejo and Ezra Winton, Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 55–72. Springer Link, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17324-1_4.