When you think back to your last trip to the cinema, your film choice was probably influenced by a combination of well-known faces, intriguing plot, a famous director, or whatever was on at the time. The experience itself is a haze of box office queues and overpriced popcorn. Your attention was diverted for a few pleasurable hours before reality swiftly returned and you merrily went about the rest of your evening, content to have laughed, cried or been merely distracted by the film you just watched. Because that’s what cinema’s for, isn’t it?

Active involvement was the key driving force behind the recent Take One Action Film Festival, which took place in the cinemas, theatres, and, wonderfully, botanical gardens of Edinburgh and Glasgow until its finale last Sunday. The festival programme comprised of fiction and documentary feature films, which were all either UK or Scottish premieres, or previews of hits from well-established festivals such as Sundance and Cannes. Choosing such up-to-the-minute work reminds audiences that film can provide fresh, topical insights into issues which are affecting the global community this very moment. Enjoy Your Meal, for example, is a documentary providing insight into the social and environmental impact of the international food market, which considers the real costs of your groceries beyond what you fork out at Tesco.  

This type of film is just what Take One Action are looking for, according to artistic director Simon Bateson. “We want to tell stories which are on a larger level,”  he says, “not just those of individuals, but where the causes and effects are global.” Some films on the programme inevitably concentrate on specific situations, such as Icíar Bollaín’s drama Even the Rain with its focus on the Bolivian national water crisis. Yet, as Bateson explains, their relevance stretches further than just one set of events. Using Even the Rain as an example, he highlights how the effects of water privatisation in Bolivia are echoed worldwide: “pressure from world banks is a cause of poverty in many other countries, which gives this film a global weight.”

Even the Rain is one of the festival’s few drama features, in a programme dominated by documentaries. This wasn’t a deliberate bias on the organisers’ part; rather, it reflects a general trend in socially aware film-making. Documentaries are typically cheaper to produce and, as Bateson notes, there is a “stronger tradition for documentary making to reflect current issues,” often simply because they can be created more quickly.

Audience demand is also a key factor in the film industry and as a high profile event like the Academy Awards shows, documentaries are often categorised separately from Best Film lists. The 2011 Best Documentary winner, Inside Job, drew attention by analysing the recent financial meltdown and achieved breakout status into the mainstream. The global, political, and economic impact of the crisis ensured that Western audiences took notice. Generally, however, socially and politically orientated film is relegated to a niche market for those cinema-goers who care to explore off the beaten track.

Festivals like Take One Action are helping to change this situation. By encouraging audiences not only to view the films but to get involved in events and debates related to the issues portrayed, cinema demonstrates its capacity as a dynamic and socially significant activity.  The message is clear: don’t sit back and relax.

For more information, see
www.takeoneaction.org.uk