Movies aren’t just fiction, they’re also a way to explore real-life issues. Take for instance “The Sound of Freedom,” a 2023 Alejandro Gómez Monteverde film inspired by former Homeland Security Agent Tim Ballard, who spent his career rescuing victims of human trafficking.
Films start with an idea a person wants to explore. They can spread social issues by targeting the audience’s emotions rather than telling a story using facts. Films allow their viewers to step into the life of someone else who may be suffering and experiencing these issues.
Documentaries are a way to explore issues directly. “The Social Dilemma” is a documentary that tackles how social media “reprograms” society. The film’s goal is to raise concerns about social media’s impact, and with this film, filmmakers got their message to reach a larger audience.
The method of documentaries narrows down a broad issue and makes it personal with real stories.
“There’s a real opportunity in documentary work to make an impact in a specific community or even a larger one,” said Natalie Chavoya, University of New Haven communication, film and media studies practitioner in residence. Chavoya said that in one project, she worked with the non-profit Concern Worldwide U.S.
She traveled to Haiti to the island of La Gonave to shoot a short documentary on the island’s lack of water and what the non-profit was doing to help, which was, said Chavoya, “building these giant cisterns that would collect rainwater, clean water, that can be used by the community.”
The organization also taught local residents how to build the cisterns. Chavoya said the project impacted the people in the film, and her as well.
Chavoya said making this and other films was a “cathartic” experience. When she was younger, she made a film about eating disorders in which she interviewed women who have experienced eating disorders, and through that film, the women developed a support system with each other.
Chavoya said the film not only had an impact on the audience but on the people behind the scenes because of their interactions and conversations.
“Narrative films are just as capable of making an impact on the viewer, partly because they can take a story and character and make it more relatable and engaging to an audience,” she said.
In her Telling Digital Stories course, Chavoya said students explore sometimes difficult topics in their own ways. This is where senior communication student Elisa Broche found her passion for filmmaking. Originally, she said she wanted to pursue a career in theater, but then found herself going into public relations because it was a “good choice,” said Broche.
“I had this class with Nicki and Prof. [Susanne] Murphy where you make a podcast, a video, and a photojournalism piece, and I never went back,” said Broche.
Broche has already started using films to highlight social issues that resonate with her. Growing up in Honduras, Broche’s early films focused on poor communities in her home country.
Broche said, “The most recent one I have done was in a homeless shelter in a nearby town where I’m from, showing where they are, how they live, and talking to the owner of this homeless shelter, who is also a woman in need, but she has the necessity to help others.”
