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EspañolRupert Maconick is right when affirms in the article“Why Marketers Need to Invest in Authentic Long-Form Storytelling” that there is currently no more popular and efficient format at the communicative level than the documentary about social issues.
I have thinking about this interesting article by Adweek after being glad to participate as a member of the jury at the 6th edition of the Deauville Green Awards (Deauville, Normandy, June 27-28). Of all the award-winning productions, two little jewels called me a lot of attention and they made me think of the aforementioned article by Rupert Maconick.
On the one hand, the documentary Climat-guerres-migrations: les liaisons dangereuses, produced by Ushuaïa TV, frames one of the main tragedies of our time and does so from an organic perspective, original due to its naturalness. The aerial shots that initiate the documentary, some flights with drone on Mogadishu, are a statement of intentions. Properties destroyed by the sea. It does not really matters if they are frightened by the action of the sea or the war. Throughout the film, the director, Christine Oberdoff, visits a refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan and speaks openly with the displaced. She gives them the word. The camera is located at the height of their eyes. There is sincere honesty in the approach. Cruelty and proximity. Abyss and heart. We understand that there is a zero chapter in the dramas of those displaced by the Syrian war that did not jump to the public, a climate crisis. Climate change, drought, condemned the Syrians. The war ended up stealing their life projects.
It is not surprising that Climat-guerres-migrations: les liaisons dangereuses won the Grand Prix of the festival. Apart from this small great documentary, a corporate film with a very original approach has stolen my heart. It is called La bouche C la vie and responds to a sadly everyday problem in some areas of the metropolitan area of Paris, where from time to time to pass the heat the water mouths planned to extinguish fires are sabotaged. Filmed in Aubervilliers and directed by Vincent Lorca, this video is the central trunk of the Veolia campaign, which manages the water service of the Île de France region.
The backbone of the video is a rap composed ad hoc by rapper Youssoupha. The start catches, with the figure of the Basketball player Mam Jaiteh emerging on a sea of earth and dust that prevents to determine the forms clearly. The rap begins in a suggestive way: “You’re the sunshine, you’re the canicule”. Focused on a group of pre-teens of the neighborhood, in 20 seconds the controversy is attacked: “Paso de besoin de faire du quartier une piscine olympique”. The picture you want to report is not scuffed: a broken fire mouth flooding the streets in water. They follow images that illustrate consequences of that action: a shower that stops working, dead flowers and a fire that can hardly be extinguished without water.
In this case, the conjugation of all the elements (the soundtrack, the work of the image and the realization) is impeccable. Although it is not strictly a documentary (it is a spot, a video clip or a corporate video?), This hybrid, brave and uncomplexed piece shows that audiovisual innovation is in the margins. As much La bouche C la vie as Climat-guerres-migrations: the bad liaisons show that putting the focus on social conflicts, whether geopolitical or local, has its impact (and return).
Picture: Frame of the video “La bouche, c’est la vie” (Vincent Lorca), produced by the producer PRAXIS FILM and the OUICOM agency for VEOLIA EAU ILE-DE-FRANCE