The social impact of film production
How do you create a better society? How do you create social change?
These questions challenge politicians, sociologists, theologians and many other members of society.
From being questions of morality they are increasingly becoming questions of practicality. The escalating cost of fixing problems, whether they are related to health, justice or the environment, is becoming unsustainable.
Focus needs to be placed on prevention to tackle the escalating challenges.
Individually and as a society, how can we reduce smoking, violence, obesity, waste, abuse, heart disease, stress, mental illness? How can we change patterns of behaviour? Awareness, understanding, leadership, communication, political will and co-ordinated action all play their part.
Social impact of film
Film can be used to reach a wide audience, to inform and inspire change through engaging audiences and reflecting society.
Social film drama unites people in a common sense of humanity and shared responsibility, which gives it added power to help foster positive change.
Through integration into social marketing and change programmes, social film drama has the potential to make people take notice, get the process of change going and to sustain it. The genre has bought silence to audiences, has had people clamouring to talk and engendered desire for personal and social change.
Social Film Drama productions
Ken Loach set the benchmark for film and social change with Cathy Come Home in 1966, Social Film Drama is continuing the tradition with the genre.
“The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.”
Social Film Drama, a partnership between film-makers and policy-makers, work together to ensure authenticity to the subject matter and to place learnings at the centre of integrated communication and change programmes.
Social film drama films do more than raise awareness, they draw you into the story and the lives of the characters. They make you feel how the characters feel to give you a deep understanding of the situation, they get under your skin, challenge your perceptions, raise consciousness and stay with you long after watching the film. They have the ability to soften and dissolve personal barriers and prejudices, ready for change to take place.
After watching a social film drama, you feel compelled to talk, to take some action, to do something to deal with what has been shown or left unresolved in the film. At conferences and training events, social film drama has been used to:
Wake up and challenge audiences
Prompt self-reflection about one's own attitudes
Stimulate group discussion about how an issue has arisen and what could have been done differently
Create deeper understanding and a desire for further learning
Domestic violence and Social Film Drama
Around 1 in 5 women experience domestic abuse sometime in their lives. Expectations about what is and isn’t acceptable in relationships need to change. As a society we need to find ways to challenge and change our perceptions and foster safer, more inclusive communities.
By speaking to the heart, drama creates the emotional and intellectual understanding on which other initiatives can be launched and made more effective.
Leaving is an award-winning social film drama used to explore domestic violence.
Social Film Drama’s film depicts one woman’s attempt to leave an abusive relationship. The film speaks to different audiences in different ways. You are able to relate to the drama and the characters in a way that is appropriate for you, given who you are and your past experiences.
The latest production from Social Film Drama is Last Date, due for release in 2020. Last Date condenses the gradual nature of psychological and physical abuse into a single night. The viewer witnesses how abusive behaviour can take control of a person’s life and how it can escalate to trap them in a dangerous, repetitive cycle.
There are many different initiatives in place across the country to reduce domestic abuse.
These include:
Specialist domestic abuse courts
Domestic abuse forums
Prevention programmes with young people
Training programmes
Social film drama can form an integral part of all these initiatives. Leaving was released in 2008, it has been rolled out in partnership with a number of organisations who either have an interest in reducing domestic abuse or a direct statutory responsibility. It is now a key part of multiple social marketing and change programmes. Due for release in early 2020 Last Date can be adopted in the same way.
For more information on how to use Leaving or Last Date as part of an integrated awareness raising and change programme on domestic abuse, please contact us.