Media and Society: European Documentary in a Changing Media Landscape

2. 1. 2018

Author: Marta Jallageas

The project, entitled Media and Society: European Documentary in a Changing Media Landscape, aims to set out a blueprint to secure a sustainable future for the industry. It brings together academics, documentary filmmakers, key documentary organisations, media policy makers and a wide range of media stakeholders. In today’s rapidly changing media world we need to shape our future together.

Together with the Creative Europe Desks - MEDIA from Czechia and Slovakia, Institute of Documentary Film organises on January 25 in Prague a meeting with Czech and Slovak documentary filmmakers. "We recommend all institutions and associations working in the documentary film industry based in Central and Eastern Europe to become active partners in Media & Society. It is important to include needs of our region in the survey. The best way to stimulate the interest and to get concentrated imput from your local industry is to arrange a work meeting, in cooperation with EDN and eventually with your local Creative Europe Desk, as we do,"  says Pavlína Kalandrová, Creative Director of IDF.

In this article, you will find an introduction to the initiative and a link to a survey questionnaire, the results of which will help inform the drafting of recommendations for the future. The survey will be available for completion until the end of March 2018.

The documentary sector has experienced fundamental changes and disruption over the past decades. The post-Internet media environment with its new platforms and players has increasingly challenged the traditional models of business and financing in our sector. In order to take stock and strengthen the role of documentary filmmaking in the European media domain, EDN has launched the Media & Society initiative (click here to download the PDF Project Presentation).

The initiative will involve the sector's key stakeholders and aims to publish a policy document, or 'White Book', that will set out clear recommendations for the future. The final document will be presented in November 2018 at IDFA in Amsterdam.

The project is made up of fact-finding, analysis and policy discussion over a period of one year. It will be a continuous process, involving several working groups dedicated to developing a vision for a sustainable future. The project also includes a series of 'meeting moments' during which professionals can exchange information with working group members and discuss their work and insights. In addition, we will be organizing 'presentation moments' at Marché du Film in Cannes, Sunny Side of the Doc and Sheffield Doc/Fest during which emerging findings of the project will be shared with a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers and the media — the initiative is open to input from all professionals working in the documentary sector.

Project Presentation and Roadmap
You can download the PDF "Media and Society" project presentation incl. roadmap here:
Media and Society: European Documentary in a Changing Media Landscape (PDF, 700kb)

TAKE PART IN OUR SURVEY!
You can help EDN gather data about the documentary sector by participating in our survey and completing a questionnaire. The results will provide the foundation for policy recommendations for the future. To take the survey, please go to Direct Link to the EDN Media & Society Online Survey.

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