The Paradox Between Visual Beauty and Political Meaning in Documentary Filmmaking

January 30, 2021

by Brenn Robinson

Documentary filmmaking plays a vital role in the creating and spreading of awareness and action to help combat social, political, and global issues. The recent emergence of wide-spread alarm for the earth’s rapidly changing climate has given documentary filmmakers involved with the issue, an opportunity to reach a far broader audience than ever before. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky, is the third film in a trilogy that explores the severe and detrimental impacts that humanity continues to have on the earth and its natural systems and species.

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Because We Are Girls: Bollywood Rape Culture and Female Disempowerment

by Alexandra Dalangin and Faatimah Saleji

Sexual abuse. It is a repulsive global issue that has yet to be resolved as the number of unjust cases continues to rise, permanently affecting the lives of many in the process. It leaves physical and mental scars most prominently on women and girls which result in health complications, a loss of trust, and a sense of panic that burdens their ability to grow on a more emotional level. Filmmakers tend to shy away from creating films centered around sexual abuse as it is a highly sensitive topic that is labeled as “uncomfortable” and “distressing” to portray, especially when mainstream Hollywood box office hits are popularized amongst the moviegoing audience.

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The Dichotomy of Human and Nature in Aquarela

December 20, 2020

by Bang Yan Ma

3.8 million years ago the first rains created the oceans that spread themselves across a primordial Earth, establishing itself as one of the oldest most primeval attributes of our planet. It birthed life upon the planet through single-celled organisms, stood by through the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, and is witnessing the evolution of hominins into modern humans.  The Anthropocene Epoch, the most recent geological epoch, designates the beginning of which humans had started to have a significant impact on the planet, both positive or negative. Domestication, the Holocene Extinction, Nuclear Fission, Climate Change, are all major impacts that humans have had on the planet, and although impressive, are nothing compared to the planet-wide mass extinction events that nature has forced upon the planet.

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