Documentaries today are more about activism than ever before. In fact, social activism has always been a popular notion for documentary filmmakers because it presents a chance to tell stories of both cause and character.
Kali Holloway, writer for AlterNet, has even said in an article entitled, “Documentaries Extraordinaire: the 12 Best and Most Powerful of 2014,” that “There are few art forms that have the ability to provoke conversation, create awareness, and move audiences to action like film, and in particular, documentary. Through the intimate personal stories of people we recognize as ourselves, documentaries engage viewers on relevant social issues – give us a window into the most important and difficult topics of our times – in a way no other medium allows.”
Whether they be about bringing social justice or political change, documentary activism is indeed an interesting topic to explore. One feature documentary, in particular, entitled King Corn (2007) by director Aaron Woolf embodies this notion of documentary activism. The documentary tells the story of two friends, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who move to Iowa to learn where their food, in specific corn, comes from. According to the documentary’s synopsis, “With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat—and how we farm.”
The film which educates audiences about how America’s farming system produces corn crops, thereby “fuel[ing] a food system awash in high fructose corn syrup and fatty, corn-fed beef,” also shows audiences that these farmers grow so much corn in order to receive subsidies from the U.S. government. In fact, the film’s site references the following facts concerning The Farm Bill:
- In the last 15 years, taxpayers paid corn farmers more than $77 billion.
- 10% of America’s farmers collect more than 75% of the subsidies.
- Since the late 1970s, the real price of fruits and vegetables increased by 30%, while prices for soft drinks decreased by 34%.”
Besides urging Americans to take action regarding The Farm Bill, King Corn also encourages people to become a part of the nonprofit organization FoodCorps, which helps to educate kids on nutritional foods, engage kids and parents in growing fresh food in schoolyards, and team up with chefs to get healthy ingredients into school cafeterias.
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