Ali Hamraz, producer, director and member of the Documentary Cinema Directors Association, said about the current situation of documentary cinema: Documentary cinema receives the most influence from the daily reality of life among other fields of filmmaking. The economic situation of the society, of which you are a part as a documentary maker, is very influential. As a documentary maker, you cannot move outside of this cycle. You are involved with it every day and feed from it.
In a conversation with Online newsadded: With a realistic view, it cannot be denied that documentary makers are looking at their career future with some kind of despair. The economic order in their daily life has a direct impact on them like the rest of the people. When you are not able to take care of the daily affairs of your life, you certainly cannot expect to receive a creative output, for example, in the form of a documentary film. Of course, it should not be ignored that despite all these features, documentary filmmakers always find a way to make their films as an instinctive act and an internal need.
This member of the Association of Documentary Cinema Directors explained about the problems faced by documentaries and documentary makers today: Our main problem is still securing funds for making films and more importantly finding the right way to show and deliver the film to the audience. Basically, films are financed either privately or by the government. In the private sector, since there is no suitable infrastructure for showing and screening, therefore, one cannot expect a return on investment, so that production and supply become a cycle. It is true that the group of art and experience and its hands have put everything in their power in these years, but the important issue here is that the initial possibility and power given to this group is not enough that the result of their hard work and the filmmakers become a The cycle becomes self-reinforcing.
He continued: On the other hand, the Internet platforms still do not take the documentary film seriously and naturally do not design extensive advertisements for it, so it fails there as well. In the public sector, however, we can expect adequate funding. Basically, governments in all parts of the world are one of the main financiers for the production of documentary films. In our country, the center for the development of documentary, experimental and animation cinema is the main financier of documentary cinema. The focus of the development center is on the production of cinematic and artistic documentaries and so far they have had successful productions. Another point is that all the financial profit of the documentary maker is in the broadcasting process. Because the filmmaker spends the entire budget plus the money in his pocket for the film, but when the largest share of the financial income from sales and distribution goes to the center, the filmmaker is practically not supported in his personal life. Of course, in some productions, the center sometimes registers 40-50% of the earnings in the name of the filmmaker, which is valuable, but this is not a general rule. If the center’s hand is more open in practice and can provide a funding foundation to the filmmaker and does not expect financial return to his own pocket due to the government budget, surely the filmmaker will act in a different way in distribution and distribution, and because his income and More colleagues are in a better mood and a fairer cycle starts. I hope that these general rules will be carefully revised. Certainly, these changes have effective effects on the motivations and goals of documentaries.
The director of “Lonely Room” said about the release of documentaries on existing platforms and how fruitful they can be for documentary cinema: Platforms are a very important field. But as I said earlier, platforms don’t take documentary seriously in their packages. If this is not the right view. In recent years, people have realized the importance and beauty of documentary films. Experience has shown that a good documentary film attracts people and this leads to the financial profit of the documentary film. But if we only want to post a few documentaries on a platform and that’s it, it will definitely not work. Every product needs proper advertising. If the audience gets to know a documentary film through the right introduction and enough advertising, the audience will definitely be that movie’s audience.
This documentary maker added: On the other hand, platforms should enter the documentary film production cycle; Documentaries that will be desired by their audience. The cost of producing a documentary collection with suitable storytelling criteria is much lower than fiction collections, and if a suitable advertising campaign is formed around that collection, it will definitely bring good financial returns. Documentary film is a money-making medium because it has no expiration date. You still need to see images from, say, 100 years ago. So, if the substrate is suitable, we can expect a good harvest.
The treasurer of the Association of Documentary Cinema Directors explained about the approach of this association to show films in different centers: one of the most important goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the work of the 16th Board of Directors of the Association of Documentary Cinema is to reach new definitions in the screening and distribution of documentary films. has been In this field, several working groups are supposed to start working seasonally. Of course, one or two of them are at the beginning of their work. Apart from the internal screenings of Cinema House, which is an almost 15-year-old tradition and was shown regularly every week before the spread of Corona, and it is going to start working again with the cooperation of Cinema House; We are planning to hold shows in private centers. The beauty of these shows is that they have an internal economic cycle and are protected by ticket sales and the share of the filmmaker. Another program that is going to take place in cooperation with the development center is to hold screenings of the films in the center’s archive. For example, many years ago, the Center for the Development of French Documentary Film Week and Dutch Documentary Film Week were held, and we are going to show those films again with a new arrangement. On the other hand, in the coming weeks, we will enter into a dialogue with several platforms, and if we achieve suitable results worthy of the dignity of our documentary colleagues, we will definitely announce it.
Hamraz said about the need to pay attention to and train new technologies and the programs of the Documentary Cinema Directors Association in this regard: To answer this question, we need to go a little deeper. We all know that the main raw material for making a documentary film is external concrete reality. This world of matter that surrounds us with all its dimensions. Matter has had various definitions in different ages, and with the advancement of science and the expansion of awareness and understanding of human brain function, the understanding of what matter is has also changed. For example, once upon a time, the smallest part of matter was considered a cell, with some progress it was discovered that the molecule is the smallest part of matter, and later we found out that the atom is the smallest part of matter, and in the latest discoveries, we noticed subatomic particles. So, with these definitions, we realize that our understanding of reality and its ingredients is changing, the reality that is the main tool of the documentary maker. Therefore, the definition and in today’s world, can’t computer and internet information be considered part of the ingredients of reality? Undoubtedly yes. Now, how can the documentary maker benefit from this new and invisible, but effective material in the process of a creative recording?
He added: Of course, the human brain does not currently have the ability to study and process this amount of information, although it has the capacity. So, knowing the human brain’s ability to learn and draw conclusions, new machines can be invented that, with deep training and under the supervision of an algorithm, turn this scattered information into a purposeful system. Exactly here is the meeting point of the documentation profession with the exciting science of the day. Artificial intelligence technology stands at the tip of the peak of these new possibilities. You can use artificial intelligence to organize information. You can code according to your needs to create an artificial intelligence system. What are the needs of a documentary? Researching and understanding the specific subject, gathering sources, analyzing and extracting results, creating connections between obtained documents, creatively cultivating information and finally transforming it into a visual and structured form. I think that it is possible to predict, design and implement all the needs of a documentary maker in an artificial intelligence; So that it becomes one of our main partners in the implementation of our projects. This system can be used to convert a still photo into a moving movie. It is possible to reach new forms in the narrative. And a world of other new possibilities.
In the end, Ali Hamraz said about whether this issue is a threat or not: Certainly every opportunity has a threat hidden in its heart and vice versa. But currently artificial intelligence technology lacks some important human principles. One of them is natural and instinctive intelligence and the other is lack of human feelings and emotions; An influential element in the creative work process. Artificial intelligence is still artificial and does not have human intuition. The intuition that suddenly boils inside us in the face of reality and has a serious impact on the process of creating a work. But in the end and currently, in my opinion, the advantages of artificial intelligence are more than its disadvantages; And the sooner we enter this field and don’t have prejudiced resistance against it, we can expect to see different documentaries.
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