DocuClub
sasherm
If you’re reading this blog you probably know about DocuClub, one of the many inspiring community-engagement-meets-artistic-rabble-rousing Arts Engine programs. But if you’ve happened upon Engine Feed, and haven’t yet attended a DocuClub (or made it onto the DocuClub email list), I’ll give you a brief run down: DocuClub features rough cuts of short and feature length documentaries once a month in a screening followed by a moderated audience discussion. These events are designed to provide the filmmaker with constructive feedback that will help him or her create the best final product possible. Some docs need only tweaks to catapult them down the home stretch, and some need a larger discussion that will begin to give shape to a finish line. While I’m ashamed to say that I have not been a regular attendee at these events, the DocuClubs I have gone to have been enjoyable, effective, and certainly worthy of a little reflective discussion of their own.
showed at DocuClub in January, 2010
DocuClub is a gift to those it is primarily meant to serve: the filmmakers seeking a little help from a fresh sets of eyes. The filmmaker is able to identify questions he or she wants answered, which the moderator uses at points to guide the discussion. And, for the most part, actual productive discussion maintains a steady boil. Of course it can be difficult for the filmmaker (the best gifts often are), as they are sometimes pummeled with criticism they don’t want but know on some level is based on real shortcomings. These moments are most obvious when the filmmaker makes the mistake of saying something like “this one’s almost done.” An engaged, opinionated audience—many of them artists themselves—may take this as a challenge.
This audience is central to the success of the event. DocuClub brings together a group of artistic peers (other filmmakers and documentary enthusiasts) to give their feedback. The people that come out to 92Y TriBeCa on a freezing Thursday night to weigh in on short docs in progress are the people that will ultimately matter. Their help in shaping the final product is invaluable. And, like in any workshop setting, the moderator is also extremely important and deserves special attention. There are the audience members that talk too much, those who repeat what has already been said (by themselves or others), those who violate the safety of the space (redder in the face and louder than they ought to be—you know the ones), and of course, the time limit. This month, Angela Tucker did a remarkable job of staying on task. She let insightful comments land, moved quickly away from more incendiary ones with less practical advice, posed new questions to the crowd—however unnatural the segue—and shelved most of her own feedback. Moderating strikes me as a particularly hard job at DocuClub, where an engaged audience of peers tackles a truth-seeking medium that always ignites strong opinions.
showed at DocuClub in January, 2010
Alliances across rows are made with a quick glance or an echoed comment. Big ideas are brought to bear at remarkable speed. And, it seems to me, the safety of the space never remains wholly intact. After all, what do you expect from documentaries that grapple with race, identity, culture, and difference, and whose creators are still open to suggestions. And that’s ok. DocuClub is energetic, helpful, and requires serious bravery from the artist. As it continues to make improvements, with new components like feedback forms for those who didn’t speak, and as the audience keeps a’comin’, DocuClub promises to become even more of a fixture, resource and plain old good time than it already is. Usually DocuClub is on Wednesdays and shows at either 92Y TriBeCa or DCTV.
