IMPACT PRODUCING REFERS TO THE WORK of developing and executing a formalized, strategic campaign to maximize the impact of a documentary. Like impact investing, the intention of which is to create measurable social and environmental change, impact producing has been around for decades, but in the past several years it has become more clearly defined as a practice and field of activity within Canadian documentary filmmaking. During that time, DOC has harnessed the resources and expertise of Canadian experts and agencies to create various reports and toolkits to help its membership learn from and keep pace with the art and practice of impact producing in larger hubs, such as the US and UK. Six years after the publication of DOC’s “Charting a Course for Impact Producing in Canada: Trends, Best Practices and Future Directions,” Canadian impact producers have weathered pandemic challenges and emerged resilient and eager to grow the sector while continuing to put community first.
TAHLTAN TALES
For two weeks in October, filmmaker and impact practitioner Tamo Campos travelled with a group of Tahltan youths and their elders down the watershed in the First Nation’s territory to screen in supporter communities. The film, which opened the 2022 Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival and has been in motion ever since, tells the story of the Tahltan matriarchs who led a 15-year resistance campaign to protect the Klabona Sacred Headwaters in northwest BC from industrial activity. After each screening, youths and elders engage audiences inphotos are posted, and impact is palpable.
