• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Smart Domestic

True Stories of Semi-Competent Adults

  • Features
  • Real Talk
  • Decisions
  • Manifesto
  • About

How to start a documentary club

February 16, 2017 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Email this to someone
email

 

Logo for We've Got Issues Doc Club

My friend Katie is inspired by the rich storytelling and social impact of great documentary films. But after watching them, she felt lost about how to make meaningful changes in her life. So she’s created an in-person and online club to explore documentaries and enact life changes (or social actions). She explains how it all got started, what they’ve watched so far, and how anyone can get involved or create their own chapter.

By Katie Scarlett Brandt 

The first time I tried to watch the documentary Food, Inc., I made it 20 minutes before I had to turn it off. If I kept watching, I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I first built my own mini-farm in the backyard, hunted down non-genetically modified seeds, and vowed never to shop at a grocery store again. But it was 10 p.m. So instead, I turned off the documentary, and lulled myself to sleep with Seinfeld reruns.

Almost a decade later, I still haven’t gone back to Food, Inc. But I deeply believe that documentaries matter. They showcase real people and unique voices. Some delve into topics that you’d never think to explore on your own. Others make complicated issues digestible.

However, documentaries also can be intensely overwhelming if you’re someone who wants to see changes in the world. So a few months ago, I made a plan with my friend Sam, who also loves documentaries. We didn’t want to skip seeing important films out of fear of feeling too overwhelmed or depressed, and we wanted to talk about and process what we watched. Not only that, but given the political climate, we wanted to find ways to take action based on what these documentaries would show us.

We formed a club, We’ve Got Issues Doc Society, which meets every other month. Our goals: Watch a documentary. Discuss. Take action. To facilitate the post-screening discussions, we invite people who work in whatever area that month’s documentary focuses on. Our February screening was an environmental film; the discussion leaders we invited work in biodiesel, environmental activism, and composting.

As a complement to those talks, we develop a resource list of books and articles to read, podcasts to listen to, other films to watch, thought leaders to follow, and actions to take to affect change.

Our group is based in Chicago, but we share each month’s movie and resource list with people who have started chapters in other places: California, Colorado, and Virginia. For access to our screening list and resource guides, join our Facebook group or email me. We’ll also share the guides here on The Smart Domestic.

Here’s what we’ve watched so far:

  • 13th—Filmmaker Ava DuVernay looks at the history of racial inequality in the United States and how that history continues to play out in the form of mass incarceration. (See the resource and action list.)
  • Before the Flood—Leonardo DiCaprio takes us on a trip around the world to see how climate change and the fossil fuel industry are devastating the planet (See the resource and action list.)

If you’ve got suggestions for documentaries, resources, or action items, reach out via comment or on Facebook. The next screening will be in April.

Katie Scarlett Brandt is a writer, editor, and digital media strategist. She’s based in Chicago; you can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or her website. 

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Email this to someone
email

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: documentaries, documentary club, movies, Netflix, politics

Previous Post: « A briefcase and a breast pump: Traveling as a working mom
Next Post: Happy birthday to The Smart Domestic! »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Say hello!

  • Email
  • Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Three great podcasts for kids
  • Travel tips for breastfeeding moms
  • How to make an emergency kit
  • Recommendation: Take a quick trip
  • How to raise readers

Recent Comments

  • Suzanne on The problem with online mommy-groups
  • Ayelet on The problem with online mommy-groups
  • John on Decisions: I’m leaving hipster paradise for Midwest familiarity

Archives

  • April 2018
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016

Categories

  • Decisions
  • Features
  • Manifesto
  • Miscellany
  • Parenting
  • Quotes
  • Real Talk
  • Shortcuts

Copyright © 2021 · Leslie and Suzanne