Shirari Industries :: Work :: Articles About Media and Social Change on MediaRights.org

In addition to editing the Shortlist series on MediaRights.org, which features the film picks of Albert Maysles, bell hooks, Stanley Nelson and others, Shira has written articles for the site on the topics of documentary outreach, gaming, media reform, and technology.

Drawing Truth: Animation in Documentary »
published March 17th, 2008
Excerpt: When Richard Linklater's philosophical exploration Waking Life came out in 2001, animation was still largely considered to be "kid stuff" by American audiences. Aside from anime enthusiasts who had long-known the power and potential of the medium, viewers weren't used to the idea that an animated feature could make them think and perhaps even shed light on historical events and contemporary struggles for social justice. But the tide is changing. Marjane Satrapi's 2007 animated feature Persepolis provides a much-needed glimpse into Iranian life and culture, and has been embraced by audiences and critics around the country, suggesting that the time for serious animation is here. This shift comes just in time for the release of Brett Morgan's Chicago 10, opening in theatres around the country this week, which melds animation and archival footage to tell the story of resistance and repression surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Morgan is not the first documentarian to use the technique in recent years...But Chicago 10 takes the integration of animation into documentary to a new level, which begs the question: if documentary is a reality-based medium, one which seeks to present some version of "truth," how does the highly-creative art form of animation fit in?

Change-a-lujah! A Conversation with What Would Jesus Buy? Filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Rob VanAlkemade »
published December 20th, 2007
Excerpt: I got my first glimpse of the impending "Shopocalypse" a few years ago when I joined Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping in Times Square on Buy Nothing Day. Referred to by the unconverted as Black Friday, it's the day when Americans flood the malls to spend vast amounts of money on holiday gifts. It's also the day that many people sink deeper into debt, buying things that their loved ones don't really need at great economic, environmental and social cost. Surrounded by the lights and crowds, I lent my voice to a chorus of "Change-a-lujahs" as Reverend Billy attempted to exorcize the demons out of a Starbucks cash register and was then arrested.

Magnetic Baby, the "Video Podcast Docu-Series" »
published September 18th, 2007
Excerpt: Vodcasting, like podcasting and on-demand television, is the latest in a trend of instant gratification delivery methods that enable audiences to decide what they want to watch and when. And in the case of Magnetic Baby, vodcasting provides instant gratification for the filmmakers as well, or as close as you can come to it in the world of documentary filmmaking, where a feature-length film can easily be three years in the making from the beginning of production to the first time it is watched by an audience.

Games for Change: Serious Fun»
published July 21st, 2006
Excerpt: It seems then that the video game, with its combination of storytelling and interactivity, might be a medium tailor-made for social change. At once participatory and addictive, a good game demands engagement and action -- at least as long as the joystick is in the player's hand. But what happens when the computer/game system is powered down? The question that stands before the "Games for Change" movement is whether gamers can be motivated to go out and change the world when they are done playing.

The Corporation: Marketing Documentary to the Masses»
published August 25th, 2004
Excerpt: As documentaries become increasingly viable in the mainstream movie market, corporate techniques such as consistent branding are one of the distinguishing factors in whether or not your film is a box office success. And the more people who see your film, the greater the potential impact. Whereas the end goal of corporate marketing is to create addicted consumers, a notion that is elucidated in the film, the goal with marketing a social-issue documentary is to educate and mobilize the public to take action. As Dodds explains, "Our approach is to use the tools of corporate marketing to empower rather than to manipulate."