I'm the vice-chair of DOC Quebec, and actually the chair of the lobby committee for the national board of DOC as well.
The types of documentaries we're talking about here today are point-of-view documentaries. That is the majority of the types of films our members make. These films present a strong point of view of the filmmaker or someone appearing in the film. They're not journalism. They're not always balanced films, but they're always creative. They're driven by passions. They're often entertaining, and they're usually provocative. They play in festivals around the world, on television screens, and when we're lucky they get into theatres, which is somewhere they need to be more often.
Canadian POV documentaries present a vision of Canada, not only to Canadians but to the whole world. They give voice to a unique Canadian perspective, to important urgent social issues, such as war, politics, the environment, human rights, and more. There is a tremendous hunger that is growing for these types of films. As an example, Hot Docs has just had a 33% increase in its audience this past April.
Some examples of these types of documentaries areThe Corporation, Roger Toupin, Shake Hands with the Devil, Manufactured Landscapes, and the recent Quebec hit and Jutra winner, À force de rêves . I can go on and on. The list is long.
These films shape our national identity and they export our unique Canadian perspective to the world. They are films that can't be made by in-house production by Canadian broadcasters, whether they're public or private. These types of films can only be made by the independent production community.