Reviving an old alliance with Latin American crowdfunding platform Idea.me, we are supporting a campaign to help fund independent documentary filmmakers from around Latin America get to Buenos Aires to pitch their social justice films to potential partners.
Good Pitch is an event that aims to encourage the use of film as an innovative tool in the promotion of social justice. It does this by finding allies for documentaries, and during a live event, getting them to commit to a partnership with the film, so that together they build campaigns to help bring about positive changes.
Good Pitch was conceived in 2008 in response to the crisis in funding for independent cinema – and, above all – documentaries. Founders the BritDoc Foundation allied with Sundance Documentary Film Institute to try to find a way to make social justice documentaries go further, building partnerships with those from outside of the film industry who worked in issues related to the core subject of the documentary. Such partners would help the filmmakers to build a social justice campaign around the film’s release, helping it obtain a broader reach and social impact. The model has been hugely successful: two of the finalists for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards – and indeed the winning film, Citizen Four – were veterans of global Good Pitch events.
Good Pitch² Argentina is the only Good Pitch event in Latin America, as well as the only event in Spanish, and is a real opportunity for independent documentary filmmakers from around the continent to ensure their films go beyond a one-off arthouse cinema screening.
For the 2015 edition, four documentaries which touch on themes of social justice have been chosen, and the filmmakers are coming to Buenos Aires to attend workshops with consultants from Sundance and BritDoc before meeting potential partners from the world of NGOs, foundations, investors, distributors, broadcasters, and festivals in a live event on 13th April.
However, as an independently-produced satellite event, the hosts of Good Pitch² Argentina have launched an Idea.me campaign to help fund the costs of travel for the filmmakers, thus ensuring they get here and be heard, and get the resources they need to promote some of the region’s most important social justice and human rights issues.
The Good Pitch² Argentina 2015 finalists are:
Sumercé (Colombia) – Mining and natural resources
Sumercé follows the stories of four Colombian campesinos of different generations on the frontline of the struggle against mining, which is endangering the biodiversity of the unique paramo Andean ecosystems and the existence of thousands of rural communities located in areas where mining corporations want to operate. Many of those resisting the advance of the mines have been killed.
Quipu (Peru) – Gender and forced sterilisations
Quipu tells the story of Esperanza, who is fighting for justice after being sterilised against her wishes 16 years ago. Esperanza is just one of 300,000 women and 20,000 men who were sterilised during the 1995-2000 Fujimori government, as part of a government policy that was promoted aggressively in rural, impoverished, and indigenous communities. After extensive investigations by Amnesty International, it is now well known that many women were coerced into the procedure or did not give consent.
Grown Ups (Chile) – Disability and social integration
Grown Ups follows a group of adults aged between 40 and 50 who have Downs Syndrome. Many of them have never lived independently, and as their parents grow old and infirm, they decide they are tired of being treated like children.
Nueva Venecia (Colombia) – Community resistance
Nueva Venecia is a fishing community based in the middle of Colombia’s biggest lake, which bears the scars of the country’s internal conflict. But residents find an outlet through their shared passion for football, and work tirelessly to prevent the pitch – and their community – from being swallowed up by the surrounding water.
Previous success: Good Pitch² Argentina 2013
The first Good Pitch in Latin America took place in Buenos Aires in August 2013, within the framework of the 15th International Human Rights Film Festival, run by DerHumALC. Four projects were selected and each filmmaking team took their documentary to the next level. The results of Good Pitch² Argentina 2013 have shown that, while these alliances between film and the traditional social justice sector are not yet the norm in Latin America, they have the power to bring about real change.
Of the experience, Marco Cartolano, producer of ‘9.70′ said: “Good Pitch was without doubt a milestone that has marked my future, both professionally and personally. Thanks to a recommendation by Good Pitch, our trailer was seen by over 600,000 people in three weeks, and we managed to change the legislation that we had denounced in the documentary.”
The 2015 edition of Good Pitch² Argentina will take place on 13th April at Teatro Picadero, where the teams will pitch their films to a round table of 8-10 potential partners and a handpicked audience of 200.
Help these independent filmmakers get to Buenos Aires and participate in this extraordinary event by donating to their Idea.me campaign (also available in Spanish)
Disclaimer: Kristie Robinson, editor at The Argentina Independent, is also Good Pitch² Argentina’s Outreach Director.
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