Doc Society (formerly Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and BRITDOC Foundation) is a

social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

organisation created in 2005. They have supported the production of over 60 films that have won awards .

Development

Initially supported by UK broadcaster

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

to support British documentaries declined by broadcast commissioners, the BRITDOC Foundation has grown to receive further funding from

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s, brands and foundations such as PUMA.Creative and the Bertha Foundation to invest in the support of documentary film. The Foundation also works in other areas of film funding by creating the pitching forum 'Good Pitch' and popular film torrent site

VODO VODO was an online media distributor offering films, books, games and music under pay-what-you-want pricing models. Founded by film director Jamie King, VODO has recently focused on bundle offers, bringing together a variety of creators under t ...

. Their mission is to support international

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

from production to distribution to outreach. The Foundation is headed by three directors: Jess Search, Beadie Finzi and Maxyne Franklin.

Documentary titles

Documentary titles the Foundation has supported include ''The Bengali Detective'' by Phillip Cox, ''

Hell and Back Again ''Hell and Back Again'' is a 2011 documentary film produced, shot, and directed by Danfung Dennis, about a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who returns from the Afghanistan conflict with a badly broken leg and post-traumatic stress diso ...

'' by

Danfung Dennis Danfung Dennis is a still photographer and documentary film maker. He graduated from the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. His images have been published in ''Newsweek'', ''Time'', ''The New York Times'', ''The Washin ...

, ''Self Made'' by

Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. H ...

, '' The Yes Men Fix the World'' by

Mike Bonanno Igor Vamos (born April 15, 1968) is a member of The Yes Men (using the alias Michael "Mike" Bonanno), and an associate professor of media arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2000, he received the Creative Capital award in the disciplin ...

Andy Bichlbaum Jacques Servin (also known by the pseudonym Andy Bichlbaum; born 1963) is an American media artist and activist. He is one of the leading members of The Yes Men, a culture jamming activist group. Their exploits in "identity correction" are docum ...

& Kurt Engfehr, '' Erasing David'' by filmmaker David Bond (d.)

Ashley Jones Ashley Aubra Jones (born September 3, 1976) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in soap operas as Megan Dennison on ''The Young and the Restless'' and as Bridget Forrester on ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. She also portrayed t ...

(p.), '' Sounds Like Teen Spirit: a Popumentary'' by Jamie Jay Johnson, '' Moving to Mars'' by Mat Whitecross (d.) and Karen Katz (p.), ''The End of the Line'' by

Rupert Murray Rupert Murray (born 28 May 1969) is a film director working in London. Murray began by making television documentaries for Channel Four's Cutting Edge series including Playing For England and Seconds To Impact (cameraman and editor), and short films ...

, ''The Solitary life of Cranes'' by Eva Weber, ''

Afghan Star ''Afghan Star'' was a reality television show competition that searched for the most talented singers across Afghanistan. The program was broadcast on the TOLO channel. ''Afghan Star'' premiered in 2005, four years after the fall of the Taliba ...

'' by

Havana Marking Havana Marking is a British producer and director of documentary films. She is known for her first feature documentary in 2009 ''Afghan Star (film), Afghan Star''. This film won Best Director and the Audience Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Fest ...

, ''

We Are Together ''We Are Together'' (Thina Simunye) is a British documentary film about the orphanage "Agape" in South Africa. Children, who live here, lost their parents to AIDS. The film is full of songs, both native and English. Eventually the children get a ...

'' Paul Taylor (d.) and Teddy Leifer (p.) and '' Here's Johnny'' by Adam Lavis, Kat Mansoor and Will Hood. As a result of the long-term partnership initiated in 2010 between BRITDOC Foundation and PUMA.Creative, a growing number of international films concerned with the themes of

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

and environmental issues have received funding and support. The following films were winners of the PUMA.Creative Catalyst Award: ''Speed Sisters'' by Geoffrey Smith, ''DRAGONSLAYER'' by Tristan Patterson, ''Teenage'' by Matt Wolf, ''Charlie PELE'' by F. Simiyu Barasa, ''Shadow Girl'' by Maria Teresa Larrain, ''Beyond the Wave'' by Kyoko Miyake, ''I, Afrikaner'' by Annalet Steenkamp, ''Femme à la Camera'' by Karima Zoubir. PUMA.Creative Mobility Award winners: '' Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry'' by Alison Klayman, ''Fish Fight Europe'' by William Anderson, ''Who is Dayani Cristal?'' by Marc Silver, '' A Small Act'' by

Jennifer Arnold ''The Little Couple'' is an American reality television series on TLC that debuted May 26, 2009. The series features Bill Klein, a businessman, and Dr. Jennifer Arnold, a neonatologist, who both have skeletal dysplasia. Arnold is and Klein tall ...

, ''Turkey Creek'' by Leah Mahan, '' The Island President'' by Jon Shenk, ''

Ping Pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players ...

'' by Hugh Hartford, ''25 to Life'' by Mike Brown, ''Moving to Mars'' by Matt Whitecross (this film provided the inspiration for the song " Moving to Mars" by

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

Good Pitch

''Good Pitch'' is a documentary pitching platform established at the BRITDOC Film Festival in 2008. It is a partnership between The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and The

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

Documentary Film Program. The international platform brings together filmmakers with NGOs, foundations, philanthropists, brands and media around leading social issues – to forge coalitions and campaigns for the benefit of all parties. To date, more than 90 documentary projects have been presented at Good Pitch events in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. In that time more than 1,500 organisations have attended. Additionally in 2011, BRITDOC Foundation launched a satellite version of the forum, called Good Pitch² (Good Pitch Squared). With the same mission as their flagship events – to 'connect good films to good people'. The first Good Pitch² was held by the People to People (P2P) International Documentary Conference in Johannesburg on 13 September 2011. Good Pitch² events have been hosted in India, Argentina, Taiwan, Australia with events scheduled for Kenya and Southeast Asia. Recently the Bertha Foundation has partnered with the BRITDOC Foundation to launch two new funds for documentary feature films totalling £1.5 million over three years. The funds are available for journalism documentaries and documentary outreach campaigns.

References

External links

* https://docsociety.org * {{imdb name, 1267002 (entry for Jess Search) Television festivals Documentary film festivals in the United Kingdom Documentary film organizations Film festivals in England 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2005 Social enterprises Film organisations in the United Kingdom