Video documentary students from Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication screened their three documentaries in the River Building on Jan. 16 to a panel of judges.
The night started off with Dropzone, a film by Jess Cook, Julien Gignac, Mark Gorokhovski, and Sam Fellows.
Dropzone follows 53-year-old Gary Watson, a veteran bicycle messenger in Ottawa who seems to be practicing a dying trade.
“I came across the story on Reddit. Gary turned out to be a hidden gem and local legend within the courier industry. It’s a story that needs to be told,” Gorokhovski said.
The fourth-year undergraduate journalism students were able to enrol in the course since it was under-registered.
The jurors praised the film on its camerawork, but critiqued its lack of story elements.
Following Dropzone was the quasi-feminist film Shine, by Ariana Armstrong, Diana Matthews, Kiran Rana, and Paige Parsons. Shine told the story of Cher Richardson, an aspiring burlesque dancer in Ottawa, which according to the film, many deem to be mostly conservative and government-focused.
“I think there’s tremendous value in [showing this kind of documentary]. It’s a snapshot into a life we don’t often get to see portrayed in Ottawa. There’s a lot of art here. These people are getting up on stage and being fearless and that’s always something worth watching,” Matthews said.
Jurors loved the opening of the documentary but wished the group had used some more wide-angle shots.
The final documentary, Secret War, by Shannon Lough, Sara Turnbull, Fangliang Xu, and Emanuela Campanella followed the story of two veterans searching for peace after returning home from the war in Afghanistan.
“Asking someone to talk about their therapy is often unrealistic. Mental illness is something that isn’t talked about inside of the military or outside of it,” Lough said. “All of these people wanted to participate and share their story so we were very lucky in that sense.”
The documentary touched upon the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and described the War Horse Program, in which veterans seek treatment by interacting and forming a bond with horses.
“I hadn’t noticed, but you have to be really conscious of what you were feeling around the horses. You have to be very calm and you can see how the therapy worked, since the horses were so sensitive to your emotions,” Lough said.
The jury crowned Secret War best documentary of the night, and said while the narrative could have been tighter, the score was fantastic.
“When you see the quality of this work you can see that these students are very capable of professional and successful careers,” said Paul Adams, an associate professor at Carleton and organizer of the event.
“What was striking about these documentaries was that they were about parts of our city and world that we don’t know about,” Adams added. “Each of the groups found stories that were interesting, remarkable, and unique and those are exactly the things that make a great documentary.”
