The Spaces Between Grassroots Documentary ... - Ezra Winton

consumer-over-citizen modeled (Mouffe, 2005) democratic world where antagonism and
division is “managed” by charters and legal systems.
Consideration of all these factors, along with the increased popularity of
documentary cinema in the world today, (Zimmermann, 2000; Druick, 2007; Profile
2007, 2007) leads this investigation to the exploration of documentary practices as
cultural interventions and d/e practices and spaces as worthy research areas.
The literature explored in this chapter illuminates interlocking and interrelated areas
between hegemony, publics and documentary practices. By complicating causal
relationships like audience choice equals diversity, the complex fragments of hegemony
and counter-hegemonic spaces become more clear. The “problem” of cinema diversity
and cultural hegemony in Canada is a multifaceted matrix of publics all seeking self-
interest, whether it is action carried out on behalf of corporate shareholders, elected
officials, or environmental activists.
Theorizing alternative media practices has seen some recent exciting turns, and
this thesis draws from approaches outlined in this chapter to introduce the neglected
aspects of grassroots documentary distribution and exhibition. By analyzing the
counterpublic spaces and practices around this genre, research can expose sites of
resistance, opposition, and community. Focusing on localized community-building
spaces that are defined by media, responding to media, and/or even using dominant
media tools, brings light to the dark corners of an industry that has seen most of the
attention go to the content on the screen and to the Hollywood “system.” Miller et al.
summarize:
Instead, we should acknowledge the policy, distributional, promotional
and exhibitionary prototocols of the screen at each site as much as their
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