Abbreviation | doc |
---|---|
Formation | 1983 |
Type | Professional society |
Purpose | DOC advocates for documentary filmmakers nationwide on issues that affect the industry, and offers professional development workshops and networking opportunities |
Headquarters | Toronto with seven chapters across the country |
Location |
|
Region served
|
Canada |
Official language
|
English, French |
Executive Director
|
Lisa Fitzgibbons |
Affiliations | Chapter organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec, Atlantic region |
Website | Documentary Organization of Canada |
The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) is a non-profit organization representing the interests of independent documentary filmmakers in Canada. Founded as the Canadian Independent Film Caucus (CIFC) in the 1980s, DOC is the collective voice of independent documentary filmmakers across Canada.
DOC advocates for documentary filmmakers nationwide on issues that affect the industry, and offers professional development workshops and networking opportunities. DOC founded the annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in 1995, and is the home of the national magazine, Point of View (POV).
As the Board Chair, John Christou said in 2009, "Being a documentary filmmaker is a privilege, not a right. If you want to create a documentary, you have to fight, scrape, beg, steal, sell, borrow and perform other innumerable unpleasant acts. But when it works, it's pure and wonderful."
The Documentary Organization of Canada is the collective voice of independent documentary filmmakers across Canada. It is a member driven organization dedicated to promoting, supporting and developing the art form of documentary filmmaking.
In 2008, DOC celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was founded by a dozen independent filmmakers who were invited and brought together by Cinema Canada magazine to a round table discussion of the film production scene. The following year, in 1983, a different group of filmmakers began meeting on their own in Toronto. These documentarians got together to discuss collective benefits (such as a dental plan), but it was a vital need for political representation and advocacy that inspired the group to create an organization of independent documentary filmmakers. They founded what would later be called the Canadian Independent Film Caucus (CIFC), which was subsequently incorporated as the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) in 2003.
Today, DOC has more than 875 members across the country with chapter organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec and the Atlantic region.
DOC actively advocates on behalf of documentary filmmakers to obtain representation in forums where decisions are made about the production and distribution of documentary films and videos. Specifically, DOC seeks to strengthen institutions, funders, broadcasters, distributors, co-ops, and exhibitors which contribute to the production of independent film and video in Canada. DOC also attempts to eliminate conflicts between different sources of funding for documentary film.