What does Spiderman have in common with activists of the Arab Spring? For Alex Dunnett, they are all Superheroes! But how do you tell a compelling story on ‘real’ heroes and make the audience care about the subject? As head of Production at Corniche Media this is a topic Alex often discusses with activist film makers – and now with us.
One of the reasons why superhero movies are so successful is that we can identify with the heroes. Often they are portrayed as average people, or even anti-heroes, which gained super powers in a moment of trauma. In comparison, activists plan their projects in very similar situations which is why Alex is inspired by applying the narrative structure of superhero movies to activist film making – a strategy which turned out very successful in the documentary film “We are the Giant”.
In his talk Alex Dunnett provides a look behind the scenes of activist film-making and points out different strategies of captivating story telling to make that one film that can change the world.
Alex Dunnett is the Head of Production at Corniche Media, who specialise in Film, TV and Theatre production. Alex has previously worked on movies such as ‘20,000 Days on Earth’, ‘Brahman Naman’ and ‘We Are The Giant’ and is currently working with Lord David Puttnam on the feature film ‘Arctic 30’.
