Film and development a study of the documentary when the last fish is caught part 1 and 2

Abstract

The idea of development has been heavily contested by various scholars and schools of thought; but equally problematic is how development issues have been communicated. Film (documentaries) has been identified as one of the effective ways of communicating development. The study assessed the effectiveness of using documentaries to convey critical messages about development. It investigated the power of documentaries in creating and raising awareness, fostering community engagement, and influencing policy changes, among others in the development process through multi-dimensional analysis. The study was qualitative and employed the qualitative content analysis design to analyse the documentary When the Last Fish is Caught – Part 1 and 2. Herzberg’s two-way motivational theory and Rosteck and Frentz’s model for interpreting documentaries were used as the theoretical frameworks of the study. It also probed into how the documentary was used as a communication tool to bring remedy to an existing problem (illegal fishing). Findings showed that the dominant issues raised in the documentary included illegal fishing, stakeholder interventions, negative effects on livelihoods, and access to fishing logistics. And these issues also border on development concepts such as those relating to interventionism, communal ownership, and advocacy, among others. The study further showed that motivation can stem from an individual perspective to a group interest, and this notion reinforces Herzberg’s two-way motivational theory. The study concludes that films (documentaries) are powerful avenues for creating awareness about development initiatives, influencing and reinforcing ideas about development issues. Also, owing to that, films, in any form have the power to inform or reinforce and change people’s perception about a phenomenon.