SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH STORYTELLING In the 1980s, the Government of North Korea made a film about Koreans living in Japan called the “Anti-Japanese Struggle” to show the dilapidated way in which the North Koreans staying in Japan lived. They did this film for propaganda sake and to create awareness that anywhere outside of North Korea is bad to live in. But something went wrong. The propaganda did not hold water as it opened the eyes of the people to the luxury in which North Koreans living in Japan were enjoying. It took a lot of control for the Government to put down a rebellion that was already brewing. Also, in the West African Country of Nigeria, lots of documentary was aired by the Government of Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan to buttress a point. He wanted to show Nigerians how electing a former Army General, Muhammadu Buhari, would be a bad choice. Things that took place in the year 1983-1984 when the General held power after a bloodless coup showed the level of decadence there was then. But Nigerians still went ahead to vote in the Government of Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections. In both of the above cases, while one of the former of the film was made to suppress the people, the latter was made to throw more light on the choice the people were about to make. Unfortunately, both films failed to make the impact with which they were created. The cinematography of the 1983 film, The Anti-Japanese Struggle, was well orchestrated but since it was partly shot in Japan, it showed buildings, freedom and technologies that the North Koreans could only dream of. It showed a land where the future of them and their children was assured. Even though the film contained solemn music and the narrator tried a hundred times to cast aspersion on the Government of Japan, it only stemmed the already burning flame yearning for freedom. The Nigerian documentary followed the same trend; solemn music, message that pointed out what had transpired almost two decades ago and the voice of the narrator repeating the same question, “Can a dictator ever become a democrat?” I used the above documentary amongst the long list of documentary I have watched to point out one thing, even though social change can be achieved using documentaries, sometimes the target audience could be yearning for something else. Even though the impact of documentary on social change cannot be totally overruled as it had brought changes in the Governments of some countries, opened the eyes of everyone to climate change and is also currently being used to help prevent some endangered species of animals from going into full extinction, I am of the opinion that apart from airing just documentaries with captivating pictures, videos and music with solemn tunes, documentaries should be free of negative propagandas. It should be aired as it is and nothing that isn’t should be infused into it. Documentaries is a form of journalism and like other forms of journalism, it shouldn’t just be put together. Adequate work needs to be done to get the story behind the documentary as in the films, Deadly Fashion and Cooked: Episode 2, “Water”.