Manori Ravindran reporting for Real Screen;

The director spent the latter half of his keynote outlining a 13-point manifesto for filmmakers:

1) Don’t make a doc, make a movie. “The art is more important than the politics,” said Moore. “Because if I make a [crappy] movie, my politics won’t get through to anybody. The art has to come first.”

2) Don’t tell me anything I already know. “Give people something new they haven’t seen before,” said Moore. “With Roger & Me  I said there shouldn’t be one shot of an unemployment line. People are numb to those images.”

3) Don’t let your documentary resemble a college lecture. “We have to invent a different kind of model than the college lecture model,” said Moore.

4) Too many of your documentaries feel like medicine. “Don’t show a doc that’s going to kill [an audience's] evening,” said Moore.

5) The Left is boring. “It’s why we have a hard time convincing people to think about some of the things we’re concerned about,” said Moore. “The Left has lost its sense of humor and we need to be less worried.”

6) Why don’t we name names? “Why don’t we go after the corporations and name them by name?” asked Moore. “You will be sued. People will be mad at you. But so what?”

7) Make your films personal. “People want to hear your voice,” said Moore. “It’s what most docs stay away from, and most don’t like narration. But who’s saying this film?”

8) Point your camera at the cameras. Moore advised doc makers to challenge the mainstream media and film its coverage of various events.

9) Follow the examples of non-fiction books and television. “People love to watch [Jon] Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert,” he said. “Why don’t you try to make films that come from the same spirit? People just want the truth and they want to be entertained.”

10) Film only the people who disagree with you. The director said that while filming Roger & Me he tried to stay away from interviewing union workers to tell the story, since they were basically friends. Interviews with those who held contradictory opinions are harder to secure, but more interesting to audiences, said Moore.

11) Make sure you’re getting emotional when filming. “Are you getting mad when filming a scene? Are you crying?” asked Moore. “That’s evidence that the audience will respond that way, too… [You] are a stand-in for the audience.”

12) Less is more. “Edit, and make it shorter,” Moore advised, saying it’s okay to let audiences fill in the gaps. “People love that you trust they have a brain.”

13) Sound is more important than picture. “Sound carries the story,” said Moore. “Don’t cheat on the sound, and don’t be cheap with the sound.”

TIFF ’14: Michael Moore presents 13-point doc manifesto

I love a good Manifesto.

Tags: Documentary, Film, Manifestos