Dissecting one of the most influential platforms of the contemporary social media landscape, TikTok, Boom. examines the algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural influences and impact of the history-making app. This rigorous exploration balances a genuine interest in the TikTok community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism around the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform. A cast of Gen Z subjects, helmed by influencer Feroza Aziz, remains at its center, making this one of the most needed and empathetic films exploring what it means to be a digital native.
From Local to Social (2024)
Using local media footage from the London Borough of Southwark spanning the past 20 years, this documentary discusses complex social issues including gang violence, knife crime, and mental and sexual health.
#followme (2019)
Reporter Nicolaas Veul decides to set up his first Instagram account and accumulate as many followers as possible. Over time, he becomes more interested in the social network's inner workings and uncovers a well-oiled machine based on fraud. While users enthusiastically give likes to selfies, a brisk business with user accounts is underway behind the scenes. There are huge numbers of fake profiles, and internet bots are producing new followers for those who want to feel more successful. Can anything on Instagram be believed?
Plugged in (2019)
Plugged In explores how social media and smart phone usage has an effect on our younger generations, those who are now born into a world technologically ready and know nothing else - and how hard it is to remove this element from their lives in these modern times. It looks into the design of social media being a purposeful tool used to keep people hooked in, taken away from face to face reactions and how the attitudes towards people through these mediums have become darker.
Instagram Is (2013)
In a culture immersed in technology, Instagram is reviving adventure, face to face community and real relationships. Through sharing the stories of friends old and new, "Instagram Is" sets out to discover the answer to the question "How can something so digital get people out from behind their devices and into the analog world?"
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
Using raw, firsthand footage, this documentary examines the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children, and the terrible events that followed.
David Baddiel Social Media, Anger and Us (2021)
This is a thoughtful and mature documentary that considers whether online rage has real-world consequences. Baddiel has experienced antisemitic abuse on Twitter, where he has 785,000 followers. He has had brushes with what is called “cancel culture” and “callout culture”, when users have criticised his use of blackface on TV in the 1990s, for which he has apologised. He is also a self-confessed social media addict – by which he really means Twitter, his primary focus here – and self-aware enough to admit that while he feels he needs it to promote his work, he also understands that he has a psychological need for an audience, and by extension, for audience approval.
Untappd: The Drinkumentary (2020)
Untappd: The Drinkumentary, a documentary that tells the tale of the launch, growth, and success of building a community of beer lovers on the platform over the last 10 years. The documentary shows life behind the scenes of Untappd, a small idea that turned into a community of close to 9 million users strong. The film features interviews with Founder Greg Avola, his family and close friends, and key players in the growth of Untappd.
Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover (2023)
Compulsive Twitterer, Elon Musk bought himself his favorite social network in 2022, and brutally shaped it according to his desires. This punchy investigation relates the stormy relations between the platform and the billionaire, and their impact on the public debate.
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now some victims plan for payback.
What remains (2022)
A reflection about memory, the digital world and the files that we generate daily through the audiovisual gallery of a mobile phone
You Can’t Watch This (2019)
Peer through the lens of a high profile political dissident, banished from the online world. After introducing the viewer to each of the five characters, the film recounts how each individual then came to lose their access to social media and the affect it had on them at the time, and since the event. With their stories told, they present the broader issues raised by their media de-platforming and what they foresee in their future in media and the whole of Western Culture at-large.
The Perfect Selfie (2017)
Teenager Olivia Oras has 20,000 Instagram followers. The documentary follows a year of her life.
The Meaning of Vanlife (2019)
The Meaning of Vanlife is an adventurous, revealing look into the Vanlife community through the eyes of nomads who have chosen to live a life of freedom on the road. A movement that exemplifies a deeper societal trend towards minimalism and authentic community building.
Murder on the Social Network (NaN)
Using real cases, this documentary demonstrates the extent to which violent criminals can use social media to locate and manipulate victims.