Whether you see them as visionaries or crackpots, the single-minded pursuit of a goal by focused individuals has to inspire admiration. These ten documentaries mix stories of causes or ideas with portraits of the individuals or groups of people behind them; people with the kind of commitment that can inspire or exhaust depending on one’s viewing mood.

Quite a few of the below films have Academy Award wins or nominations, showing our appetite for inspiring stories of human endeavour.

A couple of disclaimers: docos of this persuasion aren’t known for their self-examination or presentation of alternate viewpoints, but that’s generally not the point - the story and message are found in the subject’s commitment to a cause, not the pros and cons of said cause. Head to Google if you want more points of view on an issue. Secondly, there are very few women in the films on this list - not from a lack of driven women, but from their lower visibility over time. Hopefully there will be more gender balance in this theme in the future.

For a rundown of all the cool things happening in non-fiction transmedia right now, check out the recipients of the inaugural Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund. Launched earlier this year, the fund called for transmedia projects “that activate audiences around issues of contemporary social justice and equality around the world.”

We might be watching enviously as the US forges ahead with online viewing in the form of Hulu and similar platforms, but online and multi-platform distribution in Australia, and particularly for docos, has been building momentum. Last Wednesday night in Sydney, OzDox managed to gather a range of speakers all with some involvement in online distribution, and I was surprised to discover the Australian landscape already has a variety of players.

For a rundown of all the cool things happening in non-fiction transmedia right now, check out the recipients of the inaugural Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund. Launched earlier this year, the fund called for transmedia projects “that activate audiences around issues of contemporary social justice and equality around the world.”

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Occupy Wall Street protests, watching the Twitter updates and sifting through a few articles. YouTube also provides the odd bit of insight; this cute kid dancing provides a sweet reminder of what it’s all for, and this is a suitably energising video of Slavoj Zizek also reminding protesters of why they’re there (although the transcript is a bit quicker).

After five hectic days, the Antenna International Documentary Film Festival wrapped up last night with the announcement of the winners in each category. The SBS Award for Best International Documentary went to Into Eternity by Michael Madsen, a haunting but precise meditation on the future of nuclear waste.

The finalists for the inaugural Documentary Walkley Award were announced yesterday afternoon in the first of two sessions running as part of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival. The three finalists culled from a long-list of six are The Tall Man by Darren Dale, Tony Krawitz and Chloe Hooper, Go Back to Where You Came From by Rick McPhee for SBS, and Scarlet Road by Catherine Scott and Pat Fiske. All three programs were commissioned by SBS.

The international guests have arrived, the wine is chilling, the projector is warming up and the organising team is trying to squeeze in a few last minutes of sleep, all in preparation for the opening night of Antenna International Documentary Film Festival on Wednesday.