Why do we do it? (the George Orwell manifesto)

In 1946, only a few years before writing the great classic 1984, George Orwell penned his manifesto, Why I write. Aside from the need to earn a living, he summarised his four basic motivations as follows:

1. sheer egoism – to be remembered after death, to prove himself to others
2. aesthetic enthusiasm – the joy of the art-form and his desire to share it
3. historical impulse – to record facts and store them for posterity
4. political purpose – in the widest possible sense…

Political purpose he defined as the desire to push the world in a certain direction – to alter peoples' idea of the kind of society they should strive after. While the different motivations drove him to varying degrees at different times, it was the fourth which he held to be the most important for writing.

The sentiments Orwell spoke of could equally apply to “why I make films”, or even more broadly, “why I create”.
Why DO we create films, when they take up so much time, effort and money?
Why DO we create any original work of art, when the daunting reality of the vast world-wide ocean of talent often makes our efforts feel like tiny droplets?

Why?
The reasons are much bigger than politics; more profound than a desire to change the world. Something spiritual, I believe, is going on. I’m sure Orwell would agree, as he concluded in his manifesto:

All writers are vain, lazy and selfish, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book (and making a film) is an awful struggle, like a long bout of some serious illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.

Why do YOU create?

Here's an offering from 'Nick'. Thanks Nick: a little film about making films