Documentary filmmaking and ethics. Concepts, responsibilities and the need for empirical research

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In the discourse on documentary filmmaking and ethics, scholars focus on the filmmaker–filmed relationship and relate many concepts to morality in documentary filmmaking. They additionally mention circumstances that may be relevant and they identify insufficiently meaningful solutions to such moral issues. However, they fail to reflect on ethical theories and how these inform filmmakers’ ideas about the right thing to do. In this article I discuss the discourse and how it can serve to further develop the debate on the ethics of documentary filmmaking. I propose to include empirical data about filmmakers’ experiences and opinions to help us understand what ethics truly inform documentary filmmaking.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)528-553
Number of pages26
JournalMass Communication and Society (print)
Volume13
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • documentary
  • ethics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Documentary filmmaking and ethics. Concepts, responsibilities and the need for empirical research'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this