Documentary filmmaking and ethics: the filmed vs. the film

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Abstract

My paper will argue that filmmakers’ experiences challenge the dominant discourse on documentary filmmaking ethics with its focus on the wellbeing of the participant. Scholars have predominantly addressed ethics with respect to the question how to treat the participant and not harm her/him. In doing so, they have neglected the filmmaker’s position in the production process and her/his commitment to making a good film.

Documentary filmmakers invariably encounter moral issues in their work: pushing participants who are less talkative than hoped for, using painful scenes which give the film an extra dimension, facing participants with their own plans for the film, etc. Traditionally, the discourse on documentary film and ethics focuses on the interests of participants and on truth-telling. And although scholars mention some considerations with respect to filmmakers’ responsibilities toward the audience and toward their peers, as filmmakers upholding their profession, considerations concerning filmmakers’ responsibilities toward their participants dominate the debate. What has been lacking though is empirical research investigating the way in which scholars’ considerations and recommendations relate to the realities of documentary filmmaking. What issues do filmmakers experience, what choices do they make and how can this inform an ethics of documentary filmmaking?

Through a survey I have investigated the experiences of an international group of documentary filmmakers with a variety if moral issues with respect to a participant (such as disclosure, representation and information) and with solutions to such issues (such as paying a participant, working in collaboration, and searching for an alternative). All such notions I derived from literature analysis and interviews with Dutch documentary filmmakers.
Understanding ethics as principles that guide decisions about the right action rather than the rightness or wrongness of individual actions, I focused on the question how moral issues and solutions are related. What patterns are visible in filmmakers’ experiences?

Exploratory factor analyses of the data show patterns that express both harmony and conflict, though the former just represented by one factor and the latter by various factors. Higher order factor analyses result in a model which represents both solution and conflict around an unwilling participant.

Filmmakers however mainly experienced mutual and continuous communication in which they themselves take the position of a professional, explaining what they want and informing the participant, getting done what is needed for the film, and solving disclosure issues. Issues reflecting concern about the wellbeing of the participant, such as truth, respect for privacy, and care play an individual role, with high mean scores. But they do not play a role in the patterns governing the filmmaker-participant relationship. The results give reason to reconsider the central role of the wellbeing of the participant and to properly include the commitment of filmmakers to their film in documentary filmmaking ethics.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages9
Publication statusPublished - 20 Jul 2010
EventInternational Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 2010 (Braga) -
Duration: 1 Jan 2010 → …

Seminar

SeminarInternational Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 2010 (Braga)
Period1/01/10 → …

Keywords

  • documentary
  • ethics

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