The aggie will come first indeed. A survey on documentary filmmakers dealing with participants

In this paper, I argue that filmmakers' experiences in their everyday practice challenge the dominant discourse on documentary filmmaking ethics. In this discourse, the responsibility of the filmmaker for the participant, with a focus on justice and care, takes centre-stage. However, what moral issues do filmmakers actually experience, what choices do they make, and how do these relate? Through a survey I investigated the experiences of an international group of documentary filmmakers with a variety of moral issues (such as disclosure, representation, and giving information) and with solutions to such issues (such as paying a participant, working in collaboration, and searching for an alternative). The results show that filmmakers mainly experienced mutual and continuous communication, getting done what is needed for the film; they take the position of a professional in doing so. Issues reflecting concern about the well-being of the participant, such as truth, respect for privacy, and care do not play a substantial role in these results. The results provide reason to give the commitment of filmmakers to their film a more prominent place in documentary filmmaking ethics: the aggie comes first indeed.