by Andrew Einspruch
Filmmaker Andrew Einspruch recently attended the Australian International Documentary Conference and wrote a series of articles for the event, which he’s graciously allowed us to reprint here. These articles originally appeared in Screen Hub, the daily online newspaper for Australian film and television professionals.
A discussion of ethics in documentary making is a bi-annual tradition at the Australian International Documentary Conference. Screen Hub’s Andrew Einspruch reports on the session chaired by Screen Hub Editor, David Tiley.
Documentary is a hands-on affair. The filmmaker goes into a situation, observes, harvests the story, then moves on. In some cases, like a constructed reality show, participants are put in situations that cause them to undergo a change – or not. In any case, people’s lives are affected, for good or ill. And the documentary maker is faces with responsibilities both before and after their work goes to air.
The ethics session at AIDC this year brought together a panel of people who know a thing or two about people being affected by their work. Rick McPhee is the series producer of Go Back to Where You Came From , which took six opinionated Australians to the heart of refugee country. Celeste Geer is the Walkley-award winning director of Then the Wind Changed about a Victorian town recovering from devastating fires. Sarah Barton’s work deals with people with disabilities, starting with her 1994 documentary Untold Desires about the sexual lives of that group. Willemien Sanders is an academic who studies the cooperation (or not) of documentary subjects.
McPhee’s series involved taking volunteer participants on a refugee journey. He spoke of two kinds of duty of care – for their physical well-being, and for their emotional wellbeing. All participants underwent psychological testing beforehand, and in fact one person he wanted on the show did not clear that particular hurdle, so did not go on the trip. And while the producer never knowingly put them into a dangerous situation, the show, by design, was physically and emotionally challenging and confronting, and there were times when he could not guarantee their safety. It meant that McPhee was very aware of the need to be responsible.
It was also potentially dangerous for the refugee families who took in the six subjects here in Australia before they went on their journey. While SBS geoblocked the show, there was no way to guarantee that a relative in their original country might no have issues because they were in the show.
In all cases, psychological services and other support were made available to all participants once the show went to air. One person began receiving hate messages on social media. Another family was shocked at what a participant said about them on air. Still another did, indeed, have relatives overseas who were angry that someone had been on the show, as they felt targeted. All had to be dealt with, and all were the direct consequences of the show being created.
Celeste Geer faced, on the whole, a very different situation. Her documentary looked at a community which, on the whole, pulled together to help each other. While other films looked at the big projects that happened after the fires, her was a more personal story. She was incredibly aware of the access she had, as this was her home town. But she said that “access” was a misnomer, since the relationships constantly needed tending, and she had to constantly be aware of when it was and wasn’t appropriate to film. “There is a difference between intimacy and voyeurism,” she said. “I did not want to make tragedy porn. I didn’t want it to be, ‘Look what happened to these poor people.’”
The response from the town was, on the whole, very supportive of the final work. They took ownership of the film’s success, and expressed pride in her. She said that a lot of people told her they had family calling and apologising, because until they saw the film, they’d had no idea what they had gone through.
Barton started making films featuring people with disabilities, and then found herself the mother of a child with one. It turned her into an unashamed advocate filmmaker. “I’m not impartial. I’m not objective. But I think it is an asset,” she said. “It is about giving people agency.” She fells that when you work with a marginalised group who don’t have power, you have to find ways to rebalance that power.
As an example, she showed this YouTube clip:
Willemien Sanders looked at the issue from another angle, as an academic studying the effects of participating in a documentary or reality show, asking, “Why the hell do people want to appear on screen?” That is certainly a question many ask when you see people behaving in a way that simply makes you cringe. “They become so entranced with their images that they are unable to consider the implications of the persona on the screen,” she said, quoting a study by Pryluck.
In her research, she found that people got different things from participating. Some seek the media attention. Others found it a way to learn about themselves. One liked the chance to learn about filmmaking. Some liked helping out, suggesting ways that content could be created or shaped. Some wanted to make sure that what was included was what they felt was important to the theme being covered.
Sanders emphasised the importance of communication. The more the filmmakers talked to their subjects – no matter what it was the discussed – the better. “So communicate a lot, including about your personal life. Doing that makes differences explicit, and creates a lot of trust and commitment. It creates a safety net for what may come later,” she said. “You may not be able to prepare the people properly for what is coming. But if you talk to them, you can discuss similar events – at the risk of them walking out of the project. Talking helps make people familiar with what might happen.”
Good communication was a theme that appeared over and over from the panel members. What that actually means is a question all of its own.
Andrew Einspruch is a producer with Wild Pure Heart Productions . His current project is the low budget feature film The Farmer.
