Ethics in Documentary Filmmaking

The documentary.

Who knew such a word could carry so much weight, ability to influence, and potential to be dismissed? The art of “documenting” requires conscious positioning within the story being investigated as well as an acceptance of great ethical responsibility.

Interested in the documentary stream myself, questions about proper technical and moral procedures provoke ideas that extend beyond the subjective opinions of what I could /would ever want to document. What responsibility does the filmmaker have towards the people they film? How does the filmmaker redress the unequal balance of power that exists between them and the people they collaborate with? What is the relationship between ‘fact’ and ‘truth’, between ‘actuality’ and ‘reality’, between ‘knowing’ in the sense of being informed and of ‘understanding’ in the sense of being made concerned? Representing ‘others’ and representing ‘reality’ to make a case or to suit the interests of agencies that are supporting or funding the filmmaking activities raise debates about ethical representation and film theory as a social-change medium. The process of filmmaking and the construction of a narrative based on the “real” are far more constrictive and potentially destructive when they are not fictitious.

The Good Woman From Bangkok raised a number of these ethical questions. Denis O’Rourke’s decision to play a participatory and intervening role in the documentation of a Thai prostitute’s life for the purpose of self-discovery after a failed marriage prompts many questions of power, purpose, reason, and representation. All aspects of the film could be argued to be positive in the sense that it relays a message to a very blind and ignorant audience about the objectification and financial insecurities of women in third world sex industries, but also negatively in the sense that the film itself objectifies these women and was made by participating and contributing to the system that is creating this inequality and abuse. Can one document or reveal without participating?

The questions that rise out of projects dealing with “real” people and situations requires a sensitization of the author about their role and the limitations that are sometimes inevitable as a documentary filmmaker. Grappling with such questions does not necessarily mean ever finding any answers, but remaining conscious of such complications is probably a vital process for self understanding of the people, places, and issues filmmakers want to document and make public.