New Resources for Ethical Filmmaking

The documentary field is experiencing a quiet revolution around documentary ethics, revisiting long-cherished ideas and putting more Emphasis on the filmmaker/participant relationship and participant care.  Here’s a link to the Peace is Loud page with resources for ethical filmmaking.  Huge shoutout to Stephanie Palumbo, Margie Ratliff, Jennifer Tiexiera, and countless others for creating these resources and making them available for free.

In the Spotlight: Crucial Questions for Documentary Participants –

This resource helps filmmakers and participants create healthy dialogues about consent, compensation, creative rights, and other pressing issues. co-created by Margie Ratliff and Peace is Loud.  Margie is the founding director of the Documentary Participants Empowerment Alliance (DPEA), which aims to bring vital resources to all those who have appeared in or are considering appearing in documentary films.

Holding Ourselves Accountable: A Consent Calendar Resource

Co-created by Jennifer Tiexiera and Peace is Loud, this resource details a model for establishing informed, active consent throughout the filmmaking process.  Jennifer is the co-director of the seminal film Subject, which asks “In the Golden Age of Documentary, Who Benefits?”  The film explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen through key participants of acclaimed documentaries The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wolfpack, Capturing the Friedmans, and The Square.

There are several other helpful resources on the Peace is Loud page for Participant Care, including a case study.  Check it out!

Bridging the Credibility Gap:
Drawing the Line on Manipulation in Documentary

September 2016

The Quandary of the Unreliable Narrator

January 2016

Beijing Doc:
A Report on Nonfiction Filmmaking in China

February 2008

Composers Confab:
Creating The Best Score For Your Film

January 2008

Amman with a Movie Camera:
Teaching Documentary in Jordan

July 2007

Money Changes Everything–or Does It?: Considering Whether Documentaries Should Pay for Play

January 2004

How Close Is Too Close?
A Consideration of the Filmmaker-Subject Relationship

June 2003