The documentary genre aims to pursue the truth about its subject matter but often gives rise to situations in which the filmmaker might be forced to cross an ethical line to tell the story.
“Ethics will always be a shady area because documentary filmmakers want a good story. But at the end of the day you have to be able to sleep at night,’ said South African filmmaker Ryley Grunenwald at a film ethics panel at the recent Durban FilmMart.
Grunenwald is the director and camera person on The Dawn of A New Day, a documentary about a South African plastic surgeon who leaves his successful private practice to volunteer on a hospital ship.
“The film is told through the eyes of the doctor and his wife and three West African patients who receive surgeries,’ explained Grunenwald. “There was tension between the doctor and his wife and I got into an intimate space to capture their crumbling relationship on film. I did give them the opportunity to view my final cut though, to make sure the film wouldn’t ruin their lives.’
Grunenwald also chose not to show footage of a 16-year old boy having a rhinoplasty. “I filmed the operation but decided not to use the footage as this
boy had been humiliated throughout his life because of his nose, so I didn’t
want to open him up to any further humiliation.’
One of the issues Grunenwald faced while making the film was that at first the patients on the ship thought she was part of the NGO that runs the ship. “They thought they were obliged to talk to me and say nice things. So I had to make sure that they knew I was a completely independent entity and that they could speak freely. The three patients who did tell their stories were excited to do so because they wanted to instill hope in other people.’
Grunenwald stressed that filmmakers have a responsibility to the people they’re filming. “Documentary is not reality – it’s recorded reality; the way you frame the shot, what you choose to shoot, what you do in the edit – it all impacts on the way the story is told.’
Human beings first
Senegalese filmmaker Moussa Sene Absa’s The Sacrifice is about 11 young Senegalese men who were found dead in a boat off the coast of Barbados in 2004.
Said Absa: “As a filmmaker you need to tell the truth, gain the trust of people you film, and be morally comfortable with what you do. I could not include footage of the dead bodies in my film because that would have violated the souls of the deceased.
“The Sacrifice talks about the whole issue of Senegalese youth who have been betrayed by their government and what the future holds for them. These young men were trying to get to Spain so that they could create a better life for their families.’
A character in the film is the 25-year old widow of one of the men. “This woman is very poor and has nothing. Although I wanted to help her at first I didn’t give her money and instead talked to her about how she felt,’ continued Absa. “She started to cry but I didn’t film it. At a later stage she approached me and said she wanted to tell her story.
“For one week we had a conversation and it was a comfortable shoot. When I left I asked my son, who was producer on the film to give her $200. I didn’t have a moral issue with this because the woman and her children were starving.’
Absa regards a documentary filmmaker as the moral eye of society. “But you must have respect for your subject and try to build awareness around issues. Be honest and responsible but be human first. Before you film someone you need to establish human contact.’ (Report by Joanna Sterkowicz)
