Filmmaker–subject relationship in documentary filmmaking

Abstract

This article aims to provide a contextual overview of the filmmaker–subject relationship in documentary filmmaking. This topic is addressed in those documentary films that require the involvement of the filmmaker in the participants’ everyday lives over a prolonged period, thereby turning their relationship into a central feature of the documentary filmmaking. I argue that the filmmaker–subject relationship involves a personal engagement that problematizes their professional responsibility as expressed mainly in their commitment to the film project and that it is mainly the personal dimension that informs the ethical decisions made by filmmakers. I begin by considering how long-term relationships allow filmmakers to better understand the reality of participants by earning their trust. I then explore the importance in documentary filmmaking of the calculation of costs and benefits in relation to the film and its participants. Finally, I examine how a filmmaker’s sympathetic and antipathetic attitudes towards a participant determine the nature of their relationship.