The digital ethical space: towards a transnational documentary ethics, a filmmaker’s point of view

ABSTRACT

Over the last decade the integration of web-based technologies into the film supply chain has accelerated a huge shift in the way documentary films are distributed and exhibited. This shift has seen a move away from the previous analogue systems- built on the exclusivity of time and space- into new convergent and transnational methods based on digital systems. This has (had) huge ramifications for all areas of documentary making, none more so than on the issue of documentary ethics. Above all other forms of film (and filmmaking), ethics is one of the key factors that define and distinguish the documentary film. However, much of the ethical frameworks and discourse currently used are from the previous analogue period of distribution and exhibition. Using the making of a feature documentary as a case study, this article explores how the changes in exhibition and distribution have affected the ethical frameworks that have traditionally informed the making of a documentary. The study concludes by demonstrating how current ethical frameworks and safeguarding procedures, undertaken by both documentary makers but also regulatory bodies, need to be rethought in order to respond to the challenges inherent in this transnational landscape.

KEYWORDS:

• Transnational documentary
• documentary ethics
• documentary practice
• practice as research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The broadcast version can be seen here: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2013/03/20133199280103811.html.

2. A recent UK study found that only 7.9% of the film and TV industry in the UK is from a working-class background, compared to 34% of the total UK workforce. Can we extrapolate that most documentary films are made by filmmakers from a higher social class than their participants? What effects if any does this have on the encounter? (Workforce Diversity in the UK Screen Sector, p 24). CAMEo. 2018. Workforce Diversity in the UK Screen Sector: Evidence Review. Leicester: CAMEo Research Institute. [Accessed January 2020]. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-workforce-diversity-in-uk-screen-sector-evidence-review-2018-03.pdf

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Alamouti

David Alamouti is a filmmaker and senior lecturer based at Solent University. His research interests include hybrid filmmaking, documentary ethics in practice and issues of representing otherness. He has made a number of documentaries and fiction films, which have been commissioned by international organisations and channels including The Wellcome Trust, the BBC, and Al Jazeera. These films have been in competition and won prizes at festivals including Krakow, LIDF, Palm Springs, Big Sky, Jakarta International, LCI, Fajr and AM docs. He is currently working on a feature and also writing on hybrid filmmaking practice.