'Patricia Aufderheide Talks Ethical Issues in Documentary Field
Ethical Issues in Documentary Field
It’s time
to put “values into action” in the documentary field, argued professor Patricia Aufderheide at
Prioritize the
needs, wellbeing and experience of the people associated with the film, treat potential audience members
“If your
participant is a young Black kid who wants to play basketball, like in [Steve James’] ‘
In the
end, they received almost $200,000 in royalties from the film
Still, such
a solution won’t make ethical sense every single time
“If you
are making a film about Elon Musk, Elon Musk does not need to be compensated
As pointed
out by Aufderheide, practices associated with journalism don’t have to apply to documentary films
Sometimes, showing
the film to the participants in advance or even offering producer credits for shaping the
“[Not doing
it] might work when you are investigating a corrupt public official
It doesn’t
work as well when you work with a traumatized individual, or a whistleblower, or
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