Above all other forms of film (and filmmaking), ethics is one of the key factors that defines and distinguishes the documentary film. Much of the institutional ethical frameworks and discourses currently used in documentary filmmaking are problematic because they are passed down from journalistic (and a general media) ethics, where the relationship between maker, participant and audience is fundamentally very different. But even more problematically, much of these ethical conventions are from a previous analogue-based era of distribution and exhibition, which has fundamentally changed since the advent and adoption of digital and web-based technologies into the film supply chain. These changes are fundamental to determining the level and type of “risk”- which sits at the heart of a filmmaker’s duty to their participant, and informs any ethical frameworks designed to safeguard and protect these. However, many of our ethical practices and conventions do not account for, let alone address, these vast and encompassing changes. Using the making of a feature documentary as a case study, this talk will explore how the changes in exhibition and distribution have affected traditional notions of ethics and what filmmakers should address when considering new ethical frameworks that are more suitable for a transnational, web-based documentary landscape.

__
> David Alamouti