The ethics of representation in documentary film

Unlike fiction films, documentary refers to reality with the intention of “expressing truth”, which is why filmmakers have an obligation to both viewers (that represented facts are true) and to the subjects / characters. However, these obligations are not explicitly outlined, as the documentary trea...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lanza, Pablo
Format: Online
Language:spa
Published: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/eticaycine/article/view/14860
Description
Summary:Unlike fiction films, documentary refers to reality with the intention of “expressing truth”, which is why filmmakers have an obligation to both viewers (that represented facts are true) and to the subjects / characters. However, these obligations are not explicitly outlined, as the documentary treats reality in a creative way, which forces us to talk about ethics, understood as codesof human behavior. These codes are not unchangeable, but vary from society to society and from age to age, but a constant is the inequality of power between the subjects and the filmmakers. This article proposes to investigate a number of specific axes such as the necessary conditions to consider a given consent as valid, the strategies adopted to conducting interviews and the representation of death from the analysis of three recent Argentine documentary: Yo no sé qué me han hecho tus ojos (2003, Sergio Wolf & Lorena Muñoz), Yo presidente (2006, Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn) and Bye bye life (2008, Enrique Piñeyro).