A few years ago, I attended a panel discussion at the Sundance Film Festival (okay, the truth is I love the panel discussions and try to go to one or two every day). Anyway, one of the panel discussions was the “truth” of documentary filmmaking. Questions like how to capture the truth, portray it and balance it were at the heart of the discussion. There was an underlying hint that documentary filmmakers were biased and might NOT be able to render a truthful portrait.
Barbara Kopple was there. She had made the Academy Award winning Harlan County, USA (about the violent mining strike in Harlan County, Kentucky). The truth/bias conversation was heating up and I found her comments on documentary filmmaking to be powerful and incisive. She said that ALL filmmaking, journalism, writing and human endeavor was biased and subjective because it was being interpreted and presented by a human being. The act of pointing the camera in a specific direction, capturing some audio (while ignoring other), and editing the material together inevitably created a subjective portrait.
Kopple went on to say that documentary filmmakers should endeavor to capture and present the subject matter honestly and accurately, knowing that it would come from their particular point of view. You can see her complete filmography at Cabin Creek Films and check out her upcoming film, My Generation. Rent Harlan County, USA and check out the seen when the explosive devices are being hurled into the miners’ camp. Notice how Kopple pointed the camera at the women watching the explosions rather than the explosions themselves. Powerful imagery and demonstration of her POV!
“Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge’s chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view.”
Lillian Hellman (1905 - 1984)
U.S. Playwright
“You can’t truthfully explain your smallest action without fully revealing your character.”
Author Unknown
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