Dealing with delicate issues of consent when making documentaries
Creating documentaries with racialized, transgender, traumatized or marginalized protagonists can raise some serious ethical concerns about consent. How do you get them to tell their stories without causing painful flashbacks? What if you create a situation that exposes them to trolling? These delicate issues have been the topic of roundtables at the past two editions of the Montreal International Documentary Festival. Here’s how some documentary filmmakers have approached the issue
When filmmaker Lamia Chraibi began shooting her short film Like a Spiral in 2022, she and her production team had their protagonists sign release forms agreeing that their images would be used without “right of inspection,” meaning those partaking in the film had no right to weigh in on how footage in which they appeared was used.
Chraibi’s team used this industry-standard clause not only to preserve their creative freedom but also to reassure financial backers that a film would indeed be produced at the end of the process.
However, the standard clause soon proved ill-suited for telling this true story of five migrant domestic workers who came to Beirut to work under the sometimes oppressive Kafala sponsorship system.
At one point, Chraibi wanted to shoot an event organized by a migrant workers’ support group called Anti-Racism Movement. She was told that her production team would have to amend its release so that anyone participating in the event could have a say in how their image was used.
“It was a big wake-up call for me and an even bigger one on the way we do things in this industry,” Chraibi told the audience at last year’s Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM 2024), where she was taking part in the Navigating Sensitive Topics roundtable.
“We just can’t take it for granted that those in the film will accept the way they’re being presented on screen,” she added. “They must have the option of changing their mind at any time.”
Not only did Chraibi modify the release for that Anti-Racism Movement event, the production team made sure that all participants had the right to modify their agreements for the rest of the shoot. “A final viewing was organized before picture lock to make sure everyone was comfortable with what they saw,” Chraibi said.
A limit to modifying consent terms
There is, of course, a limit to consent, and that limit goes into effect when the film goes into distribution.
“In the current production model we’re funded by public institutions,” explained Chraibi’s fellow panel member Vuk Stojanovic, producer of the 2024 documentary feature Billy. “We need to produce a film that can be released in theatres, broadcast on television or streamed on platforms. From a legal point of view, consent must be signed in no uncertain terms,” he said.
“We’re not forcing anyone,” Stojanovic continued, “but it must be clear to protagonists who agree to take part in a film that they won’t be able to withdraw their consent after the project has been broadcast.”
Stojanovic said that for Billy’s director, Lawrence Côté-Collins, this approach was particularly important since the film’s protagonist, Billy Poulin, was a convicted murderer with schizophrenia. “Billy’s consent was verified several times, including at signing and in the presence of lawyers, to confirm that his consent was genuine,” said Stojanovic.
Explain the project clearly, and allow time for participants to decide
A signature on a legal document is not enough. Instead, consent must be validated at every stage of the creative process.
“You need to show plenty of goodwill in making documentaries,” Stojanovic said. “We ask people to disclose secret facets of their private lives, often digging deep to find what we find most interesting. You need to be careful how you approach your protagonists, never going beyond their limits or pushing them too far. If they don’t want to discuss some item, that should always be respected. And if we think something is really important, we must find another way of doing it while making them feel comfortable at the same time.”
Quite often, you have to give the idea time to sink in.
While making the documentary LARRY (they/them) (2024), filmmaker Catherine Legault wanted to involve the parents of protagonist Laurence Philomène, who was transitioning.
Initially, Philomène’s parents were not comfortable participating. “It wasn’t going to jeopardize the project, but it was an important element that we wanted to incorporate. And to be completely transparent, it did cause a fair amount of stress,” recalled producer Isabelle Phaneuf-Cyr at the 2024 panel.
“But I think they had to follow their own path to decide, which they finally did. For them, it was a question of understanding the filmmaker’s approach and building up their trust in us.”
Providing absolute “right of inspection”
For her 2023 documentary The Hearing, about a family navigating Canada’s asylum process after fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, filmmaker Émilie B. Guérette decided to give the film’s protagonist, Peggy Nkunga Ndona, a say in “absolutely everything” by making her co-director.
“Peggy and I made the film together,” said Guérette during a roundtable called Changing the World One Film at a Time at the 2023 Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM 2023).
“It’s my position to take. So, if I include her, if we co-create the film, if we discuss things together, if the protagonist has a say in absolutely everything, do I lose my creative freedom, my voice as an auteur, or my independence,” mused Guérette. “I don’t think that’s the case at all. As a university-educated white Québécoise I have many privileges. My question is really, how can I use these privileges to help others? And how can I share that power to make the world a better place?”
Guérette acknowledged that her position led to some difficult moments. “For example, I wanted to use interview clips where Peggy was very upset and critical of what she was experiencing. I thought the clips were terrific but Peggy didn’t want them in the film. I mean, how far can I go on insisting this? It’s her life, her image and her story that’s being told. I had no choice but to take them out so that Peggy could be proud of the film, too.”
During the roundtable, Nkunga Ndona explained why she had to set certain limits. “Going through a hearing in Canada was a real shock for me. I do realize that I live under this system, but I don’t want it to destroy me. I know it’s not forever and that it will pass. I don’t want it to change who I am. I want to keep my cool and my values intact while going through a difficult process.”
| Best practices for exploring delicate issues in documentaries |
- Before you start filming, familiarize yourself with the concept of ethical storytelling
- Gain the trust of the communities affected
- Call in a trauma expert, such as a psychologist
- Guarantee continuous consent throughout the project
- Focus on the well-being of the team, creating an inclusive working environment
- Conduct regular debriefings with protagonists and members of the film crew
Source: Keira Seidenberg, representative of the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Navigating Sensitive Topics roundtable (RIDM 2024)
References
https://ridm.ca/fr/evenements/naviguer-le-sensible
https://2023.ridm.ca/fr/evenements/changer-le-monde-un-film-a-la-fois
