DOC 250 - Rights and Responsibilities in Documentary Inquiry

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR: Meets general academic requirement SL.
Prerequisite(s): DOC 150 Introduction to Documentary Storymaking
Through the lens of documentary filmmaking, this course explores the rights and responsibilities associated with documenting people, places, events, and situations. In so doing, we will consider how documentary films construct and represent truth, the nature of documentarians’ rights and responsibilities in relation to the communities, people, and collaborations with whom their work engages, and how these issues inform other documentary practices. Topics discussed will include the impact of copyright law and fair use in documentary practice as well as ethical principles in relation to subjects, viewers and documentary filmmakers’ own praxis. The course seeks to encourage students to see their own documentary practice as engaging in these concerns and embracing their responsibilities to the ethical and legal underpinnings of documentary inquiry.