Risky Business: Accessing Difficult Places

Moderator: Lyric Cabral ((T)error)
Panelists: Natalia Almada (The Night Watchman, Users), Ibrahim Nash’at (Hollywoodgate), Maciek Hamela (In the Rearview), Amanda Spain (MSNBC)

Access is one of the cornerstones of documentary production that allows a filmmaker to tell urgent stories. Access may imply risk for the filmmakers or for the protagonists, or it might mean complicity with power to be able to make one’s film. Under an oppressive regime, places with no freedom of the press, or in wartime, some filmmakers' access relies upon finding creative ways to indirectly address a topic or situation that cannot be spoken about head-on. Oftentimes access means being admitted into spaces of trauma of others. Crucially, proving one's access is a key function of creating both commercial and artistic value for a project. In this session, these panelists will reveal the vagaries of balancing behind-the-scenes access with institutional compromise, potential harm to protagonists, and proximity to the story.