This masterclass was very interesting in terms of gauging what it’s like to be a documentary filmmaker within the Australian film industry for so long. It was also interesting in terms of the moral issues documentary filmmakers face within very real environments. In True Lies we really looked at the moral implications but it was great to see how different it is within a real world tangible reality. These are the two main things I will focus on here as I found them the most interesting as well as useful in terms of what I would like to if I got the opportunity make documentaries about.
being an independent documentary filmmaker in Australia
If there is a pressing world crises that you want to document forget about getting it funded by any bodies in Australia. The process takes far too long, you need to just go self-funded. David Bradbury painted a very poor picture of the Australian media industry in terms of getting 1. your project funded and 2. getting it broadcast. These have been the main two problems for David Bradbury, especially considering his role as a political documentary filmmaker. A lot of his films touch on delicate highly political issues that sway in one direction or another, therefore he said that he finds it hard to sell his films to broadcasters such as the ABC. He said that even now after 30 years of making documentaries he finds it difficult to get his films on television even by the public broadcasters. This I find particularly interesting and if we get a person from the ABC or SBS it would be great to ask them what they look for in a documentary to allow it air time? Also if there is a funding body person at our seminar it would be great to ask them about how quick you can get funding if you really need to document a pressing issue? Can the funding process be fast-tracked to allow for the type of filmmakers such as Bradbury? In conjunction is it harder for political documentaries to get air time or funding due to their controversial political stance? Is it easier to get funding for a lighter documentary subject? and What about these two kids in the game how do they get their projects up and running? Do they see what they’re doing as sustainable? David Bradbury painted the Australian media industry in a very negative unhelpful light so it would be great to hear what these younger film directors think.
ethical and moral dilemmas
This was truly fascinating in terms of some of the moments David Bradbury chose to keep filming and I think it is really difficult and in that moment only when you can decide. What fascinates me and it was a question I kept thinking about but forgot to ask is the difference between the aware and the unaware subject. A lot of Bradbury’s key subjects in his documentaries were people that were within the media realm either journalists or photographers and also white western men who have the knowledge of cinema and how documentaries work and what they depict. When Bradbury was telling us about the photographic journalist he made a documentary about who didn’t want any information about his wife and his breakup being in the documentary and when Bradbury even started looking for some information the photojournalist completely stopped talking to him. What is the difference between a subject that knows and the subject that doesn’t about the process of making a documentary? What made me think of this is in comparison to the snippet of another documentary he showed being that of an Aboriginal community where he shot the people within this community. What I want to know between these two instances is the different relationship you form with your subject in terms of what you include and don’t include in the final documentary? What say does the subject have in how you portray them and there community? and in what moments is it obvious that you have the power as a filmmaker to shoot whatever you want? These questions draw obvious questions in terms of what Bradbury was saying in terms of you being a human and you being a filmmaker and where you sit on that spectrum at what point to you help the dying man and at what point do you film till? Do you film at all?
Overall, I found the masterclass really fascinating in terms of how Bradbury conducts himself as a filmmaker and always questioning where he lies in the spectrum between human and filmmaker.
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