Media You Should Know

The way we tell stories shapes the world we all live in. If we truly want change, we can start with being aware of how we represent others and whose voices we choose to uplift.
#RepresentationMatters

Ethical filmmaking means more than just following a set of rules. It is about listening, collaboration, and giving people agency over how their stories are told.
#Ethics #Movies

Over the past week, I’ve tried to share films that prove media can do more than entertain. It can educate, challenge, and connect us when stories are told with empathy and care.
#MediaYouShouldKnow #FilmForChange

Kaouther Ben Hania on the Ethics of Making Oscar-Nominated Documentary 'Four Daughters' | OkayAfrica ​The Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania scored her second Oscar nomination with her follow-up to 2020’s 'The Man Who Sold His Skin,' by making a film that blends fiction and non-fiction together in...

www.okayafrica.com/kaouther-ben...

This is a really amazing film that is also made with incredible ethics. You can watch it on Kanopy!
#movies #media #ethics #filmmaking

"So, I came up with this device where I am bringing in actors who will be directed by the real characters to bring the past to life, not only to reenact for the sake of it. I wanted them to question the past, understand it and embark on a retrospective journey together."

I was in control artistically, but it was always an open discussion between me and them. It was a long journey of doubt and questioning but this is normal, otherwise it gets boring and uninteresting."
- Director Kaouther Ben Hania
There is one other quote I loved from the director about this film:

"As you say, the movie isn’t easy. It was a real minefield of emotions, but my compass was the real characters — Olfa and her daughters. They were the ones to tell me no or yes, depending on what they were comfortable with.
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Director Ben Hania turns documentary into collaboration. The family helps retell their story, choosing how their trauma is shown. It is a rare film that gives its subjects power and space to heal through storytelling, and is an amazing example of #EthicalStorytelling.

Day 6: Four Daughters, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
This film tells the story of a Tunisian mother and her daughters through a blend of real interviews and actresses stepping in. It is a film about truth, family, and how we remember.
#MediaYouShouldKnow #movies #media #ethics

The Present Moment: A Conversation with Kirsten Johnson - World Records

worldrecordsjournal.org/the-present-...

This quote captures what has been discussed in my media production class: ethical filmmaking means knowing that telling a story always carries power, and using that power with honesty and care.
#EthicalStorytelling #MediaYouShouldKnow

"In order to complete the film, I would have to bear the responsibility of using other people’s images for my own purposes without their knowledge. I realized that this implicit conundrum expresses one of the deep complexities of documentary filmmaking." -Kirsten Johnson

Johnson does not just film people, she questions herself too. Cameraperson reminds us that ethics in media is not about perfection but about awareness and accountability toward the people we represent.
#Movies #Ethics

Day 5: Cameraperson, directed by Kirsten Johnson
This film explores what it means to see and film ethically. Built from years of footage by director Kirsten Johnson, it turns the camera back on the filmmaker and shows how every image carries responsibility.
#MediaYouShouldKnow

Making Herstory: Cheryl Dunye on The Watermelon Woman and the power of doing it yourself • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine On the latest episode of The Letterboxd Show, we spoke with Cheryl Dunye about her signature “Dunyementaries,” finding cinematic inspiration from Julie Dash and how sometimes you have to create your o...

That quote is from: letterboxd.com/journal/wate...?

This film is a landmark in queer cinema. It may be the first feature film directed by a Black lesbian about Black lesbian life. It’s an incredible example of ethical filmmaking and creative truth-telling.

Watch it on Kanopy!

"What really got me into it was using the tools I had to tell stories, because it was by any means necessary and [because] nobody else was doing it. That’s the pioneer urge: nobody else was doing it! I was not seen on the screen; there was nothing, nobody that looked like me."
- Cheryl Duyne

What makes this film brilliant is how it turns that search into the story. Dunye uses fiction and documentary together to ask big questions about who gets to tell history and whose voices get erased.
#MediaYouShouldKnow #FilmForChange #EthicalStorytelling

Day 4: The Watermelon Woman, directed by Cheryl Dunye
This is a very important film about storytelling itself. It follows a young Black lesbian filmmaker trying to uncover a forgotten history of a Black actress from early Hollywood known only as “The Watermelon Woman.”
#Movies #RepresentationMatters

This film is a perfect example of the ethical filmmaking in action I have been learning in school, and I highly recommend everyone checks it out on Netflix!

That and this quote is by co-director JIm LeBrecht.
"Whatever negative stereotypes of people with disabilities exist are because we are not being heard or seen, but as you see in Crip Camp, we have a rich history and you see that we are incredible people".

"The thing that is authentic.. is that instead of someone else observing us [disabled individuals] as a community, you hear the true thoughts and words of people with disabilities. Having people with disabilities working on and being in the film, that sort of authentic storytelling just happened.”

The film was co-directed by James LeBrecht, who has spina bifida and actually attended the camp, alongside Nicole Newnham. I think that it is one of the most authentic documentaries currently out. Instead of speaking for people with disabilities, it gives them space to speak for themselves. ETHICAL!

Day 3: Crip Camp, directed by Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht
This is one of those documentaries that is exemplifies what real change looks like. It begins at a summer camp for teens with disabilities in the 1970s and follows how that community became the heart of a disability rights movement.

The ones did allow us to are in the documentary, and I respect those decisions. It wasn’t anything we had to do legally, but it was something I had to do as a human being."
- Ava DuVernay on 13th

This is what ethical filmmaking is about! 13th is on Netflix now!
www.awardsdaily.com/2017/01/02/i...

"We went to each family and asked how they felt about inclusion in the movie. We asked if they wanted it to happen or not, and a couple of families said, “If you’re giving us the choice, we’d rather not.”

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What makes 13th stand out is how it gives space to the people most impacted. DuVernay includes scholars, activists, and former prisoners, and allows them to tell their own stories. It’s a example of ethical filmmaking because it centers truth, and respect rather than spectacle.
#movies #film #media

Day 2: 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay
This film explores the history of racial inequality in the US. The title comes from the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery; except as punishment for a crime. The film connects that loophole to how racial inequality continues through the prisons. #movies

It was risky—but now, looking back, we can see this was absolutely the right process. — Alex Rivera

"Specifically, once we started to work partly in a mode of reproduction of this true story, we were able to share the script, storyboards, and rough cuts with the real people who lived the story, and to talk about where the story was going, and ask whether it was telling the truth they knew, or not.

“We Freed Ourselves from Conventional Documentary Ethics”: Directors Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra | The Infiltrators Whenever directors watch their own films, they always do so with the knowledge that there are moments that occurred during their production — whether that’s in the financing and development or…

filmmakermagazine.com/106890-we-fr...

This was directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera. What I love about the film most is how carefully it was made. The directors worked directly with the activists, letting them guide how their stories were told.

I'll attach a link with an interview below this post.