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The documentary filmmaking genre has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, with demand increasing by an impressive 142% between 2018 and 2022. The pandemic only accelerated this momentum, as docuseries such as Tiger King captured global audiences. Since then, the genre has shown no signs of slowing down, with a Vice article declaring that we are likely living in the 'golden age' of documentary filmmaking.
With audiences consuming more factual content than ever, filmmakers face increasing pressure to tell compelling stories that feel timely, relevant, and accessible to a wider audience. Indeed, documentaries on streaming platforms face the challenge of competing with fictional narratives while simultaneously positioning themselves as offering privileged access to an unfiltered version of ‘reality' and ‘truth'.
This pressure can push filmmakers towards extractive practices in which vulnerable participants are asked to bear the emotional and narrative weight of stories centered on hardship, trauma, and personal suffering.
LFA Documentary Filmmaking Certificate tutor Manuela Maiguashca believes that documentary filmmakers need to resist these pressures and instead to frame their practice in ethical terms.
Manuela goes on to say:
How can documentary filmmakers disrupt media ecosystems that privilege extreme narratives and sensational imagery?
In an era of constant self-documentation and increasingly strident emotional and political discourse, documentary filmmakers can offer alternative ways of seeing, listening, and engaging with the world. Manuela claims that they have a vital role to play in reshaping how stories are made and whose voices are heard.
Ethics matter: good stories are not necessarily ethical ones
Manuela argues that the real challenge is rethinking the ethical responsibilities that come with telling other people’s stories. As she warns, a ‘good story’ isn’t necessarily an ethical one. A film might entertain audiences and fit neatly into the cultural landscape, while offering little - or even causing harm - to the people whose lives and stories it represents. Turning the camera off is as important as turning it on. In some cases, not filming at all is the ethical choice.
Where can an aspiring documentary filmmaker start?
In our LFA Documentary Filmmaking Certificate, we start here. Students do not need to arrive with ‘good stories’ but with curiosity. Instead of asking, What's my story? students are encouraged to ask:
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Who am I and what do I care about?
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How do my lived experiences inform which stories I choose to tell and how I choose to tell them?
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How can I build equitable relationships with participants?
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What will my documentary practice look like?
Why Documentary Filmmaking needs to be re-imagined
At its best, documentary filmmaking can help us understand lives beyond our own. It can challenge assumptions, resist stereotypes, ask difficult questions, and open dialogue between people and communities. But this potential is not always realised.
In recent years, a growing number of filmmakers and scholars have been challenging conventional industry practices and questioning formulaic and extractive approaches to documentary making. They are calling for more ethical ways of working - grounded in accountability, transparency, and collaboration - as well as broader and more diverse forms of documentary storytelling.
As audiences consume more factual stories than ever before, documentary filmmakers are stepping up to the challenge and looking for new ways to rethink and embody documentary practice. Newcomers to the field are needed to bring fresh perspectives, challenge established conventions and help shape a more ethical and inclusive future for documentary storytelling.
Find out more and book your place on our 6-week Documentary Certificate course here.