Making Unusual suspects - girls in gangs: a critical reflections on the ethics of cross-cultural filmmaking

This research explores questions of ethics in cross-cultural documentary filmmaking in relation to making of the film “Unusual suspects: girls in gangs”. The film depicts the livedexperiences of three women who are or were involved in gangs and follows a police unit commander in her duties in fighting gang-related crime. The making of the film was characterised by cultural differences because I, the film maker, am a foreigner entering an arguably less privileged field with participants who could be considered vulnerable - both in terms of their socio-economic status and their safety. The mode of the documentary is observational, with elements of the participatory, based on encounters with the ‘Other' androoted in a desire to shine a light on a largely hidden issue that affects a lot of women in South Africa, and the Cape Flats specifically. The film's production prompted continual engagement with ethical questions. In this explication, which accompanies the film, I analyse my own practises and offer a set of suggestions based on my experience for making a documentary film with the intent of acknowledging one's positionality and overtly addressing issues of power differentials between the filmmaker and the people she represents.

Grantor

Centre for Film and Media Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lamotte, Sophie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• ,

• Film and Media Studies

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39774

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39774