{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39774"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39774","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Making Unusual suspects - girls in gangs: a critical reflections on the ethics of cross-cultural filmmaking","abstract":"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.","abstract_html":"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.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lamotte, Sophie"],"institution":"Centre for Film and Media Studies","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[","],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023","date_published":"2023","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:14Z","subjects":["Film and Media Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39774","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":[","]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lamotte, Sophie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2024-05-30T09:48:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-30T09:48:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Centre for Film and Media Studies"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis / Dissertation"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Film and Media Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39774"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["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."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Making Unusual suspects - girls in gangs: a critical reflections on the ethics of cross-cultural filmmaking"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":[","],"dc:creator":["Lamotte, Sophie"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2024-05-30T09:48:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-30T09:48:38Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023"],"dc:description.abstract":["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."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39774"],"dc:publisher.department":["Centre for Film and Media Studies"],"dc:subject":["Film and Media Studies"],"dc:title":["Making Unusual suspects - girls in gangs: a critical reflections on the ethics of cross-cultural filmmaking"],"dc:type":["Thesis / Dissertation"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:14Z"}