By Thomas Colson

On Monday 30 November, a panel of acclaimed documentary filmmakers came together to discuss the difficulties and rewards of character-driven documentary.

Beadie Finzi, one of the founding directors of non-profit film foundation BRITDOC, moderated the discussion and was joined by filmmakers Brian Hill, David Sington, and Edward Lovelace.

At the start of the discussion, the panellists elaborated on the moments at which they initially decided to pursue their latest documentary projects.

The Confessions of Thomas Quick, Hill‘s latest film which premiered this year at Sheffield Doc/Fest, tells the story of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer. Hill explained to the audience that he decided to make the documentary ten minutes after meeting Quick, who, despite having confessed to 39 “gruesome murders”, was for Hill “completely honest – or as honest as I needed him to be for the film.”

David Sington’s The Fear of Thirteen, which premiered at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival, also focuses on a convicted criminal – a man named ‘Nick’ who had spent over 20 years on death row. Sington said that the most memorable part of the film occurred just minutes into the first interview. “I realised that he wasn’t telling me about himself. He was reliving and reenacting his story… It was a performance. He was doing other voices, actions,” he said.

The performative nature of Sington’s protagonist also contributed to the documentary’s distinct format. “The film is an unusual film because it’s a monologue,” said Sington. “So he’s the only contributor, he’s really the only face you see and the only voice you hear.”

Edward Lovelace, one half of the directing pair D.A.R.Y.L., placed an entirely different type of character at the heart of his film, and enjoyed a different kind of filmmaker-subject relationship with him.

“I love him,” Lovelace said of Edwyn Collins, the singer-songwriter whose recovery from a stroke is the subject of Lovelace’s critically-acclaimed The Possibilities are Endless. While Collins’ speech seemed like it would initially be an issue, Lovelace determined that his subject’s poetic approach to his predicament would be worth waiting for, “even if it might take three years – which it did.”

The discussion also covered the issue of consent. How to frame the opportunity to a potential subject when the filmmaker has no idea how much exposure the film will enjoy? Hill said that “all you can do is be very open with people… I always tell people to think about the consequences for them.”

Ultimately, “you have to treat people like thinking adults,” Hill added.

Sington responded that this issue is often resolved in his broad approach to filmmaking. “When you’re making a film, you’re inviting somebody into the audience’s life. So I want the audience to think, ‘I’m really glad I met that person’. For that reason I only make films about people who I, in some sense, admire and like,” he said. In that sense, he added, “I would never call myself a journalist.”

The frequently blurred line between journalism and documentary filmmaking was also highlighted.

Sington said that his “obligation is to tell the truth,” “even though it can be painful” for subjects and interviewees with whom he had become close. “If you’re telling the truth, I think they recognise the truthfulness of it, even if it wasn’t very flattering.”

For Lovelace, the editing process gives documentary filmmakers a unique power. “It’s crazy what audiences believe,” he said.

Whilst he agreed that truth was the ultimate purpose of his filmmaking, he argued that you can reach it by manipulation during the editing process.

Sington agreed, and argued that “the edit is really a process of writing a screenplay from the material.”

Ultimately, Sington said, “documentary is fiction in the service of truth.”

A panel of acclaimed documentary filmmakers come together for an evening dedicated to the art of character-driven documentary and working with contributors. Looking in detail at scenes from their recent works and discussing the various stages of building remarkable stories, our speakers will shed light on the delicate process of communicating the experiences of others.

From finding an extraordinary character and establishing a relationship of trust, to interview methods and collaboration, these filmmakers will discuss their approaches to exploring the lives of others. They will also address the ethical dilemmas that arise when working closely with a character, including issues relating to consent, authorship, and narrative.

The panel:

Beadie Finzi (moderator) is one of the founding directors of BRITDOC, a non profit film foundation supported by Channel 4 Television, Ford Foundation and Bertha Foundation as well as a number of US and European foundations. Having worked in documentary for the past 20 years, Beadie is in heaven in her role at BRITDOC – whose mission is to befriend independent filmmakers, fund great films (120 to date), broker new partnerships, build new business models, share knowledge and develop audiences globally.

Brian Hill (The Confessions of Thomas Quick, Feltham Sings, The Not Dead) is the managing director of Century Films and also directs drama and documentary. His most recent documentary, The Confessions of Thomas Quick, premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015.

David Sington (The Fear of Thirteen, In The Shadow of the Moon) is a self-taught filmmaker. He worked initially as a radio producer for BBC World Service, and as a documentary filmmaker for BBC TV. In 2007 David’s feature documentary on the Apollo astronauts “In the Shadow of the Moon” was awarded the “World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary” at the Sundance Film Festival. His most recent film The Fear of Thirteen focuses on death row prisoner Nicholas Yarris and premieres at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival.

Edward Lovelace along with co-director James Hall, operates under the creative moniker D.A.R.Y.L. Their critically acclaimed, award-winning third feature film The Possibilities Are Endless (SXSW, London Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival) traced the mental and physical journey of singer/songwriter Edwyn Collins following a life-changing stroke. The film was awarded 5 stars by the Guardian, won Best Film at Solo Positivo Film Festival and was named Film of the Year 2014 by indie bible MOJO.