Discover: Ethical Documentary Directing

Whether you are an emerging filmmaker or an established one, this collection offers a wealth of resources to help you develop your skills, gain valuable insights, and ignite your creative journey as you make your documentary, from concept to practice, with an ethical framework in mind.

Building an ethical documentary practice requires that you get an understanding of the current documentary landscape and the historical context that got us here. As storytellers, we encounter stories through our own lived experience or sometimes seek them out. There is no hard and fast rule to authorship and storytelling, which is why this course will guide you into many conversations that filmmakers and the industry at large is having about filmmaking.

This course defines “Narrative Sovereignty” as a concept and provides different examples in the field surrounding this concept; guidance on decisions around how you put the film together, and potential factors such as government scrutiny or the handling of traumatic material.

Additionally, it covers sections on Directing, Editing, and Sound Design, which generally happen after a project has been conceived of and gotten some funding in order to move the project to production.

Included in this course are Sundance Collab Master Classes with award-winning documentary filmmakers Dawn Porter and Roger Ross Williams to give you a deep dive into key elements of contemporary documentary directing.

Whether you’re just beginning your first project or are an experienced filmmaker, Discover: Ethical Documentary Directing offers an exhilarating journey into the world of the nonfiction director.

All course videos are closed-captioned. For other accommodations and support services, please email us at accessibility@sundance.org.