The Pursuit of “A” Truth in Documentary Film
Filmmakers and journalists alike deal in non-fiction storytelling, but it’s important to notice the distinctions between the two.
As a journalist, I deal in facts. It has been ground into me over the last four years from professors, editors and colleagues all double-checking and questioning whether that percentage is correct or if that spelling of a foreign minister’s name is accurate. You have to be unbiased, factual and above all serve a common good.
Journalists deal in “the” truth. No exceptions. There is a when, where, what and why. We aren’t allowed to speculate on why unless it’s corroborated. Meanwhile, documentary film has more flexibility when examining “the” truth; because a filmmaker is pursuing “a” truth, what they perceive as the higher meaning in a story. It’s the art form of how it is said not merely what is said.
To put it in perspective, Thomson Reuters — flagship media wire agency known for quick and pristine journalism — has 10 Absolutes as a journalist.
- Always hold accuracy sacrosanct
- Always correct an error openly
- Always strive for balance and freedom from bias
- Always reveal a conflict of interest to a manager
- Always respect privileged information
- Always protect their sources from the authorities
- Always guard against putting their opinion in a news story
- Never fabricate or plagiarise
- Never alter a still or moving image beyond the requirements of normal image enhancement
- Never pay for a story and never accept a bribe
Having interned for them once before, I understand those principles. Yet, I’ve also dabbled in another form of non-fiction storytelling — documentary film.
Most recently I went to a conference at my school, Based on a True Story— the intersections of documentary film and journalism. During this evening, Tabitha Jackson of the Sundance Institute, talked about how filmmakers view documentary film or non-fiction storytelling.
To compare to the Reuters’ principles — in a blog post, Tabitha explained her top 10 values in documentary film:
- When documentary film is metaphor not simile.
- When documentary film is the painting not the photograph.
- When documentary film is slow food not fast food.
- When documentary film is honest but it is A truth not THE truth.
- When documentary film is empathy not sympathy.
- When documentary film is the question not the answer.
- When documentary film is the transformation not the transaction.
- When documentary film is ambiguity and complexity not certainty and simplicity.
- When documentary film is meaning not explanation.
- When documentary film is art as well as craft.
As a wannabe journalist and/or documentary filmmaker, I found the distinctions and clear boundaries they were drawing between the two insightful. As she was saying, a compelling non-fiction story doesn’t deal in a straight linear factual story, but rather every filmmaker has a line they won’t cross. Whether that is fudging the timeline or asking the character to reenact a shot.
After Tabitha talked, they showed the film Little Dieter Needs to Fly created by the famous visionary Werner Herzog. His editor for the film, Joe Bini, was also there for a discussion afterward. He described the film not as Dieter’s perspective of what happened to him but rather Herzog’s vision and quest for a “higher truth.” For example, in this clip when Dieter opens and closes the door that isn’t a trait he picked up, it’s what Herzog asked him to do because he saw it that way.
One of the lines that struck me was when Tabitha and Joe were talking about the difference between journalism, which presents “the truth” versus non-fiction storytelling, which presents “a truth.”
Now, it isn’t just Tabitha and Joe who weigh in on the differences between the two forms of storytelling — hence why the school hosted the conference. Other voices have weighed in on the conversation including the Columbia Journalism Review who said, “While [filmmakers] often prioritize aesthetics and story, and aim for their work to be fair but not necessarily balanced, many journalists struggle with the notion that stylistic or methodological choices can greatly alter the end product.”
Tabitha explained this thought as a journey in documentary film, which is what the art of the medium is. The discovery of the filmmaker and the audience together in acknowledging “a truth”. Meanwhile journalism is a process of a journey to find “the truth”. Ultimately the end destination, the concrete bow on a story is what is important. As Tabitha so masterfully explains in terms of documentary film, “it’s not just what we want to say, but how we say it. And what makes art is the how of how it is said.”
I thought there would be more commonalities between journalism and documentary film, but after working as a journalist and interning for a documentary film company this semester, I understand the distinction between “a” and “the”. Like with any art-form, it’s the artistic interpretation of the scene around them. Monet didn’t see the water lilies like you or I would have seen them. It was his interpretation. His art.
Recognizing non-fiction storytelling as a media art form rather than an extension of journalistic practices is in the eye of the beholder and the visionary. Take Making a Murder for example — since they presented their documentary as completely factual people are angered by the fact that certain key pieces of evidence were left out, but maybe it wasn’t a commentary on Steven Avery’s life. Rather it could have been an in-depth, critical take on our country’s justice system.
Tabitha and Joe brought this up in their conversation as have other filmmakers. Since documentary film is still an emerging form of media, the public hasn’t noticed the distinct lines between journalistic practices and documentary storytelling. Imagining a non-fiction film as a work of art through the filmmakers perspective is what Tabitha and Joe are championing.
So, as you watch films, documentaries or other forms of art, think of them as that. Art. Art is the search for a higher truth, a truth not the truth. As Tabitha said, “we need to value and support the distinctive voice of the artist with no certainty of the outcome of their endeavors. The journey is as important as the destination.”
