Camilla has also produced several documentary feature films including 'Circus of Books', which premiered at Tribeca in 2019 and sold to Netflix Originals and 'Sirens' which premiered at Sundance in January 2022. She specializes in vérité documentary filmmaking and comes from a seven-year career in print journalism at the Financial Times and Bloomberg News. She has worked extensively in the UK, across the Middle East and all over U.S. She is represented by Stern & Wild. She produced 'Freedom for the Wolf', which premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest 2017, showed at IDFA and won the Slamdance 2018 audience award. It was nominated for the 'Cinema For Peace Foundation' at The Berlin Film Festival in 2019.
Discussions about ethical documentary practices are not new but, over the last five years, a vibrant and sometimes volatile debate has emerged around ethics and documentary filmmaking. Filmmakers and media scholars are making explicit calls to action, questioning extractive practices in which a subject is unfairly represented or subjected to a process in which their trauma is used as plot points in sensational storytelling.
As Co-Director, Camilla will join us in conversation about her latest film 'Subject' – a film that explores the experience of sharing one’s life on screen. Released in 2022, the film follows key participants of the five acclaimed documentaries 'The Staircase', 'Hoop Dreams', 'The Wolfpack', 'Capturing the Friedmans', and 'The Square' to find out more about the highs and lows of their experiences as well as the everyday realities of having their lives put under a microscope.
This conversation will be moderated by our documentary tutor, filmmaker & activist, Manuela Maiguashca, who has directed and produced documentary media projects that deal with taboo experiences, stigmatised communities and human rights issues. Her film work has been broadcast and screened internationally and used in a wide range of educational and advocacy outreach campaigns such as UN Development Programmes and The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, EU programmes for refugees, the International Museum of Women, EU foster organisations, Global Kids Online as well as many other international initiatives dealing with human and child rights.
During this conversation we’ll talk about the ethics involved in making a documentary film and the challenges faced in depicting the truth in a way that is both honest and respectful. We will also discuss how they challenge the norm by using art to create awareness and promote social change.
The Filmmakers’ Club is LFA’s global network of emerging filmmakers, available exclusively to all current students and alumni, including the 6-week Documentary Filmmaking Certificate and 1-week Intro to Documentary starting on 5 June. Members will be invited to the event via email.