The documentary "Enemies of the People" (2009) and the question of ethics

Abstract

Documentary film has ubiquitous presence in our culture. The mechanics of its production are often hidden, just as they are in any other films. However, in documentary film the filmmakers deal with real people and the issues of ethics are critical to the documentary project. The relationship ‘inside’ the film will influence the final text and therefore the audience and our culture as a whole. The issue of the ethics of the production of testimony in documentary remains a controversial issue. This paper looks at possible ethical paradigms which one could deploy in a discussion of an acclaimed. documentary which deals with the atrocities of Khmer Rouge: Enemies of the People (2009).

Keywords

• documentary film
• ethics
• psychoanalysis
• Lacan
• Levinas
• Badiou