Vicarious trauma and emotion work in documentary filmmaking

Abstract

In this paper, I contribute to the scholarship on documentary film and ethics by reflecting on the emotional experience of producing the film series, The Ripple Effect of PTSD (Melzer 2016). The series focuses on caregivers of veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was produced as a doctoral creative project. I situate my reflections in the literature on documentary studies and ethics, noting that while participant risk has been afforded welcome and increasing attention, there has been little consideration of how a filmmaker may be negatively impacted by the experience of film production. In contrast, there is a growing scholarship on ‘emotion work’ in qualitative research, particularly research involving vulnerable populations. Drawing on this literature, I detail the emotional labour involved in accessing participants, undertaking interviews and engaging in impact distribution. I argue that ethical documentary filmmaking necessitates emotional labour on behalf of the filmmaker and, as such, we need to broaden the scholarly research agenda on documentary ethics to include consideration of a filmmaker’s emotional health and wellbeing.