Subject

What is a filmmaker’s ethical responsibility to the human lives on which they trained their cameras? This documentary on documentaries follows the aftermath of a handful of famous films—including “Hoop Dreams” “The Staircase,” and “Capturing the Friedmans”—and the ramifications they had on their varied subjects, whose lives will never be the same. —M.G.Some may say we’re in a “Golden Age” for documentaries. Economical to produce, easy to market, and oh-so-consumable, they have become streaming services’ bread and butter. While studios continue to churn out nonfiction content, this documentary asks us to pause and reflect on a group that is highly visible yet rarely seen: the subjects themselves. Filmmakers and their participants often have different or even competing goals for the finished product. With this tension in mind, documentary-making is explored solely from the subject’s perspective. Through interviews with figures from celebrated documentaries (“The Staircase,” “Hoop Dreams,” “Capturing the Friedmans,” and “The Wolfpack” – CIFF39), we glimpse at how—for better or worse—participating altered their lives forever. Astute and self-aware, the film raises ethical questions about subject intervention, compensation, and recognition. Above all, SUBJECT asks viewers to remember documentary subjects are not content fodder but actual humans who bravely decided to share their stories. —D.O.GUEST(S) ARE SCHEDULED TO BE IN ATTENDANCE FOR Q&A