"Subject" - Tribeca Film Fest Review
Given the tsunami of true crime content that is available in every form of media, there’s perhaps no documentary more timely than Subject. It’s a documentary about documentary subjects, and the simplicity of the concept may sound uninteresting to potential viewers. However, the stories and life experiences shared during the Subject are essential to understanding the toll the documentary process takes on the participants. In a culture that has made true crime inescapable, it’s time for us as viewers to understand what we have been complacent in.
Subject features interviews from people who were part of well-known documentaries like The Staircase (2004), The Wolfpack, Hoop Dreams, The Square, and Capturing the Friedmans. Most interestingly, Jennifer Tiexiera and Camilla Hall, directors of Subject, chose not to feature interviews from the directors of any of the films mentioned. The only director who was featured in Subject in a form other than archival photos or videos was Crystal Moselle. She directed The Wolfpack and maintains a relationship with Mukunda Angulo who had a prominent role in Subject.
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Purely by accident it seems, one of Subject’s most compelling interviews is with Margie Ratliff from The Staircase (2004). She discusses how she felt forced into participating in the original documentary because of her age and her desire to help her father’s case in any way she could. As Margie was filming interviews for Subject, news of HBO Max’s adaptation of The Staircase (2004) was announced. This announcement only punctuated Margie’s sentiments of how invasive and never-ending her trauma is. Not only did she have to live through the events of her mother’s death and her father’s trial, but it was recorded for posterity and shared on Netflix for the whole world to see. The trauma continues now with The Staircase (2022) and actors calling Margie to “prepare for their role.”
The major sentiment of Subject is that there is a moral and ethical responsibility from documentary filmmakers to care for the people who are the focus of their films. There’s debate about whether these participants should be paid for their time. Will payment irrevocably influence their testimony, or should they be paid for their time and resources given? Does a filmmaker need to be part of the community whose story they are documenting?
There’s a distinctly human desire to have one’s personal story told. The process of putting these stories on paper or film adds meaning and worth. These people and their lives can reach greater audiences than they ever could have fathomed. There’s a murkiness of consent when it comes to documentaries. Participants have to trust that filmmakers have the same goals they do, but that’s not always the case. Instead, real wounds are ripped open and exploited for the sake of content.
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