IF YOUR IDEA OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING IS TO RETRAUMATIZE PEOPLE AND SHARE THEIR GRIEF WITH THE WORLD AND PROFIT SOCIALLY AND FINANCIALLY YOU'RE NOT JUST A SHITTY STORYTELLER YOU'RE ACTUALLY EVIL

Social engineering vulnerable fucking people making them relive the most horrifying experiences of their lives just so you can edit some music straight out of a midnaughts thriller over the footage is UNETHICAL IMMORAL and tbh you're probably going to hell

You got access but... Should you? You got the footage but should the footage be shared?

You found archival footage of the dead and dying but didn't ask what right do you have to share it either

if you can't think of a better way to tell the story than to shock and awe the audience into the illusion of empathy

if you can't be kind to the story and the storytellers

maybe you're just not the right person. maybe you just don't fit

I don't really want to get into the responsibility of a festival in terms of content they give platform to because i've been an organizer i've been on screening juries w/e it's a hard fucking job but BOY HotDocs got me FIRED UP this morning

yes the festival carries a responsibility but more than anything there is a collective responsibility that isn't really being honoured. the stories are painful and difficult to carry and they need to be remembered but it is our collective responsibility to be KIND

be kind to stories and to storytellers be kind to survivors be kind to haunted places be kind to the dead and their families. be RESPECTFUL.