The “I” in Documentary

Panel Discussion

SAT 03.17 | 12:30PM Opera Plaza | THEI17 | 90mins

When Spencer Nakasakos A.K.A. DON BONUS burst onto the independent documentary world in 1996, the film brought the plight of Southeast Asian immigrants into the limelight and touched a nerve with many viewers with its visceral and intimate first-person delivery of one Cambodian familys struggle to survive in the United States. Since the mid-1990s, many Asian American filmmakers have been emboldened, not only by films like Nakasakos but also by the advent of some great pro-sumer camera technology, to pick up a camera and tell their own stories in the first person. Many have taken on a similar unapologetically raw presentation of their own lives, while others choose other ways to present their stories. This panel addresses the issues and questions behind the personal documentary format, especially as it relates to the Asian American filmmaking community. How do filmmakers decide whether to insert themselves in their own films? To what degree? In what fashion? How does one recognize the line between self-indulgence and whats essential to the story-telling? What are some of the trends shaping this category; where is it going and what are the implications for documentary filmmakers?

PANELISTS
Deann Borshay Liem | Filmmaker, FIRST PERSON PLURAL
Doan Hoang | Filmmaker, OH, SAIGON
Socheata Poeuv | Filmmaker, NEW YEAR BABY

MODERATOR
Anne del Castillo | Associate Director, Development & Special Projects, P.O.V.