Speaking For, Speaking About, Speaking With, or Speaking Alongside — An Anthropological and Documentary Dilemma

Questions of voice, authority, and authorship have become a serious concern among documentary filmmakers and anthropologists. Who can represent someone else, with what intention, in what "language," and in what environment is a conundrum that characterizes the postmodern era. In this essay, I explore some of the responses to these problems by focusing on the relationship between documentary/ethnographic filmmakers and the people they film-in particular, the development of cooperative, collaborative and subject-generated films. The social, political and epistemological implications of filmmakers sharing or relinquishing their power is discussed.