IMA alum Sarah Ema Friedland published an article in the winter edition of Filmmaker Magazine called, The Carrier Bag Theory of Nonfiction Filmmaking: What Documentarians Can Learn from Ursula K. Le Guin
She writes, “It should have been no surprise that it was so hard to find documentary films about labor organizing that do not revolve around a strike. The documentary film industry loves action-driven, conflict-oriented storytelling. We documentarians often find ourselves looking for or exaggerating conflict to heighten the stakes and make our work fit into a palatable three-act structure: a hero (or a small group of heroes) journeys forward in time through rising action and turning points toward a neat resolution. Reality is messier and much more interesting than this structure. As makers, teachers, gatekeepers and audiences of nonfiction, how do we break free from this singular approach to storytelling, and why is it imperative that we do so?”
https://filmmakermagazine.com/117756-the-carrier-bag-theory-of-nonfiction-filmmaking-ursula-k-le-guin
https://sarahfriedland.com
