How we did it: Tourist trap

Documentary filmmakers are often drawn to faraway places, stories and subjects foreign to their everyday lives. What are the impulses and influences that lead them far from home and the challenges of making films abroad? How do they avoid the tourist trap of looking outside in, and for a limited time only? This isn’t just a question of access and personal investment, but also one of morality; how does a filmmaker go from being an outsider to an insider, from passive listener to active participant, and determine right from wrong in an environment outside of their time zone and comfort zone?

FEATURING

DUGMA – THE BUTTON (Norway) PAUL S. REFSDAL: Director

MOVING TARGET (Denmark) TANJA WOL SØRENSEN: Director RIKKE TAMBO ANDERSEN: Producer

DON JUAN (Sweden) JERZY SLADKOWSKI: Director

Featured Films

title
|
year
|
country
|
genre
|
director
|
min

Don Juan

Jerzy Sladkowski

Oleg is a 22-year-old autistic boy in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, seeking approval and love from his condemning mother. Despite being surrounded by people wanting to help him, no one >

Jerzy Sladkowski

Oleg is a 22-year-old autistic boy in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, seeking approval and love from his condemning mother. Despite being surrounded by people wanting to help him, no one >

Documentary

Sweden
Finland

2015

92'

Dugma – The Button

Paul S. Refsdal

When al Qaida in Syria is up against a seemingly impenetrable enemy position, it calls in the Martyrdom Seekers – volunteers who drive vehicles loaded with tonnes of explosives towards the enemy >

Paul S. Refsdal

When al Qaida in Syria is up against a seemingly impenetrable enemy position, it calls in the Martyrdom Seekers – volunteers who drive vehicles loaded with tonnes of explosives towards the enemy >

Documentary

Norway

2016

58'

Moving Target

Tanja Wol Sørensen

Ruby rides in the back of an armoured car while a bodyguard sits beside the driver. As a human rights advocate working in Colombia, she speaks out on behalf of victims of the long-running conflict >

Tanja Wol Sørensen

Ruby rides in the back of an armoured car while a bodyguard sits beside the driver. As a human rights advocate working in Colombia, she speaks out on behalf of victims of the long-running conflict >

Documentary

Denmark

2016

31'