One of the most
recognized and imitated documentary film conventions is the interview. Since
the invention of portable sound equipment and the television, the interview has
become an ubiquitous presence in the non-fiction genre for half a century. As a
dominant documentary technique, the interview deserves rigorous study, and yet
academic writings on this topic are insufficient. Film scholar Leger Grindon
attempts to fill this gap in the literature by proposing an analytical
framework in his essay, “Q&A: Poetics of the Documentary Film
Interview ” (2007) Grindon begins an important dialogue on the
principles and aesthetics of the interview, but his approach neglects to cover important principles and aesthetic elements.He also fails to adequately address key perspectives such as the contributions of
female and minority directors.
Girlhood tracks the lives of Megan and Shanae, two girls locked up in a juvenile detention center. In the tradition of Jean Rouch, director Liz Garbus asks questions that seek to uncover personal truths. Megan's honest and vulnerable responses testifies to the trust developed as Garbus stayed involved in Megan's life for several years.
The limitations and
oversights of Grindon's scholarship create an opportunity to craft a more
refined poetics of the documentary film interview, one that is applicable to
filmmakers and spectators alike. While Grindon's five categories form the
beginning of an analytical approach to the interview, he makes the
mistake of discounting Bill Nichols significant contributions to the topic. Nichols
accurately contends that, “Like the ethical issues concerning the space
between filmmaker and subject and how it is negotiated, a parallel set of
political issues of hierarchy and control, power and knowledge surround the
interview.” By applying Nichols theory to Grindon's five categories,
an enriched methodology begins to emerge. In addition, each category should be
scrutinized for limitations and inaccuracies, as well as strengths. Presence
should include point of view. If perspective concerns setting then time period,
as well as location, should be a factor. Pictorial context should take a deeper
look into the unique ways documentary films juxtapose interviews and images.
Performance should consider the director's motivations and manipulation of the
interview. Finally, polyvalence, as well as all other categories should
consider the ways in which the hierarchies between filmmaker and subject
influence the individual interviews, as well as the overall effect. All of
these five categories should be applied equitably to the contributions of both
male and female documentary filmmakers, as well as to minority directors. The
practice, as well as the theory, should consider the politics of power and
strive for “conversation” and not “psuedo-dialogue.”
Director Sarah Polley uses a reflexive approach to interviewing her family members and friends in "Stories We Tell."