Co-presented with doco3000

In documentary filmmaking, the aim to capture the subject can at times be elusive. How can a filmmaker explore a personality that won’t allow an audience in?

Genevieve Bailey is joined by MIFF 2016 directors David Farrier (Tickled), Robert Greene (Kate Plays Christine), Kim Snyder (Newtown) and Andrew Wiseman (On Richard’s Side) as they address the question of whether filmmakers can ever capture reality in documentary filmmaking.

Andrew Wiseman has worked as a producer and director for over 30 years. Combining drama and documentary work, he has created award-winning productions for Australian and international audiences. With a particular interest in the interplay between historical events and the present, recent drama titles include Parer’s War (2014), Sisters of War (2010) and Curtin (2007). Andrew’s documentaries focus on health-related and disability topics and include On Richard’s Side (2016), Shake Rattle and Roll (2005), Wonder Boy (2001) and Driving with Richard (1992).

David Farrier has been a television journalist in New Zealand for more than a decade, often covering light entertainment and ‘quirky’ news. It was in this way that he came across the weird world of Competitive Endurance Tickling. Tickled is David’s first feature film.

Kim Snyder is an award-winning filmmaker and producer. In 2000 Snyder made her directorial debut with the biographical I Remember Me, and this year her film Newtown is screening at MIFF. Newtown addresses the collective trauma of Newtown, Connecticut, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Primary School mass shooting. Snyder has always advocated for social change and has sought to bring this about through the medium of film.

Robert Greene's critically acclaimed documentaries include the Sundance award-winning Kate Plays Christine (2016) and the Gotham Awards-nominated Actress (2014). He has edited many award-winning films, including Queen of Earth (2015), Christmas, Again (2015), Listen Up Philip (2014) and Approaching the Elephant (2014). Robert writes about nonfiction film for Sight & Sound and serves as the Filmmaker-in-Chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri.

Genevieve Bailey grew up in Melbourne and her love of capturing moving images began early, from age eight. Since then, Genevieve has produced over 40 short films, documentaries and music videos that have screened internationally and have picked up over 25 awards to date. I Am Eleven, her first feature documentary, has won awards in Australia, USA, Spain, Brazil and France, and became the highest grossing Australian documentary to be released in the US. Genevieve was named one of Australia’s "Top Film and TV of directors of 2012" in the Encore and Mumbrella Annual. Melbourne Magazine also named her one of "Melbourne’s most influential, inspirational, provocative and creative people for 2011." Genevieve founded production company Proud Mother Pictures’and the Melbourne documentary community doco3000.