Film keynote speaker and Academy-Award nominated director Darren Aronofsky is the founder of Protozoa Pictures and director of mother!, Noah, Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream, and Pi, among others. This was Aronofsky’s first year speaking at SXSW. He introduced what he believes are the ten commandments of indie film. Some of these included the following:
- Make the film only you can make.
- Persistence is nine-tenths of the game.
- Do your homework.
- Adapt to reality and make your limitations into advantages.
- Don’t be afraid of your actors.
- Where is my audience?
- Commit to the vision.
- Let your child go.
- Give a shit.
Aronofsky described how storytelling is experiential, and film, specifically, continues to be a great tradition of ancient art. He said, “I realized stories are a universal language we all share, and the most modern tool for storytelling is filmmaking.”
In addition, Aronofsky discussed the unique power film has to communicate and move audiences. “Film is so exciting when it is used in a humanist way because it reminds us that we are all one,” he commented.
When telling a story through filmmaking, Aronofsky believes you need to become the audience. He said, “we are not making films for ourselves; we are making it for an audience.”
In regard to working successfully with actors, Aronofsky commented, “as long as there is honesty and truth, you’ll have a good relationship with your actors.”
He advised aspiring filmmakers to focus on human love and help try to save the world. “Art is about disruption and [filmmaking] has to be extremely honest and human,”Aronofsky said. Most importantly, he encouraged filmmakers to “go be artists and entertainers as well.”
The Making Film & Episodics panel Doc Filmmakers on How to Tell a True Crime Story was hosted by award-winning journalist Tamron Hall and featured speakers Erin Lee Carr from HBO and Netflix, Deborah S. Esquenazi from Deborah S. Esquenazi Productions, and Ryan White from Tripod Media.
Hall said, “when you cover crime form any perspective, you try to find the bright spot.”
The panelists discussed the growing fascination with true crime content among audience members, as well as filmmakers. They addressed the challenged they faced when creating such emotional and personal stories, specifically as they relate to “life and death” and “innocence and guilt.”
Esquenazi believes viewers are addicted to true crime because of the adrenaline of it. She said, “there’s something about the dark side or shadow side that we wanna see.”
This lineup of documentary filmmakers broke down how they balance representing their subjects and victims appropriately. They examined the realities of “exposing the cracks in our justice system” because they have covered such dangerous territories.
The work these filmmakers covered is more than about just one individual committing a crime. More specifically, they chose to investigate stories about a whole organization that is covering something up. These true crime productions include The Keepers, Southwest of Salem, and Mommy Dead and Dearest.
“You are going to bring someone down you know deserves it,” Hall commented, and “you are potentially saving a life in the future.” Moreover, White said, “We have the power to hold people accountable.”
Check out Erin Lee Carter during the panel Doc Filmmakers on How to Tell a True Crime Story.
To learn more, check out the productions from the the panelists featured at Doc Filmmakers on How to Tell a True Crime Story: Mommy Dead and Dearest, The Keepers, and Southwest of Salem.
Featured image: SXSW