Marcella Ernest
An interview with
Marcella Ernest Experimental documentary is a genre which is gaining popularity today: audience seems more open minded towards nonlinear narration, however the question seems to be more profound: it deals with the importance to not present a unique thinking, to not offer an "incontrovertible truth" to the viewer, and at the same time, exploring social themes with a personal sensibility. What's your view on that?
is in direct opposition to my formal training in documentary production that very clearly defines audience as a primary component to the overall film. In other words, in the pre-production stages, documentary as a genre asks, who is this for? Who are you speaking to? In many ways, this determines the order of narrative and what information needs thorough explanation, and also what the historical foundation of storyline should be. In contrast, the genre of experimental does not ask for anything linear, and often times does not expect a narrative at all. In the fusion of these two unique genres, there is a juxtaposition of aesthetic that has a potential to create important spaces that approach true-life narratives
The framing of this question creates a great definition of “experimental documentary� as a genre. Thank you for articulating it so well. Audience is always something I consider when creating a new piece. But to merely consider it,
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