Editing Someone Else’s Truth: Ethics, Care and Craft in Documentary Storytelling
Balancing ethics, emotional truth, and storytelling craft in nonfiction filmmaking.
Documentary filmmaking gives you something both beautiful and dangerous: the power to shape someone else’s reality.
When someone sits in front of your camera, they are not simply providing footage to be edited. They are trusting you with memory, vulnerability, and sometimes the most fragile parts of their identity. Documentary editors and producers become interpreters of these moments. Each cut, transition, and narrative decision carries the potential to honor someone’s truth… or distort it.
Throughout my journey as a documentary editor, I have learned that storytelling is not only about narrative structure or emotional rhythm. It is about responsibility. Documentary filmmaking is an ethical practice as much as it is a creative one, and understanding that balance has been essential in my own journey, and may be valuable for others entering this field. There is no single correct way to approach documentary storytelling, but these are lessons that have shaped my personal philosophy as an editor and filmmaker.
Many of these ideas have been shaped through mentorship and professional experience, particularly through learning from professors at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), as well as mentors I encountered in my work with the National Geographic Society and PBS. Lessons I continue to learn every day.
Documentary Storytelling as an Ethical Responsibility
Working in a documentary means working with someone else’s truth. Every interview represents a deeply personal perspective shaped by memory, emotion, and lived experience. While filmmakers aim to construct interesting narratives, I have found it important to remain truthful to what subjects are expressing both emotionally and verbally.
Truth in documentary is rarely singular. Stories exist in layers, shaped by personal perception and cultural context. I believe that when filmmakers present one perspective, it is important to help audiences understand that it represents an individual experience rather than an absolute or universal reality.
Documentary films constantly navigate the tension between interpretation and truth. Emotion is undeniably at the heart of effective storytelling. As renowned editor Walter Murch notes, “Emotion, at the top of the list, is the thing that you should try to preserve at all costs.” Emotional storytelling allows audiences to connect deeply with subjects, but that emotional power also requires accountability. I believe editors carry the delicate responsibility of trying to ensure emotional resonance does not unintentionally cross into manipulation or misrepresentation.
The influence of media is immense. Documentary films can shape public memory, cultural identity, and even political narratives. With that power comes the obligation to avoid causing harm. Creating empathy to me takes precedence over creating drama that can bring millions of views, but that can also be destructive instead of constructive.
Trust is perhaps the greatest gift a documentary subject offers a filmmaker. When individuals share their stories, they place their personal histories in the filmmaker’s hands. Honoring that trust means portraying subjects with dignity and respect. It does not mean avoiding complexity or difficult truths, but it does mean avoiding exploitation.
Letting the Story Write Itself
One of the most surprising lessons in documentary editing is that the story filmmakers expect is often not the story that ultimately emerges. Many projects begin with a clear narrative intention, but the footage frequently challenges those assumptions.
As an editor, I like to remain open and curious. Listening to footage is just as important as shaping it. For me, documentary editing has required patience, humility, and a willingness to allow the material to guide narrative discovery.
The work of legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker often reflects emotional rhythm and responsiveness to performance rather than imposing rigid structure. Documentary editing benefits from a similar sensitivity. The most authentic stories often surface when editors resist forcing structure too early and instead spend time understanding emotional patterns within the footage.
Choosing What Belongs in the Closet
One of the most practical yet transformative techniques in documentary editing involves how editors approach long interviews and large volumes of material.
When handed hours of interview footage, as editors we often face a temptation to delete sections we believe are unnecessary. However, a more effective approach is to first listen to everything, identify the core story, and then gather the moments that support that narrative.
One analogy that stayed with me from my professor Jennifer Hyde at SCAD is that editing a documentary is like organizing your closet. It is easier to bring in the clothes you need than to remove every item you do not want. By focusing on selecting meaningful moments rather than eliminating footage prematurely, editors preserve nuance and emotional continuity.
Interesting Characters in Dramatic Situations
Strong documentary storytelling often relies on two foundational elements: an interesting character and a dramatic or emotionally meaningful situation. This perspective was also deeply influenced by my professor, Jennifer Hyde, at the SCAD, whose teaching consistently emphasized the power of character-driven storytelling.
While documentaries often explore broad social issues, audiences connect with human experiences before they connect with ideas. Following one character allows viewers to develop empathy and emotional investment. Through that connection, larger social themes become more accessible and impactful.
Documentarian Ken Burns’ work reflects that history becomes meaningful when it is told through individual human stories, through shared human experiences. I’ve often noticed documentary storytelling becomes more emotionally resonant when filmmakers focus on human journeys alongside information.
The Importance of Organized Workflows
Creative storytelling depends heavily on technical organization. An organized workflow allows editors to focus on emotional and narrative construction rather than searching endlessly for footage.
Transcribing interviews has been one of the most valuable practices in my own editing workflow. Most editing software now include transcription tools that allow filmmakers to search interviews by keywords, dramatically improving efficiency. By building searchable archives and clearly labeling assets, editors create a system that supports creativity rather than interrupting it. Additionally, learning to use AI tools implemented in software such as the Premiere Pro Search Panel dramatically reduces search time for editors.
I’ve come to see organization not simply as a logistical step in documentary editing. It is a creative tool that enables deeper storytelling.
Interviewing: an Act of Listening
Interviewing is sometimes misunderstood as a process of asking the right questions. In reality, effective documentary interviewing is primarily about listening.
Preparation remains essential. Researching subjects and developing open-ended, story-driven questions helps create structure and direction. However, I’ve found that once interviews begin, filmmakers benefit from letting go of rigid scripts and respond to emotional cues in real time.
The most powerful interview moments often emerge when subjects feel genuinely heard. When interviewees sense empathy and connection, they naturally guide conversations toward their most meaningful experiences. In many cases, the subject, (not the filmmaker), leads the story to its most authentic destination.
Filming the Details (The Shared Human Experience)
Documentary storytelling frequently lives within small visual moments. Close attention to detail allows filmmakers to capture emotional truths that dialogue alone cannot convey.
Subtle gestures, such as fingers fidgeting, facial micro expressions, or environmental textures, often communicate internal emotional states. Personal objects, photographs, worn shoes, refrigerator magnets, or everyday household details, can reveal history, identity, and memory in deeply intimate ways.
Specificity creates emotional proximity. The more precise a filmmaker becomes visually, the more universal the emotional impact becomes.
Mentorship and Professional Experience
Many of these lessons have grown out of mentorship and professional experience. During my time studying at the SCAD, I had the privilege of learning from Professor Jennifer Hyde, a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer who spent over two decades producing documentary content at CNN. Her guidance continually reminded me that documentaries are built through patience, respect, and attentive listening rather than control.
My professional experiences have further reinforced these values. Working with the National Geographic Society exposed me to the importance of truth and rigorous fact-checking when telling stories. Editing documentary content for PBS deepened my understanding of storytelling as a service: one that educates, preserves history, and fosters empathy across communities. Additionally, creating my own documentary podcast Amores has taught me some of the most meaningful lessons of all: that documentary filmmaking can serve as a gift; one that honors lived experiences, strengthens human connection, and helps communities process cultural and historical trauma together.
Editing as an Act of Care
Editing is often described as the process of writing a film. In documentary storytelling, it is also an act of stewardship. Editors become temporary guardians of memories, personal histories, and cultural narratives that might otherwise fade or disappear.
When filmmakers allow stories to guide them, rather than forcing predetermined narratives, I’ve found the films often feel more authentic, emotional, respectful, and impactful. Documentary filmmaking is not simply about capturing reality. It is about caring for it, preserving it, and presenting it with honesty and compassion.
In the end, documentary storytelling is less about controlling truth and more about protecting it.
