Chinese autobiographical documentaries: toward an ethics of filming

The article is devoted to autobiographical documentaries on the topic of self-therapy, which have been popular in China in the last three years. Using the example of the films "Small Talk" and "Gather before the Jump", the article analyzes how the characters in films with the help of dialogues build their image as "victims of family relations" and completing the plot of self-healing. The author notes that the directors of such films are often too immersed in their own traumatic experiences, to the point that they use the camera as a tool to defend their personal position, and not as a path to self-awareness. They overlook the influence of the passage of time on the validity of traumatic memories and do not monitor equality when communicating with their parents. As a result of the directors' cognitive biases, the representation of traumatic experiences in films is not completely objective. Based on the theory of cognitive psychology and the theory of film psychoanalysis, the author of the article concludes that the discussion of the author's subjectivity should be extended to the subjectivity of his cognitive structure, and not to the personalization of artistic expression. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption that, although such documentaries with a subjective perspective can help the director express his inner feelings, in fact, the arguments given in the author in defense of his personal position. This does not create a general picture of the event; for example, during a film screening in a group, the subjective position of the author forms a unanimous negative attitude among the audience towards the issue of childhood trauma. The article discusses performance, subjectivity and ethical issues that take place in such films. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of this "video practice, which is part of the sphere of everyday life", which distinguish it from other non—functional narrative practices. The article reveals the methods of documentary film, which allow to bridge the gap between the representation of the film and the actual reality.

autobiography documentary, Chinese documentary, director's subjectivity, self-healing, family trauma, filming behavior, self-schema, performance, reflexivity, intersubjectivity