About the guide
You don’t need to film in a conflict zone to consider your safety.
In an increasingly autocratic world, too many government and political leaders have labeled the media — commercial, public, independent — as the enemy. Government censorship and digital surveillance are on the rise, funders are cautious, public media is struggling, and corporations are picking and choosing what to put on their platforms to avoid anything that might put them out of favor with those who influence their bottom lines or have the power to shut them down.
Your Safer Film Guide provides practical advice and guidance, tools, ideas, and examples to support you to take necessary risks to bring truth to power, through all phases of documentary filmmaking — from development to distribution. In addition to your physical safety and wellbeing, we want you to know what you can do to keep your communications and footage secure, as well as the steps you can take to lessen the likelihood of being arrested, detained, sued, or having your production shut down. We want to help you to talk with your team and participants, so they understand the risk they're taking on too.
Doc Society did not create this Guide because we want you to shy away from stories; we created it to support your efforts to bring truth to power. As far as we’re concerned, the voice of independent media is the last line of defence against autocracy.
Use the Guide to ensure you're in the best position to keep yourself, your crew, your participants, and your film safer, as safe as you possibly can be.