What Happens to Documentary Subjects After the Shoot?

After completing your documentary, what relationships do you maintain, if any, with the subjects of your films? After spending so much time with them and gaining the trust needed to tell their stories, do we just abandon them once we move on to the next project? How can we, or should we, stay involved in their lives? What is our ethical responsibility to the communities we center in our films? Panelists explore how we can make the films we create an instrumental part in improving the situations of the subjects we profile, and how working with affinity orgs can ensure that things are moving in the right direction, taking strong steps forward toward improving their situations. Panelists discuss how to protect their subjects and connect the distribution deals made for the films to the betterment of the lives of the participants, and protect those who often face backlash, political retaliation or the sudden effects of new found fame outside their communities. Moderator: Jennica Carmona Documentarians: Roy Cohen and Jason Goldman Far From Maine - Roy Cohen - Haunted by the killing by Israeli police of a Palestinian friend from his youth, an Israeli filmmaker embarks on a cinematic dialogue across time — confronting memory, friendship, and the genocide unfolding today. Roy Cohen is a filmmaker, writer and activist based in Tel Aviv. A Film Independent and Dok.Incubator fellow, he is the recipient of the Clayton-Goldrich Award. His 2026 poetic doc, "Far from Maine", premiered at IFF Rotterdam. His previous film, "Machine of Human Dreams", premiered at CPH:DOX and DOC NYC. As a journalist, Roy writes regularly for 972, and has published in The Guardian, Freitag and The Montreal Review. Riverkeeper - Jason Goldman - Veteran riverkeeper, Dr. Jackie Echols, protects the environment and majority Black communities throughout the South River watershed in metro Atlanta. When the city begins construction on the largest police training facility in America (Cop City), she joins the growing resistance movement, revealing the hidden connection between corporate development, unchecked pollution, and environmental racism persistent throughout the region.