This film is a great vehicle to discuss race and ethics in your company, community or educational institution. The workshops are conducted by the filmmakers, director Fendelman and producer Dr. Sanchez, an expert in critical race theory. Choose one of our pre-designed workshops or receive a customized offer for your needs.
Workshop 1
“Racism, Rhetoric, and Ethics: A Workshop on Documentary Filmmaking”
Length: 1-3 hrs
Description: In this workshop, we use raw interview footage from “Man on Fire” and other films to discuss interview ethics and analyze how people rhetorically position themselves in discussing race and racism. To begin, we will show some interviews from “Man on Fire” and other contemporary documentaries and will talk about our specific process in approaching sensitive subject matter. We will then show extended clips from the film to further discuss how this approach worked, didn’t work, and the ethical gray area in non-fiction filmmaking. Lastly, we will guide people in rhetorically analyzing people’s responses to questions, looking specifically at the discursive and non-discursive knowledge being shared on camera. This will culminate in a final sequence in which we will role play, asking difficult interview questions and thinking about ways to use interview ethics in action. Open to all group sizes.
Workshop 2
“Discussing Implicit Bias in the Workplace or Classroom”
Length: 1-2 hrs
Description: A workshop discussing implicit bias and micro aggressions built around raw footage from “Man on Fire.” This workshop provides examples of implicit bias from interviews in the film and asks audiences to label the bias and its underlying meaning from a rhetorical and critical race theory perspective. Open to all group sizes.
Workshop 3
“The Salt of the Earth: A Workshop on Whiteness, White Supremacy, and Documentary Filmmaking”
Length: 1-2 hrs
Description: The discussion on how whiteness influences everyday conversations about race in Grand Saline, Texas (location of this documentary film). This workshop focuses on how whiteness pervades in society and how to locate, label, and understand white privilege and white supremacy in contemporary society. Open to all group sizes.
Allow us to customize a workshop for your students or employees!
James and Joel are able to combine their unique skill sets to create a workshop for students or employees that has strong academic roots and is yet still inviting and accessible to all. With stark honesty and humor, they create a comfortable space for dialogue and reflexivity. Whether it is a workshop on ethics in documentary filmmaking or a dive into implicit bias in everyday life, the filmmakers are able to use both personal experience and experiences in filmmaking to spark poignant and introspective dialogue that not only creates a conversation about difficult issues but elevates it.