Kirsten Johnson has shot close to 50 documentary films over the past 25 years, many of which deal with harsh subjects like rape and mass murder. Footage from her body of work is what comprises Cameraperson, yet anyone worried about seeing any of these atrocities onscreen can rest easy. Johnson's role was in talking to the survivors. Her projects have taken her all over the world, ranging from Bosnia to Nigeria to Alabama. The clips are often very short and feel incomplete, and in some cases, Johnson returns to them. Many of the clips that appear side by side share a thematic thread, such as viewing how people in different parts of the world are dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Sometimes we see two different perspectives, like when a young African American woman struggles to explain why she needs to get an abortion and then later in the movie, we visit a Nigerian clinic where a midwife desperately tries to keep a newborn alive.
While it is easy for much of the footage to seem randomly thrown together, we eventually realize it is not, especially when Johnson brings in clips of her mother shortly before she died after a battle with Alzheimer's. We meet her children. Despite so much of her personality being evident throughout the movie, Johnson herself only appears onscreen once. But that doesn't mean we don't get to know her as the movie progresses. Cameraperson is not just the chronicle of a career, but a deeply felt portrait of how this filmmaker came to see the world. We are now experiencing the lives and behaviors of multiple cultures just as she has, and the effect is nothing short of mesmerizing. Just like Johnson, we have empathy for the people sharing their thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to expressing how they deal with the conditions they live in (such as two women explaining why they have to cut down a dead tree for firewood).
Johnson is rarely heard speaking either, only asking questions or giving "direction" on a few occasions. We are reminded that even though this is real life we are seeing, there is also a movie to be made. I was quite amazed at some of the footage Johnson was able to get and how candidly some of the subjects spoke with her. It's a testament to her not only as a filmmaker but as a human being, as I can't always imagine it was easy for some of these stories to be told (there's a scene involving a young man describing how he lost sight in his left eye that is gut wrenching). As I mentioned, all of this is intercut with Johnson's own family, possibly as a way to bring her back to her own reality. Or could it be a way to preserve the memories should her fate be the same as her mother's? Cameraperson is a very special movie, one I will never forget and am anxious to see again. Given the way it is structured, there will be always be a wealth to rediscover. It is unquestionably one of the most unique and unforgettable memoirs I have seen. I urge you to watch it on the biggest screen you can find.
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(c) Hell and Beyond, 2016.
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