INTERVENTION VS. OBSERVATION IN TV DOCUMENTARY (MASTERCLASS)

Observational cinema,”neutrality”, “no-commentary”, or direct intervention and interference? What is the best way of capturing the truth of a story?

In 2004, Director Liviu Tipurita was hired by the BBC to develop a series of observational documentaries entitled “Through The Eyes Of..”. The idea was to explore current issues, from the perspective of common people who were at the very heart of stories that were making the headlines at the time in the UK. A few years later, Liviu was making a documentary for ITV, on another headlines-grabbing subject, but this time with a very different approach… 

Multi-award winning Director/Producer Liviu Tipurita discusses the pros and cons of two very different ways of making prime-time TV documentaries, illustrating with sequences from two of his films – The Terror Suspect’s Dad (BBC) and  Shoplifters – Caught On Camera (ITV).

LIVIU TIPURITA - MASTRECLASS / 3h

>> HABITUS, 8 October, 13.00-16.00 PM

Liviu Tipurita is a Bafta-nominated director. He has worked in television for twenty years with flagship TV documentary strands in the UK and US – at the BBC (Panorama, This World), CHANNEL 4 (Cutting Edge), ITV, CNN (CNN Presents), NBC (Dateline) and CBS (60 Minutes). Liviu has won over a dozen prestigious international awards including The George Polk Award, Foreign Press Award and The Royal Television Society Award.

Liviu has recently completed his first feature film Numbers Joe, filmed in London, which will be launched in 2015.

Born and raised in Sibiu, Romania, Liviu moved to the UK at the age of 20 to study filmmaking in Newcastle and Edinburgh. He has been living and working in London for the last 15 years.  He is a member of BAFTA, Directors UK and the Directors Guild of Great Britain.