Accounts and accountability

Across the course of a single day, a documentary-maker hosts an open-call audition for subjects to star in her next project. Accounts and Accountability offers a dive into the ethics of buying and selling true stories.

With music composed by Eliza Niemi
Sound Recording by Fivel Rothberg
Assistant Producers: Kristine White, Kyle Damiao, Jose Salazar and Emma Rose Brown
Special thanks to Sean Hanley, David Pavlovsky, and Kelly Anderson

Produced by Jess Shane
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

This piece first premiered BBC Lights Out S5. Listen here.

“Shane put out an advert for people to tell a dramatic personal story for a doc, and we hear from seven of those who answered – though not in traditional, telling-a-dramatic-personal-story documentary manner. Actually, we never hear their full tales. Instead, through clever cutting and interweaving of what could be called extracurricular audio, we arrive at a strong impression of what sort of people the speakers are. Throughout, Shane reminds them of the strange contract between documentary-maker and subject: if your story is recorded and then edited by someone who is not you, is that story still yours? A fascinating, compelling piece.”

- As reviewed in The Guardian

“We watch people baring their souls in documentaries and wonder whether they’ve really considered the repercussions of what they’re doing. The first episode of the new series of Lights Out gets under the skin of what’s almost a modern Faustian pact. Canadian film-maker Jess Shane, who advertised for people to share their “personal true story” on camera, dwells on the business of the 50$ fee and the release form, and then grills her subjects about their reasons for discussing their traumas with strangers.” -David McGillivray for The Radio Times