Cameraperson is a 2016 documentary film that was directed by veteran cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Johnson traveled to many different countries around the world, such as, Foča, Bosnia; Kano, Nigeria; Nakisenyi, Uganda; Sana’a, Yemen; Kabul, Afghanistan, and several places around the United States. All of the scenes in this film were originally shot for several other films and Johnson wanted to combine all of the scenes and create a memoir. Some of the scenes are not actually final cuts, but really clips of her trying to set up the camera and the angles. Johnson weaves these scenes and creates a documentary of her professional and personal life as a cameraperson.
I believe this documentary was really interesting, but very depressing as well. As the film progressed, I got more and more upset about learning about the horrible events that led to ruining people’s lives. There was always someone talking about war, rape, death, and various atrocities that took place. This world can be such a scary and dangerous place. The questions that I was thinking about were how can humans commit acts of violence to other humans? How can people be so inhumane and merciless? It really just baffles my mind. The scenes that made me tear up was when the health clinic patient was talking about her abortion, Najibullah was telling the story of his brother’s death, and the midwife trying to revive a newborn. All of these scenes were incredibly heartbreaking. Johnson even interviewed her mother, but she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease:( I feel blessed and fortunate to be living the life that I am in the United States. Overall, this documentary was interesting and a real eye opener.
