I’ve never conducted a Skype interview before and knowing of all the technical problems that arise with an interview in person – let alone a Skype interview makes me a little bit nervous.

We’ve scheduled a Skype interview with Claire in the next couple of days and all we can do is prepare all the tech that we need: fully charged DSLR with another fully charged battery and 2 SIM cards with enough space on them, a H4n microphone in case we need the necessary sound grabs, a working computer and an air-tight room. Thankfully, Rohan suggested the edit suites so we were able to book ahead and be comfortable and familiar with the room itself. Below is a list of questions we plan to ask Mary, Carli and Claire:

MARY (Psychologist)

Broad

• What does a cult look like? (You mentioned 4 different types: political, commercial, religious, therapeutic (guru)). Are there any patterns that occur within these different cult groups?

• What was life like before Paddy entered?
• How did you realise that something was wrong
• What was your children’s relationship with Paddy like
• How did you make the decision to cut all ties with the cult
• Is there anything you would have done differently?

Now

• What are some of the tactics commonly used by cult leaders
• What are you doing now? (helping people get out of cults)
• Is there any advice you’d give to parents going through the same thing today?

CARLI
Broad / set up

• For someone who knows nothing about the group, would you be able to describe it to me?
• How did you first get involved in the group?
• What did the group teach?
• What did the group believe in?

During

• What activities did they make you participate in? (get her to describe)
• Did you have to wear anything in particular?
• If you feel comfortable discussing, what were some of the scare tactics they used against members?
• Can you describe to me the ‘survivors course’ for the 21st century?
• I read that Natasha claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Can you tell me about when she announced this?
• What was your relationship with Natasha like?

After

• At what point did you decide to leave the group?

CLAIRE
Intro

• (To start off) What is your name and what do you do?
• How would you define what a cult is?

First Cult

• What was your upbringing like? Were you exposed to the outside world? (School, pop culture etc.)
• What were some of their practices and teachings?
• When did you first realize you were living in a cult?
• How were your parents and family affected by their cult experience?

Second Cult

• What made you move to Melbourne when you were 18?
• Where did you meet your ex-husband (31 year old)? Why were you drawn to him?
• What made you decide to move to Nowra and join the Order?
• What were some of the practices and theories at that Doomsday cult? Was it any different from the first cult you were part of?
• What were the living arrangements like?

After

• What was the first day out of the cult like?
• What skills did you not have? And what did you have to learn?
• How did your children get affected by it?
• Does your kids still keep in contact with their father?

Broad

• It was mentioned in your BBC interview with Natacha Tormey that more than 70% of women make a majority of cult followers. Why do you think women are more of a target rather than men?
• What’s your take on religion now?
• Does sharing about your experience only bring back the pain you suffered or helped you heal?
• Is there anything you regret or wish you did differently?
• Any final words for us?

In reference to Rohan’s presentation in class, keep the questions broad yet succinct, and stay silent until they finish their answer! Fingers crossed everything goes well!!

Born into Brothels (2004) exposes the world to the realities of the sex trade in Calcutta, India. In particular, the children who were born and raised in one of India’s red light district. The film itself was fascinating and difficult at the same time for covering quite a confronting story, however, the filmmakers managed to condense the story to the innocence of the kids.

However, during our class discussion on Friday, many of us had raised more issues than praise for the documentary itself. I remember one time in class we discussed the ethics of adding yourself into structure and narrative of your short doco and how that could potentially change your intention for the film and manipulate your audience to view a particular subject a different way.

In Born into Brothels, director Zana Briski did so in what seemed like a film documenting the lives of the kids, became a story about how she “rescues” them from the oppression and life they’re living through. This is a clear example of the  White Saviour complex where “Western people [go] in to “fix” the problems of struggling nations or people of color without understanding their history, needs, or the region’s current state of affairs.

It’s scary to realise how much people have been heavily influenced by such a rhetoric and people of privilege are either ignorant about this or take full advantage of it. Another example is Kony 2012, where one polished video shared thousands of times on multiple social networks managed to convince hundreds of people to donate and partake in a “movement” to stop warlord Joseph Kony. However, the video itself oversimplified the entirety of the situation that the situation is described as “a humanitarian disaster” where other issues such as “militarization of poorer countries, short-sighted agricultural policies, resource extraction, the propping up of corrupt governments, and the astonishing complexity of long-running violent conflicts over a wide and varied terrain” should be considered. This article by Teju Cole articulates The White Saviour Complex eloquently. 

Surprisingly, Born into Brothels won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. the Oscar speech itself reflects just how much the true intention was lost during the filmmaking process.