Amie's tips on how to be a good documentary filmmaker

· Take your time and to tell a story
The key to good documentary filmmaking is to really slow down, take your time to observe, to absorb and respond to life, says Amie. Sounds like a good plan to beat the stresses of everyday life already! "Even in camerawork, you just sort of stay in one place and not rush towards an image or conclusion; the camera would find things that you never even saw were there in the first place."

· Do a lot of background reading
"I don't try to be an insider because I will always be an outsider. Respect an outsider-insider relationship and I try to address that in my films. I'll try to make people feel that we are on an equal level and I'm not concluding about their lives. It's really an encounter."

And women, Amie says, are naturally gifted in that way.

"The way we (women) approach things is a little bit more collaborative, a little bit more of a listening to all the voices, taking your time and trying to represent all the these voices. Becoming a mother, I see that more and more. How my filmmaking is making me become a better mother."

· Give It Up
What happens when that interesting person you wish to film doesn't want to talk to you? Amie would spend time with them but sometimes, she still would be rejected in the end and have to settle for a subject less ideal. Her advice: Give it up.

"In documentary, what you might think you need, if you give it up, you will find something else which might be even better. Which brings me back to what I was saying earlier that you don't know where it's gonna take you. And that's what I like about it. It's very freeing in that way."

· Be Open
Unlike feature or fiction films, which have, in most cases, definite and linear story lines, the beauty of documentaries is that they are open-ended.

"With documentaries I always approach it in the way that I'm open for anything to happen which is really frustrating which is why many of my films take 5 to 6 years to comple.

"But that's life…. There's mystery and there's no finite end to anything. That is what inspires me. Especially in the edit room, is to find ways of shaping your piece that allows for that mystery, that open-endedness."

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