Regarding categorization as a hammer, Canadian Richard Kerr stated that this tool may be used building or destroying, and he also dislikes using the word artist because it seamed something unattainable, although it is worthy trying to reach it. He also said to distance himself from militant and denouncing documentaries as the one who devotes to express the ideas of the author because he agrees with those who think that theory goes against poetry, and whenever he uses his mind gets in trouble. Kerr does not affiliate any sect, tribe or party though he is not far from political thoughts (he expresses great delight with Bush retirement), he would have never make a documentary based on those comments. "I like points of view but not tags", sated in total conviction.
Michael Chanan who has been one of the main Latin American cinema and documentary critics, historians, and theoreticians, says that the game rules have changed in the last 15 years. Internet and other technological advances allow accessing the very truth of a story wherever it comes from. We need a new film and a new documentary history which appraise not only how fiction influences documentary, but also the influence of documentary on fiction. I think that documentary language is as different as powerful, more than fiction does. Documentary maker expresses himself through others, and in the last years, there is a tendency to first person documentaries (Michael Moore, Nick Broomfield) and this alternative entails a close relation with the individual to express the other's discourse. There will never be good documentaries without respecting people, if there is ignorance of their needs".
The last discussion devoted to documentary as the future memory, the commitment of artist and documentary Esperanto was performed by Chanan, Lazara Herrera who is the director of Santiago Alvarez in Memoriam International Documentary, Australian documentary maker, Russell Porter and who is now the dean of Documentary Department at EICTV, Tom Weinberg, documentary maker and independent film producer in Chicago and who also has 35 year experience in alternative and community television and the creator of Medabum (http://www.mediaburn.org /), a film archive with more than 5000 video tapes of independent makings, and Ivan Trujillo, the now cultural attaché at Mexican embassy in Cuba and ex-director of UNAM film library in Mexico DF.
Canan in his speech stated that a story can be and must be rewritten as much as it needs. He explained this through a curious historical example: the process of electrification in Russia where General Electric took part. Chanan emphasizes the need for investigation, so he said archives could provide solution to specific searching, but it is hard to find a result if there is no a previous idea of what it is looked for. "Rewriting past is an act of present", he stated, whose stays at EICTV are recurrent at this time of the year.
Lazara Herrera referring Latin American ICAIC newsreel, which was directed by Santiago Alvarez, said it is an example of creation with few resources. Today, this newsreel is also an example of preserving and protection of film material, taking into account climate conditions and difficulties concerning budgets for such activities.
In this same line of thinking, Ivan Trujillo clearly expressed the importance of film preserving processes based on his vast experience in this task. By means of a direct and understandable language, Trujillo showed how history and habits of society can merge and feedback with the documentation of archive
Russell Porter referred the importance of archive preservation and the rewriting of past, he also exposed his conception of Esperanto documental which suggests a global thinking but a local acting, as there is an universal documental language, there is also a universal human condition. The key is, according to Porter, to explore these two notions. It is need to look inside the surface of its subjects and immediate characters to find the truth of human universe which is a part of everything.
Tom Weinberg, from the United States, tells about his experience as the creator of Mediabum in Chicago, and explained the advantages of digital solutions through which people can access a huge audiovisual back up, being aware of a detailed cataloguing that will help to access the information.
Cuban band, Interactivo, was invited for the closing of this first documentary filmmaker meeting at Glauber Rocha room, playing compositions especially made for this event. Unexpectedly, Teacher Jeronimo Labrada, made the sound mixing in life for the concert. This way, the documentary filmmaker's meeting, was about to end. It had a widely repercussion in Cuban and other international media.