Abstract: The article is devoted to autobiographical documentaries on the topic of self-therapy, which have been popular in China in the last three years. Using the example of the films "Small Talk" and "Gather before the Jump", the article analyzes how the characters in films with the help of dialogues build their image as "victims of family relations" and completing the plot of self-healing. The author notes that the directors of such films are often too immersed in their own traumatic experiences, to the point that they use the camera as a tool to defend their personal position, and not as a path to self-awareness. They overlook the influence of the passage of time on the validity of traumatic memories and do not monitor equality when communicating with their parents. As a result of the directors' cognitive biases, the representation of traumatic experiences in films is not completely objective. Based on the theory of cognitive psychology and the theory of film psychoanalysis, the author of the article concludes that the discussion of the author's subjectivity should be extended to the subjectivity of his cognitive structure, and not to the personalization of artistic expression. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption that, although such documentaries with a subjective perspective can help the director express his inner feelings, in fact, the arguments given in the author in defense of his personal position. This does not create a general picture of the event; for example, during a film screening in a group, the subjective position of the author forms a unanimous negative attitude among the audience towards the issue of childhood trauma. The article discusses performance, subjectivity and ethical issues that take place in such films. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of this "video practice, which is part of the sphere of everyday life", which distinguish it from other non—functional narrative practices. The article reveals the methods of documentary film, which allow to bridge the gap between the representation of the film and the actual reality.

Abstract: The object of the study is a Chinese documentary about self-therapy. Documentaries about self-therapy have become the main focus of the work of young Chinese documentary filmmakers over the past two years. They often act in front of the audience as victims in the family. Such films are mostly very touching. Directors are often rated as brave and courageous, as they openly talk about their traumatic experiences, directly confront their parents and demand that they admit their mistakes. However, behind all this, serious ethical problems related to the shooting method remain unnoticed. The author analyzes in detail the film "Small Talk", a representative of Chinese documentaries about self—therapy. Special attention is paid to the rhetorical techniques used by director Huang Huidu in the film. The aim of the study is to compare the camera with a tool that promotes communication and self—reflection, rather than with a weapon of violence and self-defense. To study the texture of the film, a strategy of reading with commentary is used, perspectives are involved, knowledge of jurisprudence and psychoanalysis is used to question the authenticity of the first-person narrative, and ethical problems in the director's approach are indicated. The novelty of the research lies in the development of the ethical aspect identified by Paul Arthur in his study of documentaries about self-therapy, namely "murder on screen", which is insufficiently studied in subsequent studies. The study argues that in order to study the ethical aspects of documentaries about self-therapy, it is necessary to analyze the rhetorical actions of the director. Thereby finding out how he hides his aggressiveness. The study found that the director, firstly, creates an image of the victim, thus allowing the audience to listen to his story sympathetically, but ignores the violence to which the mother is subjected during filming, namely: reveals the mother's private life without permission, forcibly forces her to act, deprives her of her voice and distorts her image. Secondly, the director took on the role of an analyst to convince the audience that the film reflects objective facts, not subjective ones. The study convinces that the director's self—medication methods are unscientific, therefore, the cure in the finale of the film is false.