From that first encounter at the Silverbirch Hotel in Omagh were born both the film and an exceptionally close and enduring partnership between makers and subjects which will be further reinforced tonight when the Omagh families are the first to see the finished version at a private screening.
Just last week, data scientists, policy makers, and subject-matter experts collaborated to build solutions to some of the data gaps found in measuring and achieving the SDGs.
Both film-maker and subject have found the whole period revelatory and transformative.
It's true that what made Grey Gardens so groundbreaking was the way it blurred the lines between film-maker and subject.
In theory, we can stand to watch practically anything in documentary, as long as we have an implicit understanding of what sort of contract is implied between film-maker and subject on one hand, and film-maker and audience on the other.
It is Les Blank's boldly experimental, very indulgent film from 1974 about the country-rocker Leon Russell; a film withheld for decades owing to disagreements between film-maker and subject, and inevitable wrangles about music rights; it only reached the public after Blank's death in 2013.
The relational aspect of image-making removed the lens as bulwark between image-maker and subject for Tim.
Films like this are all about forging trust between film maker and subject, while at the same time recognising that each come from different locations.
Policy-makers and subject matter specialists, for example, choose topics and subjects that they feel are necessary and desirable in order to achieve predetermined outcomes.
The lead up to their talk featured Chinese "guanxi" at its best, which is the art of gaining access to public officials, deal makers and other desired subjects through well cultivated relationships.
Anyone with an interest in the research agenda on norm diffusion, normative power and the EU's normative dialogue with the world will find this book highly valuable, including scholars, policy makers and students of subjects including political science, European studies, international relations and international and EU law.
