This article argues that the conventional talking witness documentary by relying on memory of experience as evidence employs an inherently conservative politics of truth. Using a recent Kurdish video 5 No.lu Cezaevi/Prison No. 5 (Cayan Demirel 2009) as a case study it considers the opportunities and limitations of the talking witness form as well as its appeals. The essay pays special attention to the documentary's use of mimetic' affective engagement to break into the moral and conceptual space ...