Ric Bienstock: capturing horrible, beautiful things

By Meghan Young

Once upon a time, a man and a woman, favoured above all else, lived in Paradise. Until, of course, human nature got the better of them. Yet if it weren’t for a snake, an apple, or — ahem — a woman, Ric Esther Bienstock wouldn’t be the award-winning documentary producer and director she is today. As Ric sees it, “I think this world is full of horrible and beautiful and crazy things most of us are curious about. There’s always satisfaction in bringing a tragic or ‘important’ issue to the public’s attention.”

Born to two Holocaust survivors, Ric surprisingly “had a pretty unremarkable childhood.” On the road to becoming a lawyer, her interest in theatre and media led her to Africa. “This was going to be a fabulous 13-week shoot across nine countries … at the same time I also received my acceptance letter from U of T law school.” To her parent’s chagrin, she took flight and never looked back. “After travelling through Africa, I realized I wanted to continue making documentary films.” According to Ric, it took “20 years and a couple of Emmys” for her parents finally to come around.

Ric’s work has led the media to peg her as “courageous.” She disagrees: “The truth is, if I’m excited about telling a specific story, I just focus on what kind of material I want to get to tell that story and the danger doesn’t really play an important role in what I choose to film.” Modesty aside, it does take some pluck to cover everything “from Ebola, to porn, to boxing, to trafficking human beings.”

“Being a populist at heart,” Ric realizes that “in today’s media-saturated environment, you really have to tell a good yarn to keep people watching.”

Having spent so much of her time searching for “bad apples,” Ric admits: “I have to force myself to remember that people are basically good [even though] I do feel that I’ve witnessed the worst of what human beings can be.” With that said, surrounding herself with a “wonderful, supportive, and infinitely patient husband as well as two delicious children” must offset these “evil topics” better than anything else could. And even though Ric has travelled the world, her favourite place by far “is sitting in my bed with my children on either side of me, cuddling as we read a book.”

Meghan Young is the Women's Post assistant editor.