The completion of any documentary is always something of a miracle: securing funding, accessing participants willing to open their lives to the camera over months, sometimes years, bringing it to audiences. But a small number of films take these challenges to new heights, rendering people, spaces and institutions that are largely invisible — for legal or practical reasons — and making them visible through the camera’s eye. The filmmakers on this panel take us into such places as the inner sanctum of a family court in Tallahassee, Florida and a private Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Ocilla, Georgia. How did these filmmakers and visual journalists access these near impossible spaces, and what were the logistical, ethical and legal considerations they had to undertake once filming became possible.