Facts and Figurals: Documentary Film
The very first films were documents. How did documents become documentaries? What is a documentary film? What do you think of when you hear the words "documentary film"? "Hey, I just saw a really interesting documentary!" - What kind of film comes to your mind? What do you want, what do you expect from a documentary?
Documentary film has as long a history as film itself. Fiction film came later (but just a little bit).
True crime, the love lives of insects, the "facts behind the story," "a portrait of the artist," reality (!) TV, propaganda, exotic cultures ... you name it, there's a doc about it. (And they're not all fly-on-the-wall.)
Are they real? Do they tell the truth? (What "truth" in this digital age?)
How do they stand - as film, as cinema? (Technology and technique.)
Documentary films are also fantastic at times. (Fantastic perhaps, but not fictions.)
There is a thin blue line between the real and the truth; a "beautiful lie."
For decades now - since its great origins, in fact (Vertov!) - documentary film has gone further than what most people would think of as what constitutes a documentary film.
Lumière, Flaherty, Shub, Vertov, Resnais, Wiseman, Morris, Marker, Varda, Oppenheimer, and more: we will look at their films, think about them - and only possibly come to conclusions. (Though a complete boulversement might be preferable.)
PS. As each class meeting is rather long we will not meet every week (the schedule will be discussed at the first meeting). Therefore, attendance at every class is a must. (I know you have other classes to attend, but do not make scheduling conflicts for yourself. If you do, well, my class is your priority.)
NB: Attendance at the first class is required; no one admitted after the first class (and please, don't even ask - there are no exceptions).
