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This course examines the artistic and political principles that govern the representation of reality in contemporary documentary film.
In the last ten years, there has been an incredible resurgence of interest in documentary film. Due to the critical and commercial success of a number of recent films, documentary has moved from a modest place in film history to a privileged position within contemporary cinema. This course will examine the artistic and political principles of documentary in the light of the current renaissance in the genre. The first term is devoted to a study of a number of canonical films from the history of documentary. In the second term, we analyse the points of comparison and difference between some high-profile examples of the contemporary documentary form and their historical precedents.
Students will gain an understanding of a range of critical and conceptual issues. The theoretical focus of the course will be the vexed relationship between representation and reality that defines documentary film. Topics will include:the credibility, veracity and authenticity of the documentary imagedocumentary film as historical record, factual evidence, objective witnessthe rhetorical strategies and ideological positions adopted by documentary filmmakersauthorship and performance the use of fiction filmmaking techniques in documentary: narrative structure, dramatic form, cinematic styleproduction, exhibition and distribution practicesthe impact of digital technology and new media upon documentary
30 points in CINE at 200-level, orequivalent preparation with the approval of the Programme Coordinator.
CULT322
Alan Wright
Daniel Bernardi
New Documentary, 2nd Ed. Stella Bruzzi.Imagining Reality, 2nd Ed. Eds. MacDonald & CousinsIntroduction to Documentary, Bill NicholsThe Subject of Documentary, Michael RenovDocumentary, Dave Saunders Films will include:Actualities & the Avant-garde Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, Soviet Union, 1929) Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, U.S./France, 1922) Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935)Why we Fight (Frank Capra, U.S., 1945) Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, France, 1955)Tire dié (Fernando Birri, Argentina, 1960)La Jetée (Chris Marker, U.S., 1962)Hearts and Minds, Peter Davis, 1974)Letter to Jane (Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin, France, 1972) This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, U.S., 1984)The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, U.S., 1988)Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingston, U.S, 1990)Iraq in Fragments (James Longley, U.S., 2006)Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, Iran & France, 2007)Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, Israel, 2008)Amy (Asif Kapadia, U.K., 2015)
Domestic fee $1,464.00
International fee $5,950.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Humanities .