Module description
The first films of the Skladanowsky brothers in Germany and the Lumières in France were documentaries: recordings of circus acts, workers leaving a factory, a train arriving at a station. The film camera is first and foremost a recording instrument, whether it captures life caught unawares or a fictional scenario; as Jean-Luc Godard has famously claimed, all films are documentaries. This course examines the history of ùnon-fiction filmmaking, or what has been termed reality-driven representation, from 1895 to the present. We concentrate on landmark films from America, Russia, Britain and France to examine the different ways in which documentary filmmakers have engaged with contemporary society and asserted the truth value of cinema. Focusing on Robert Flahertys and Dziga Vertovs pioneering work in the 1920s, British Free Cinema of the 1950s, cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema of the 1960s, the essay film of the 1980s, and concluding with examples of contemporary practices (the recent work of Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, for example), political, social and historical issues will be addressed alongside more theoretical concerns. Debates on the status of the image, methods of representation and the politics of documentary practice will be discussed in the weekly seminars.
Assessment details
- Participation 10%
- 1500 Word Essay 30%
- 2000 Word Essay 60%
Educational aims & objectives
The first films of the Skladanowsky brothers in Germany and the Lumières in France were documentaries: recordin gs of circus acts, workers leaving a factory, a train arriving at a station. The film camera is first and foremost a recording instrument, whether it captures 'life caught unawares' or a fictional scenario; as Jean - Luc Godard has claimed, 'all films are documentaries'. This course examines the history of 'non - fiction' film - making, or what has been termed 'reality - driven representation', from 1895 to the present. We will concentrate on landmark films from America, Russia, Britain, and France to examine the different ways in which documentary filmmakers have engaged with contemporary society and asserted the 'truth value' of cinema. Focusing on Dziga Vertov's pioneering work in the 1920s, British Free Cinema of the 1950s, cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema of the 1960s, the 'essay film' of the 1980s, documentaries in Eastern Europe during the 1980s, and concluding with examples of contemporary practices (recent work of Errol Morris, Michael Glawogger, and Werner Herzog), political, social, and historical issues will be addressed alongside more theoretical concerns. Debates on the status of the image, methods of representation, and the politics of documentary practice will be discussed in the weekly seminars. Students taking this course will acquire an understanding and overview of the history, practice, and theory of documentary film from 1895 to the present, and acquire skills to describe, analyse, interpret, and compare different forms and styles of non - fiction film.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module students will be able to: 1. understand the different forms that documentary has taken from the period of early cinema (1895 - 1906) to the present day. 2. demonstrate detailed knowledge of major documentary forms and movements: e.g. actualité, cinéma vérité, Direct Cinema, the essay film. 3. show an enhanced appreciation of the circumstances of documentary production, distribution and exhibition at a particular period in its history: e.g. Soviet documentary in the 1920s, British Free Cinema of the 1950s, Direct Cinema in the US in the 1960s 4. demonstrate an enhanced critical understanding of scholarly approaches to the study of documentary. 5. use theoretical models appropriate for undertaking detailed textual analysis of a work of documentary.