University of Essex

LT930-7-AU-CO:
Documentary and the Avant-garde: Film, Video, Digital

The details

Year: 2023/24

Department: Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Autumn

Level: Postgraduate: Level 7

Status: Current

Start date: Thursday 05 October 2023

End date: Friday 15 December 2023

Credits: 20

Last updated: 30 August 2022

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

MA P3P312 Documentary Film

Module description

Our main aim will be to re-examine two presumed opposites: non-fiction film (which came to be known after 1926 as `documentary`) and the avant-garde, starting with classics of the form and moving towards hybrid or mixed genres. Intersections between documentary and avant-garde strategies will be foregrounded as we examine ways of perceiving (and questioning) reality and creating enhanced and even altered states of perception.

Along the way we interrogate the role of representation in conveying images received as `authentic`, `immediate`, or `real` and consider the theoretical and practical implications of 'accurately' representing real situations and events. Topics include: ethnography and ethnocentrism, cinema verite, war and propaganda, postmodern narratives, autobiography and personal `voice`.

Filmmakers may include: The Edison Company, Dziga Vertov, Errol Morris, Samira Makhmalbaf, Ari Folman, Jean Rouch, The Maysles Brothers.

Content note:
This module may contain screenings and class clips that contain adult content (including but not limited to violence and sexual violence, themes of suicide or self-harm, and representations of war). If you are concerned that you might be adversely affected by such materials, please contact your module tutor or Personal Tutor. You may also find it useful to consult advisory websites such as the British Board of Film Classification (www.bbfc.co.uk) and Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org).

Module aims

1. To re-examine two presumed opposites: non-fiction cinema and the avant-garde
2. To re-view classics of the documentary form while moving towards hybrid or mixed sub-genres
3. To engage intersections between documentary and avant-garde approaches, foregrounding ways of perceiving reality on screen and how cinema creates enhanced and even altered states of perception
4. To interrogate the role of representation in conveying images received as `authentic`, `immediate`, or `real`
5. To reconsider theoretical and practical implications of ‘accurately’ representing real situations and events
6. To study a range of cinematic texts across different genres and sub-genres
7. To engage with concepts relating to ethnography, cinema verite, war and propaganda, postmodernity, autobiography and personal `voice`, and other modes of cinematic expression

Module learning outcomes

1. Enhanced understanding of documentary and avant-garde histories and approaches
2. Increased awareness of intersections between practices and cultures of documentary and the avant-garde
3. Enhanced understanding of a range of cinematic modes and sub-genres
4. Improved skills in preforming research related to documentary and avant-garde cinemas
5. Basic understanding of film practice as it relates to documentary and avant-garde
6. Increased awareness of the stakes and complexities behind doing practice-based work
7. Some understanding of the ethical implications of filming subjects

Module information

Indicative reading:

Aitken, Ian, ed., The Documentary Film Movement (Edinburgh University Press, 1998)
Barbash, Ilisa, Cross-Cultural Filmmaking: A Handbook (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997)
Barnouw, Erik, Documentary: A History of the Non-fiction Film (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992)
Barsam, Richard Meran, Non Fiction Film: A Critical History (Allen and Unwin, 1974)
Beattie, Keith. Documentary Screens: Nonfiction Film and Television (New York: Palgrave, 2004)
Beattie, Keith. Documentary Display: Re-viewing Nonfiction Film and Video (London: Wallflower, 2008)
Bruzzi, Stella, New Documentary: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2000)
Corner, John, Art of Record: A Critical Introduction to Documentary (New York: St Martin's, 1996)
De Bromhead, Toni, Looking Two Ways (Intervention Press, 1998)
Leslie Deveraux and Roger Hillman, eds., Fields of Vision (Los Angeles: U of California Press, 1995)
Ellis, Jack C., The Documentary Idea (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1989)
Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy McLane, A New History of Documentary Film (London: Continuum, 2005)
Gaines, Jane and Michael Renov, eds., Collecting Visible Evidence (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999)
Geiger, Jeffrey, Facing the Pacific: Polynesia and the US Imperial Imagination (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007)
Geiger, Jeffrey, American Documentary Film: Projecting the Nation (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2011)
Grant, Barry Keith and Jeannette Sloniowski, eds., Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1998)
Grierson, John, "Flaherty's Poetic Moana", all in Lewis Jacobs (ed), The Documentary Tradition (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979), pp. 25-27
Hight, Craig, Faking It: Mock Documentary and the Subversion of Factuality (Manchester UP, 2002)
Horak, Jan-Christopher, ed., Lovers of Cinema: The First American Film Avant-Garde, 1919-1945 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998)
James, David E., The Most Typical Avant-Garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005)
Klotman, Phyllis and Janet K. Cutler eds., Struggles for Representation: African American Film and Video (Indiana University Press, 1999)
Mamber, Stephen, Cinema Verite in America: Studies in Uncontrolled Documentary (Boston: MIT Press, 1974)
McEnteer, James, Shooting the Truth: The Rise of American Political Documentaries (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006)
Nichols, Bill, Representing Reality (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991)
Nichols, Bill, Blurred Boundaries (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1994)
Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001)
Orbanz, Eva, ed., Filming Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story: The Helen Van Dongen Diary (New York: Harry Abrams, 1998)
Ponech, Trevor, What Is Non-Fiction Cinema: On the Very Idea of Motion Picture Communication (Westview Press, 1999)
Rabinowitz, Paula, They Must Be Represented: the Politics of Documentary (London: Verso, 1994)
Renov, Michael, ed., Theorizing Documentary (London: Routledge, 1993)
Renov, Michael, and Erika Suderburg (eds), Resolutions: Contemporary Video Practices (University of Minnesota Press, 1996)
Rony, Fatimah Tobing, The Third Eye: Race, Cinema, and Ethnographic Spectacle (Durham: Duke UP, 1996)
Rosenthal, Alan, ed., New Challenges for Documentary (Berkeley: U of California Press, 1988)
Rothman, William, Documentary Film Classics (Cambridge UP, 1997)
Rouch, Jean, Ciné-Ethnography (University of Minnesota Press, 2003)
Ruby, Jay, Picturing Culture: Explorations in Film and Anthropology (University of Chicago Press, 2000)
Stoller, Paul, The Cinematic Griot: The Ethnography of Jean Rouch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992)
Sussex, Elizabeth, The Rise and Fall of British Documentary (Berkeley: U of California P, 1975)
Ten Brink, Joram, ed., Building Bridges: The Cinema of Jean Rouch (London, Wallflower, 2006)
Vaughan, Dai, For Documentary: Twelve Essays (Berkeley: U of California Press, 1999)
Vogels, Jonathan, The Direct Cinema of David and Albert Maysles (
Williams, Christopher, ed., Realism and the Cinema, A Reader (London: Routledge, 1980)
Winston, Brian, Claiming the Real: The Documentary Film Revisited (London: BFI, 1995)
Winston, Brian, Claiming the Real II (London: BFI, 2008)
Winston, Brian, Lies, Damn Lies and Documentary (Berkeley: U of California Press, 2000)

Learning and teaching methods

Anticipated teaching delivery: 2-hour weekly seminar.

Bibliography

Flaherty, R.J. (1922) ‘Nanook of the North.’ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkW14Lu1IBo.
Roscoe, J. and Hight, C. (2001) ‘Factual Discourse and the Cultural Placing of Documentary’, in Faking it: mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 6–23.
Perez, G. (1998) ‘The Documentary Image’, in The material ghost: films and their medium. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 29–49.
Rony, F.T. (1996) ‘“Taxidermy and Romantic Ethnography: Nanook of the North”’, in The third eye: race, cinema, and ethnographic spectacle. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 99–128. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=682010.
Geiger, J. (2011) American documentary film: projecting the nation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=744028.
Dean MacCannell (1973) ‘Staged Authenticity: Arrangements of Social Space in Tourist Settings’, American Journal of Sociology, 79(3), pp. 589–603. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2776259.
Vertov, D. (1929) ‘Man with a movie camera.’ [London?]: British Film Institute. Available at: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand%2Findex.php%2Fprog%2F001EF144%3Fbcast%3D11555897.
Bill Nichols (2001) ‘Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde’, Critical Inquiry, 27(4), pp. 580–610. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1344315.
Gunning, T. (1990) ‘The Cinema of Attractions?: Early Film, Its Spectator, and the Avant-Garde’, in Early cinema: space frame narrative. London: BFI, pp. 56–62. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6342215.
Cowie, E. (1999) ‘The Spectacle of Actuality’, in Collecting visible evidence. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 19–45.
Maysles, D. et al. (1975) ‘Grey Gardens.’ Available at: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand%2Findex.php%2Fprog%2F0130558D%3Fbcast%3D39315079.
Winston, B. (1988) ‘Documentary?: I think we are in trouble’, in New challenges for documentary. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 21–33.
Winston, B. (1995a) ‘Flies in the soup?: the influence of cinema verite’, in Claiming the real: the Griersonian documentary and its legitimations. London: British Film Institute, pp. 197–205.
Winston, B. (1995b) ‘Flies on the wall?: the influence of direct cinema’, in Claiming the real: the Griersonian documentary and its legitimations. London: British Film Institute, pp. 205–219.
Rhodes, J.D. (2006) ‘“Concentrated ground”: Grey Gardens and the cinema of the domestic’, Framework, 47(1), pp. 83–105. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41552449.
Morris, E. (2005) ‘The thin blue line.’ Santa Monica, CA: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment. Available at: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand%2Findex.php%2Fprog%2F0217A165%3Fbcast%3D73625404.
Williams, L. (1998) ‘Mirrors without memories: truth, history, and the thin blue line’, in Documenting the documentary: close readings of documentary film and video. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 379–398. Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1056498.
Huyssen, A. (1986) ‘The Search for Tradition: Avantgarde and Postmodernism in the 1970s’, in After the great divide: modernism, mass culture, postmodernism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 160–221.
Livingston, J. (1990) ‘Paris is Burning.’ Available at: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand%2Findex.php%2Fprog%2F13944564%3Fbcast%3D129215516.
Oishi, E. (2015) ‘Reading Realness Paris Is Burning, Wildness, and Queer and Transgender Documentary Practice’, in A. Juhasz and A. Lebow (eds) A Companion to Contemporary Documentary Film. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 252–270. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118884584.ch12.
Flinn, C. (2014) ‘Containing Fire: Performance in Paris Is Burning’, in Documenting the documentary: close readings of documentary film and video. New and expanded edition. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, pp. 438–455. Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780814339725/.
Riggs, M.T. (2008) ‘Tongues untied.’ [San Francisco?]: Frameline. Available at: https://login.learningonscreen.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=https%3A%2F%2Flearningonscreen.ac.uk%2Fondemand%2Findex.php%2Fprog%2FRT434051%3Fbcast%3D120049745.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Assignment 2 (Essay 3500 words)		70%
Practical	Assignment 1 (Practical Project with Short Reflective Commentary)		30%

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Prof Jeffrey Geiger, email: j.geiger@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Professor Jeff Geiger

Contact details: LiFTS General Office - email liftstt@essex.ac.uk. Telephone 01206 872626

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: No

Available to Outside Option: No

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

Name: Dr Andrew Birtwistle

Institution: Canterbury Christ Church University

Academic role: Reader in Film and Sound

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: Of 18 hours, 18 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

Further information

Department website: Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies

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The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

Module Directory

LT930-7-AU-CO:Documentary and the Avant-garde: Film, Video, Digital