Ethnographic films, more
Thanks to everyone contributing to this interesting thread. Some further thoughts from my own teaching and research and mediamaking: There’s a very long history of visual representations of The Other that predates cinema. Slide shows of exotic places and peoples were common in the 19th century combining entertainment and edification. A trip to “The Holy Land” was a perennial favorite. As a kid I saw a quick sketch artist do this sort of thing in a church setting, so it probably predates photography. It’s probably useful to be aware that there’s an overlap but sometimes a difference between “anthropological film” and “ethnographic film” by understanding ethnography as a form of investigation that is also used by sociologists, cultural analyists, etc., not just people in the field of anthro. There’s a very well developed discussion in the field of Visual Anthropology over the past 30 years or so. If you have access to a university library, it’s worth some time browsing the shelves for that category, and the journals. Sol Worth and John Adair’s Through Navaho Eyes—a classic, giving the camera to the people to make their own films Scott Macdonald, American Ethnographic Film and Personal Documentary: The Cambridge Turn (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), Outstanding book on the Harvard/MIT works of Gardner, Marshall, Pincus, etc. Mirzoeff, Nicholas, ed. The Visual Culture Reader. Excellent collection of pertinent essays. Catherine Russell, Experimental Ethnography All the works of Trinh (already mentioned) Jim Lane, Autobiographical Documentary in America (mostly on straight white guys, but there’s also a very interesting development of autobiography in feminist and gay movement media) Barbach and Taylor, Cross-cultural Filmmaking Taylor, Visualizing Theory Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media (Sightlines) by Ella Shohat and Robert Stam Race in Translation: Culture Wars around the Postcolonial AtlanticMay 28, 2012 by Robert Stam and Ella Shohat The links to colonialism and imperialism have been dramatically underlined by more recent research and criticism. I’d suggest: Dream Factories of a Former Colony: American Fantasies, Philippine Cinema by José B. Capino. Almost all the cinematic record of Philippine life as a US colony was made by Americans and ended up in the US. This young scholar recovered these lost records for the native audience. For an outstanding critique of Robert Gardner’s Forest of Bliss: Jyotsna Kapur, “The Art of Ethnographic Film and the Politics of Protesting Modernity: Robert Gardner’s Forest of Bliss. Visual Anthropology, vol 9, 167-185. And some work worth viewing again and thinking about: Basil Wright, Song of Ceylon Kubelka’s Our Trip to Africa TV and video ranging from: Anthony Bourdain food/travel reality format shows (CNN, Food Channel, Travel Channel) (and along the same lines, Andrew Zimmer’s shows on bizarre foods) Lonely Planet and other hipster travel docs, usually featuring a physically appealing young (blond) visitor to the developing world’s more exotic locations Gonzo porn visits to foreign brothels Chuck Kleinhans [email protected] _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list [email protected] https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
