DOCSLIB.ORG

Journalism 286 History of Documentary Spring 2020 3 Units

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Journalism 286 History of Documentary Spring 2020 3 Units Journalism 286 History of Documentary Spring 2020 3 units, Wed 2:00pm - 5:00pm, Production Lab, Room 101 Carrie Lozano, Lecturer office hours: I will provide a link for office hours appointments in bcourses. (email) [email protected] Julia Sizek, Reader [email protected] Course Description History of Documentary covers the evolution of primarily American documentary film from the first moving images to the present. We will focus on both commissioned and independent films, produced for a variety of distribution models including theatrical, broadcast and digital. Where possible, we will also discuss international documentaries, the current documentary landscape, and big-picture field and career insights. Please note that this course is prerequisite for graduate students who intend to enroll in the documentary thesis seminar in their second year. In addition to a historical and genre overview, we will concentrate on the practicalities of producing non-fiction documentaries for broad audiences, and on documentary materials, structure, genre, points-of-view and ethics. Considering issues of representation, race, class, gender, identity and power, we will debate and deconstruct the ways in which documentary film has both upheld and challenged some of the U.S.’s most entrenched and problematic narratives. The class’ success demands that students keep up with screening, reading and writing. I hope the class will be fun, interesting, inspiring, and occasionally paradigm shifting as we delve into deep philosophical, creative and journalism questions. House Rules Class starts at 2pm sharp on Wednesdays in the TV Lab, adjourning at 5:00pm. This syllabus is a living document and will change from time to time. I will do my best to give fair warning when it does. But please check bcourses regularly. All 1 assignments must be posted to bcourses, and I will make any changes to the syllabus there, so please check each week. Grades are determined by class attendance, class preparedness, class participation and timely submission of written assignments. All students are expected to engage in discussion each week. Arrive prepared, with questions, critiques and ideas that you want to discuss. Documentary filmmakers are characterized by their incessant curiosity and outsized creativity, come to class wearing your documentary hat. Required Screening: Approximately two to three hours per week (sometimes more, sometimes less), with additional screening in each class session. The film list includes major films from the documentary canon, as well as documentaries in current popular culture. Note the lengthy listing of additional films which are of interest, either “because they are excellent examples of a genre, a betrayal to the audience, or a complication of documentary’s promise.” (Jon Else) We will attempt to make assigned films available through streaming platforms as much as possible. Chris O’Dea will invite you to BOX, where many assigned films are available. We will also use Kanopy, available via your Calnet account. From time to time, we will access films via Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. When not available online, we will direct you to the appropriate resource. Many DVDs are available at the Media Resources Center of Moffitt Library, where they may be viewed on the big screen, and at the Berkeley Public Library. We will provide hard to find films on DVD. However you watch the films, do it uninterrupted on as big a screen as possible with good sound. Google Chromecast ($35.00) is an excellent way to watch digital films on a bigger screen. Always screen the week's films before you do the week's reading, since it is important to first experience the documentary as a naive viewer would, unencumbered by the meta and the production backstory. Keep concise and coherent notes as you go. If you’ve seen the film before, even recently, watch it again. Group screenings are highly recommended. Organizing screenings in the library, TV lab or at someone’s house make class even more fun and lively. Required Reading: 10•-100 pages per week will be assigned from the text, Documentary, A History Of Non-•Fiction Film, second edition, by Erik Barnouw••• 2 still the classic after all these decades. (available on Amazon) Additional readings will be posted on bcourses. The readings are not taxing. Note that some of the readings in the syllabus are optional. Optional Reading: Bill Nichols’ excellent Introduction To Documentary, available at your local bookseller or online, offers a good overview of documentary, organized not around chronology, but around questions of documentary practice. Also useful is Pat Aufderheide’s excellent small survey, Documentary Film, a Very Short Introduction available via Amazon. Required writing: Written work 300 words (really 300) each week on various topics relating to the assigned films. Weekly papers are due by 10:00 am every Wednesday, uploaded to bcourses. Papers should indicate that you’ve done the assignment. This writing is essential practice for your career. Writing about film is a critical skill in documentary filmmaking and long-form storytelling. If you cannot clearly, convincingly and engagingly write about visual stories, you will have a hard time successfully pitching your own work. This is a way to build that muscle. Students planning to enroll in the documentary production track in their second year are required to write a 2-page concept paper for a proposed documentary in the final weeks of the course. An outline will be provided. Please note that documentary is a dynamic and ever-changing field. Things of interest happen weekly, especially in the spring as the new festival season launches. At times, content in class will diverge from the syllabus, but you must stay on track with required screening and reading. January 22 – What is Documentary Film? • Introduction to the course • Documentary filmmaker skill set • Chronology of Visual Media • Overview of documentary genres and documentaries in popular culture Read before class Documentary, Barnouw 1-33 3 ----------------------------- January 29 – The Other: ethnographic film and the language/materials of documentary filmmaking • The materials and constructions of documentary - Useful Documentary Terms • Ethnographic film • Representation and who gets to tell the story? Screen before class Nanook Of The North, 1920, Robert Flaherty (BOX) (https://berkeley.app.box.com/file/123701616355) Ethnic Notions (Berkeley Kanopy- login with library proxy and CalNet ID) (https://berkeley.kanopy.com/video/ethnic-notions-0) Read before class Barnouw 33-1•00 Anonymous Nanook review https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30Ms1w6TK58NHZxTkQyOC1NMVN5M1ljQmNz VktHWVo5N1pB/view?usp=sharing Ethnographic Film, Karl G. Heider 20-24: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30Ms1w6TK58SDQxMEJ2dlAxMy05UWVzRXZN MTRoZE0tS1BB/view?usp=sharing Writing What is Flaherty’s contract with the audience? Separate yourselves from the reading: What do you believe to be true or not true in Nanook? From the film, what can you glean about the filmmaker’s relationship to the subject? Additional films of interest Forest Of Bliss, Robert Gardner 4 In And Out Of Africa, Ilisa Barbach Sweetgrass, Ilisa Barbash and Lusien Taylor Louisiana Story, Robert Flaherty Man Of Aran, Robert Flaherty 1934 The Ax Fight, Timothy Asch, Napoleon Chagnon Les Maitres Fous, Jean Rouch Surname Viet, Given Name Nam, Trinh T. Minh•ha Imagining Indians, Victor Masayesva Stranger With A Camera, Elizabeth Barrett 2000 Coming To Light, Edward S. Curtis, 2001, Anne Makepeace Tokyo Waka, 2012 John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson Virunga, 2015, Orlando Von Einsiedel Nanook Revisited, 1994, Claude Massot, National Film Board Of Canada Taking Pictures, 1996, Les McClaren and Annie Stiven -------------------------- February 5 – Partisanship, Propaganda, Point-of-View, Advocacy and Journalism • How do these genres differ, what devices are used, and how do we know if a film can be trusted? • Contract with the audience. Read before class Barnouw 100-182 “Ethics of Imagemaking,” Jay Ruby https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B30Ms1w6TK58S0lGM0hMVTZaTFdFTE4zYnk4d TJPNXNpR2p3/view?usp=sharing Screen before class Triumph Of The Will, Leni Rieffenstahl (first 60 minutes only) (BOX) (https://berkeley.app.box.com/file/127395654666) 5 Harvest Of Shame, 1960, CBS, Edward R. Murrow (52 minutes) (https://www.cbsnews.com/video/1960-harvest-of-shame/) Writing Assignment Is there a clear distinction between advocacy films and propaganda films? What are the similarities? In this week's screening, what elements of cinematic language are used to further the filmmaker's point-of-view? Additional Films Of Interest Reassemblage, 1983, Trinh T. Minh-ha Fahrenheit 911, 2002, Michael Moore Trapped, 2016, Dawn Porter Know Your Enemy, Japan, 1944, Frank Capra The Mercy Of Nature, 1997, Else Primus Video, 2000, Else Football America, 1988, Phil Tuckett, NFL Films The Wonderful, Horrible Life Of Leni Rieffenstahl , 1991, Ray Mueller The Cove, 2009, Louie Psihoyos The Invisible War, 2012, Kirby Dick Occupy Unmasked, 2012, Steve Bannon Vaxxed, 2016, Andrew Wakefield Das Blaue Licht, Leni Riefenstahl The Plow That Broke The Plains, Pare Lorentz The River, Pare Lorentz Listen To Britain, Humphery Jennings Outfoxed , Robert Greenwald Olympiad , 1937, Leni Riefenstahl The Cove, 2008, Louie Psihoyos Waiting For Superman, 2009, Davis Guggenheim Food Inc., 2008, Robbie Kenner The Invisible War, 2011, Kirby Dick The Hunting Ground, 2015 Kirby Dick Rape in the Fields, 2013, Andres Cediel Rape on the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Dangerous Summer
    theHemingway newsletter Publication of The Hemingway Society | No. 73 | 2021 As the Pandemic Ends Yet the Wyoming/Montana Conference Remains Postponed Until Lynda M. Zwinger, editor 2022 the Hemingway Society of the Arizona Quarterly, as well as acquisitions editors Programs a Second Straight Aurora Bell (the University of Summer of Online Webinars.… South Carolina Press), James Only This Time They’re W. Long (LSU Press), and additional special guests. Designed to Confront the Friday, July 16, 1 p.m. Uncomfortable Questions. That’s EST: Teaching The Sun Also Rises, moderated by Juliet Why We’re Calling It: Conway We’ll kick off the literary discussions with a panel on Two classic posters from Hemingway’s teaching The Sun Also Rises, moderated dangerous summer suggest the spirit of ours: by recent University of Edinburgh A Dangerous the courage, skill, and grace necessary to Ph.D. alumna Juliet Conway, who has a confront the bull. (Courtesy: eBay) great piece on the novel in the current Summer Hemingway Review. Dig deep into n one of the most powerful passages has voted to offer a series of webinars four Hemingway’s Lost Generation classic. in his account of the 1959 bullfighting Fridays in a row in July and August. While Whether you’re preparing to teach it rivalry between matadors Antonio last summer’s Houseguest Hemingway or just want to revisit it with fellow IOrdóñez and Luis Miguel Dominguín, programming was a resounding success, aficionados, this session will review the Ernest Hemingway describes returning to organizers don’t want simply to repeat last publication history, reception, and major Pamplona and rediscovering the bravery year’s model.
    [Show full text]
  • How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets
    How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets Documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras in Berlin. By PETER MAASS Published: August 13, 2013 This past January, Laura Poitras received a curious e-mail from an anonymous stranger requesting her public encryption key. For almost two years, Poitras had been working on a documentary about surveillance, and she occasionally received queries from strangers. She replied to this one and sent her public key — allowing him or her to send an encrypted e-mail that only Poitras could open, with her private key — but she didn’t think much would come of it. The stranger responded with instructions for creating an even more secure system to protect their exchanges. Promising sensitive information, the stranger told Poitras to select long pass phrases that could withstand a brute-force attack by networked computers. “Assume that your adversary is capable of a trillion guesses per second,” the stranger wrote. Before long, Poitras received an encrypted message that outlined a number of secret surveillance programs run by the government. She had heard of one of them but not the others. After describing each program, the stranger wrote some version of the phrase, “This I can prove.” 1 From www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?hpw 20 August 2013 Seconds after she decrypted and read the e-mail, Poitras disconnected from the Internet and removed the message from her computer. “I thought, O.K., if this is true, my life just changed,” she told me last month. “It was staggering, what he claimed to know and be able to provide.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Same Breath
    IN THE SAME BREATH A film by Nanfu Wang #InTheSameBreathHBO DEBUTS 2021 ON HBO SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SCREENING SCHEDULE Thursday, January 28 at 5:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM MT – Online (WORLD PREMIERE) For press materials, please visit: ftp://ftp.homeboxoffice.com username: documr password: qq3DjpQ4 Running Time: 95 min Press Contact Press Contact HBO Documentary Films Cinetic Marketing Asheba Edghill / Hayley Hanson Rachel Allen / Ryan Werner Asheba cell: 347-721-1539 Rachel cell: 937-241-9737 Hayley cell: 201-207-7853 Ryan cell: 917-254-7653 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] LOGLINE Nanfu Wang's deeply personal IN THE SAME BREATH recounts the origin and spread of the novel coronavirus from the earliest days of the outbreak in Wuhan to its rampage across the United States. SHORT SYNOPSIS IN THE SAME BREATH, directed by Nanfu Wang (“One Child Nation”), recounts the origin and spread of the novel coronavirus from the earliest days of the outbreak in Wuhan to its rampage across the United States. In a deeply personal approach, Wang, who was born in China and now lives in the United States, explores the parallel campaigns of misinformation waged by leadership and the devastating impact on citizens of both countries. Emotional first-hand accounts and startling, on-the-ground footage weave a revelatory picture of cover-ups and misinformation while also highlighting the strength and resilience of the healthcare workers, activists and family members who risked everything to communicate the truth. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT I spent a lot of my childhood in hospitals taking care of my father, who had rheumatic heart disease.
    [Show full text]
  • Prohibition Premieres October 2, 3 & 4
    Pl a nnerMichiana’s bi-monthly Guide to WNIT Public Television Issue No. 5 September — October 2011 A FILM BY KEN BURNS AND LYNN NOVICK PROHIBITION PREMIERES OCTOBER 2, 3 & 4 BrainGames continues September 29 and October 20 Board of Directors Mary’s Message Mary Pruess Chairman President and GM, WNIT Public Television Glenn E. Killoren Vice Chairmen David M. Findlay Rodney F. Ganey President Mary Pruess Treasurer Craig D. Sullivan Secretary Ida Reynolds Watson Directors Roger Benko Janet M. Botz WNIT Public Television is at the heart of the Michiana community. We work hard every Kathryn Demarais day to stay connected with the people of our area. One way we do this is to actively engage in Robert G. Douglass Irene E. Eskridge partnerships with businesses, clubs and organizations throughout our region. These groups, David D. Gibson in addition to the hundreds of Michiana businesses that help underwrite our programs, William A. Gitlin provide WNIT with constant and immediate contact to our viewers and to the general Tracy D. Graham Michiana community. Kreg Gruber Larry D. Harding WNIT maintains strong partnerships and active working relationship with, among others, James W. Hillman groups representing the performing arts – Arts Everywhere, Art Beat, the Fischoff National Najeeb A. Khan Chamber Music Association, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, the Krasl Art Center in Evelyn Kirkwood Kevin J. Morrison St. Joseph, the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City and the Southwest Michigan John T. Phair Symphony; civic and cultural organizations like the Center for History, Fernwood Botanical Richard J. Rice Garden and Nature Center and the Historic Preservation Commission; educational, social Jill Richardson and healthcare organizations such as WVPE National Public Radio, the St.
    [Show full text]
  • Completing the Circle: Native American Athletes Giving Back to Their Community
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2019 COMPLETING THE CIRCLE: NATIVE AMERICAN ATHLETES GIVING BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITY Natalie Michelle Welch University of Tennessee Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Welch, Natalie Michelle, "COMPLETING THE CIRCLE: NATIVE AMERICAN ATHLETES GIVING BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITY. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5342 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMPLETING THE CIRCLE: NATIVE AMERICAN ATHLETES GIVING BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITY A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Natalie Michelle Welch May 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Natalie Michelle Welch All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my elders and ancestors. Without their resilience I would not have the many great opportunities I have had. Also, this is dedicated to my late best friend, Jonathan Douglas Davis. Your greatness made me better. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank the following people for their help through my doctoral program and the dissertation process: My best friend, Spencer Shelton. This doctorate pursuit led me to you and that’s worth way more than anything I could ever ask for. Thank you for keeping me sane and being a much-needed diversion when I’m in workaholic mode.
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Highlights
    EIGHTH ANNUAL EDITION November 9-16, 2017 “DOC NYC has quickly become one of the city’s grandest film events.” Spans downtown Hailed as Manhattan from “ambitious” IFC Center to 250+ SVA Theatre and films & events “selective but Cinepolis Chelsea eclectic” ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Thom Powers programs for the Toronto Raphaela Neihausen & Powers run the weekly International Film Festival and hosts the series Stranger Than Fiction at IFC Center and podcast Pure Nonfiction. host WNYC’s “Documentary of the Week.” DOC NYC has welcomed over 50 sponsors through the years, most of which have returned for 3+ years. ACSIL Discovery Image Nation Abu Dhabi Participant Media Technicolor-Postworks NY Brooklyn Roasting Co. Docurama Impact Partners Peru Ministry of Tribeca Grand Hotel Tourism & Culture Chicago Media Project Essentia Water IndieWire VH1 & Logo Documentary Posteritati Films Chicken & Egg Pictures Goose Island JustFilms/Ford Foundation RADiUS Vulcan Cowan DeBaets Half Pops Abrahams & Sheppard Kickstarter The Screening Room Wheelhouse Creative Heineken CNN Films MTV Stoli The World Channel International City of New York Documentary Association NBCUniversal Archives SundanceNow The Yard Mayor’s Office for Doc Club Media & Entertainment Illy New York Magazine ZICO SVA Owl’s Brew DOCNYC.NET DOCNYCFEST Voted by Movie Maker Magazine as one of the top 5 coolest documentary film festivals in the world! DOC NYC 2016 FEATURED: 12k 200+ likes on Facebook 60k special guests visits DOCNYC.net 125k 92 reached by e-mail Largest premieres Documentary
    [Show full text]
  • A Canadian Perspective on the International Film Festival
    NEGOTIATING VALUE: A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL by Diane Louise Burgess M.A., University ofBritish Columbia, 2000 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School ofCommunication © Diane Louise Burgess 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or by other means, without permission ofthe author. APPROVAL NAME Diane Louise Burgess DEGREE PhD TITLE OF DISSERTATION: Negotiating Value: A Canadian Perspective on the International Film Festival EXAMINING COMMITTEE: CHAIR: Barry Truax, Professor Catherine Murray Senior Supervisor Professor, School of Communication Zoe Druick Supervisor Associate Professor, School of Communication Alison Beale Supervisor Professor, School of Communication Stuart Poyntz, Internal Examiner Assistant Professor, School of Communication Charles R Acland, Professor, Communication Studies Concordia University DATE: September 18, 2008 11 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work.
    [Show full text]
  • Race and Social Justice in America
    Race and Social Justice in America This list of titles available at Pasadena Public Library is compiled from suggestions from The New York Times and other publications, other public libraries, and Pasadena Public Library staff recommendations. BOOKS FOR ADULTS The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander ©2011 Despite the triumphant dismantling of the Jim Crow Laws, the system that once forced African Americans into a segregated second-class citizenship still haunts America, the US criminal justice system still unfairly targets black men and an entire segment of the population is deprived of their basic rights. Outside of prisons, a web of laws and regulations discriminates against these wrongly convicted ex-offenders in voting, housing, employment and education. Alexander here offers an urgent call for justice. 364.973 ALE I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou © 1969 [T]his memoir traces Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s. Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women, Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people-and the times-that touched her life. 92 ANGELOU,M The Fire Next Time James Baldwin ©1963 The Fire Next Time contains two essays by James Baldwin. Both essays address racial tensions in America, the role of religion as both an oppressive force and an instrument for inspiring rage, and the necessity of embracing change and evolving past our limited ways of thinking about race. 305.896 BAL I Am Not Your Negro [Documentary DVD] Written by James Baldwin ©2017 Using James Baldwin's unfinished final manuscript, Remember This House, this documentary follows the lives and successive assassinations of three of the author's friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., delving into the legacy of these iconic figures and narrating historic events using Baldwin's original words and a flood of rich archival material.
    [Show full text]
  • The Views of the U.S. Left and Right on Whistleblowers Whistleblowers on Right and U.S
    The Views of the U.S. Left and Right on Whistleblowers Concerning Government Secrets By Casey McKenzie Submitted to Central European University Department of International Relations and European Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Supervisor: Professor Erin Kristin Jenne Word Count: 12,868 CEU eTD Collection Budapest Hungary 2014 Abstract The debates on whistleblowers in the United States produce no simple answers and to make thing more confusing there is no simple political left and right wings. The political wings can be further divided into far-left, moderate-left, moderate-right, far-right. To understand the reactions of these political factions, the correct political spectrum must be applied. By using qualitative content analysis of far-left, moderate-left, moderate-right, far-right news sites I demonstrate the debate over whistleblowers belongs along a establishment vs. anti- establishment spectrum. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgments I would like to express my fullest gratitude to my supervisor, Erin Kristin Jenne, for the all the help see gave me and without whose guidance I would have been completely lost. And to Danielle who always hit me in the back of the head when I wanted to give up. CEU eTD Collection ii Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 'N' Roll: the Rolling Stones in Film
    it’s only rock ’n’ roll: the rolling stones in film - artforum.com / ... http://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201209&id=36146 dleopard59 log out ADVERTISE BACK ISSUES CONTACT US SUBSCRIBE follow us search ARTGUIDE IN PRINT 500 WORDS PREVIEWS BOOKFORUM 中文版 DIARY PICKS NEWS VIDEO FILM SLANT A & E IN PRINT NOVEMBER 2012 IT’S ONLY ROCK ’N’ ROLL: THE ROLLING STONES IN FILM SUBSCRIBE recent issues May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 Robert Frank, January 2013 Cocksucker Blues, 1972, 16 mm, color and black- December 2012 and-white, sound, 93 November 2012 minutes. Mick Jagger. Archive to 1962 Photo: Photofest. As the “world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band” celebrates its golden jubilee this year, the Museum of Modern Art in New York pays tribute with a heady cinematic survey: “THE ROLLING STONES: 50 YEARS OF FILM” (NOVEMBER 15–DECEMBER 2). But 2012 marks another anniversary as well. Forty years ago, the Stones embarked on a legendary tour to promote their new album, Exile on Main St., and they engaged two very different filmmakers—Robert Frank and Rollin Binzer—to document the affair on celluloid, producing wildly divergent results: Cocksucker Blues and Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, respectively. Film historian DAVID E. JAMES traces the events that would ultimately transform the band’s extraordinary engagement with the medium—and with the very public on which not only their stardom but their cultural significance depended. WITH THE BEATLES’ FINAL PERFORMANCE on the roof of the Apple Records building at the beginning of 1969, documented in Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film Let It Be (1970), the Rolling Stones’ claim to being the greatest rock band in the world was now uncontested.
    [Show full text]
  • The Look of Silence and Last Day of Freedom Take Top Honors at the 2015 IDA Documentary Association Awards
    Amy Grey / Ashley Mariner Phone: 818-508-1000 Dish Communications [email protected] / [email protected] The Look of Silence and Last Day of Freedom Take Top Honors at the 2015 IDA Documentary Association Awards Best of Enemies, Listen to Me Marlon & HBO’s The Jinx Also Pick Up Awards LOS ANGELES, December 5, 2015 – Winners in the International Documentary Association’s 2015 IDA Documentary Awards were announced during tonight’s program at the Paramount Theatre, giving Joshua Oppenheimer’s THE LOOK OF SILENCE top honors with the Best Feature Award. This critically acclaimed, powerful companion piece to the Oscar®-nominated The Act of Killing, follows a family of survivors of the Indonesian genocide who discover how their son was murdered and the identities of the killers. Also announced in the ceremony was the Best Short Award, which honored LAST DAY OF FREEDOM, directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman. The film is an animated account of Bill Babbitt’s decision to support and help his brother in the face of war, crime and capital execution. Grammy-nominated comedian Tig Notaro hosted the ceremony, which gathered the documentary community to honor the best nonfiction films and programming of 2015. IDA’s Career Achievement Award was presented to Gordon Quinn, Founder and Artistic Director of Kartemquin Films. He has produced, directed and/or been cinematographer on over 55 films across five decades. A longtime activist for public and community media, Quinn was integral to the creation of ITVS, public access television in Chicago; in developing the Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practice in Fair Use; and in forming the Indie Caucus to support diverse independent voices on Public Television.
    [Show full text]
  • 19.2 Evidence Monk.Pdf
    Black Music Research Journal Center for Black Music Research Columbia College Chicago Volume 19, #2 (Autumn 1999) Evidence: Monk as Documentary Subject By Krin Gabbard © 1999 Krin Gabbard Reprinted by permission of the Black Music Research Journal All rights reserved EVIDENCE: MONK AS DOCUMENTARY SUBJECT KRIN GABBARD For those familiar with Thelonious Monk only through recordings, the experience of first seeing him perform on film can be startling. The out- rageous hats, the splayed fingers, the sucked-in cheeks, the spastic danc- ing-all of it suggests a character with a story that goes well beyond the music. Yet for many years, Monk has been consistently presented as an inscrutable figure who could only be known through his music.' At least one filmmaker simply gave up trying to make sense of his puzzling exte- rior: when Bert Stem filmed the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival for Jazz on a Summer's Day (1958), he kept cutting away to shots of yacht races during the pianist's performance of "Blue Monk"; Monk is onscreen for less than thirty seconds. More ambitious filmmakers have extended a more search- ing gaze in three documentaries that provide strikingly different approaches to how Monk might be understood. The title of Matthew Seig's 1991 documentary is itself significant; Thelonious Monk: American Composer presents a dedicated artist and family man who created a spir- 1. With one exception, Monk's English-language biographers and commentators have concentrated more on his music than on his life. Like many books devoted to a single jazz artist, Fitterling's (1997) book is more of an annotated discography than a biography of Monk.
    [Show full text]