SEMINAR PROFILE

A06 -
Bearing Witness: Documentary Film and the Presumption of Authenticity

John Grierson, one of key figures in documentary film history, defined documentaries as �the creative treatment of actuality.� In the era of reality television and YouTube, questions about how documentary images record, mediate, and manipulate the world are more timely than ever. This seminar will consider the consequences of the trust that we put in images and the power of film to represent and construct the historical record. Participants will be introduced to the history and theory of documentary film and will confront questions about documentary strategy, selectivity, and subjectivity. We will view feature length as well as short documentaries including works by Frederick Wiseman, Elizabeth Barret, Alain Resnais, Liane Brandon, Errol Morris, and Ngozi Onwurah.

Scholar:

Julie Levinson

Location:

Harvard Hillel

Dates:

3/4/2010, 3/11/2010

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A06 -	Bearing Witness: Documentary Film and the Presumption of Authenticity

	John Grierson, one of key figures in documentary film history, defined documentaries as �the creative treatment of actuality.� In the era of reality television and YouTube, questions about how documentary images record, mediate, and manipulate the world are more timely than ever. This seminar will consider the consequences of the trust that we put in images and the power of film to represent and construct the historical record. Participants will be introduced to the history and theory of documentary film and will confront questions about documentary strategy, selectivity, and subjectivity. We will view feature length as well as short documentaries including works by Frederick Wiseman, Elizabeth Barret, Alain Resnais, Liane Brandon, Errol Morris, and Ngozi Onwurah.

		Scholar:	Julie Levinson
		Location:	Harvard Hillel
		Dates:	3/4/2010, 3/11/2010