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Documentary
Screenings Spring 2001
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Spring and Fall semester I present a series of documentary screenings
designed to strengthen students' knowledge of the field. I choose
titles with an eye as much on form as on content and the order in
which I show them is determined largely by what we are discussing
in class at that point in the Documentary course. But each documentary
is of great interest in itself and individually or as a series a rich
viewing experience for anyone. The screenings are open to everyone
in the university and wider community.
Time & Location:
They are shown in the basement
auditorium (room B5) in the College of Communication building
at 640 Commonwealth Avenue.
Screenings start promptly at 4.00 pm.
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Jan
24: Long Night's Journey Into Day (2000)
Subtitled
"South Africa's Search for Truth and Reconciliation,"this
film sheds light on some dark episodes in South Africa's recent
past. Directed by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann.
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Jan
31: A selection of early films from the Lumière Brothers
in
France and the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress
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Feb
7: Taking Pictures (1996)
Experienced ethnographers explore the challenges and contradictions
in making documentaries that cross cultural boundaries. A documentary
that includes telling examples from other documentaries made in
Papua New Guinea.
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Feb
14: Report From The Aleutians (1942)
The
first film made by John Huston for the United States Army in World
War II. Also called within the Army "Alaska 1942."
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Feb
21: The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)
Produced
for German and British television networks, the film follows Riefenstahl's
career and includes extracts from her films, with the ninety year
old film maker herself revisiting the locations where she made them.
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Feb
28: Stranger With A Camera (2000)
A
documentary maker from an Appalachian film school explores her own
feelings about her profession and her community. She revisits an
incident in 1967 when an irate local man shot dead a Canadian film
maker who was making a television documentary about the poverty
of Appalachia
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March
14: Harmed Forces (1999)
A
portrait of two victims of Israel's military campaign in Lebanon
in 1982. The documentary, written and directed by Irit Gal, follows
two ex-paratroopers of the Israel Defense Forces who returned home
from that campaign suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,
unable to live
normal lives.
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March
21: Regret To Inform (1998)
An
American widow journeys to Vietnam to see the place where her husband
was killed in 1968. The documentary records her meetings with other
women whose loved ones were also killed in the war.
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March
28: Finest Hour : The Battle of Britain (2000)
A
segment from the mini-series by WGBH, BBC, and Brook Lapping Productions,
which covers a famous period in the history of World War II. Mixing
the memories of men and women in their eighties with extensive location
shooting and recreations, it is oral documentation of a special
kind.
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April
4 Hands on a Hard Body (1998)
The record of a competition sponsored by a Nissan dealership in
Longview, Texas to win a brand new "Hard Body" pickup
truck. The endurance test lasts several days and nights. Twenty-four
people begin. The winner is the one who stands upright longest with
a hand on the truck.
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April:
11 Rabbit In The Moon (1999)
A study of the Japanese American experience in the twentieth century
by the documentary film maker Emiko Omori. Her family was one of
many who were interned by the United States government during World
War II.
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April
25: Microcosmos (1996)
The winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
The world of insects shot and presented in beautiful full screen
close-up.
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