Ethnographic and Documentary Cinema

Subject SCRN40003 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On campus

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 4.5
Total Time Commitment: 120
Prerequisites: Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in cinema studies, or the Master of Cinema Management.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: None

Coordinator

Prof Jeanette Hoorn

Contact

Jeanette Hoorn
jjhoorn@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

This subject investigates the place of documentary and ethnographic film in contemporary film theory. Students should become familiar with the postmodern debate surrounding documentary film-making and realism, and the critique of ethnographic cinema as linked to nationalism and imperialism. The films of French, British, American and Australian ethnographers are taken up, with classic works such as F W Murnau's and Flaherty's Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) among those studied. Recent films which are critical of ethnography and the ethnographic gaze such as Marlon Fuentes's Bontoc Eulogy (1996) are considered. The use of ethnography for entertainment as well as surveillance is examined through popular movies such as The Gods Must be Crazy. Students should develop a knowledge of the four classic modes of documentary cinema, namely the Griersonian, "cinema verite", direct interview and self-reflexive modes, of the relationship between documentary and ethnographic cinema, and of the colonial propaganda film.

Objectives: Students who complete this subject will:
  • have a broad knowledge of ethnographic and documentary cinema from its inception to the contemporary period; and
  • have a detailed knowledge of the theoretical debates surrounding ethnographic and documentary film making and its reception.
Assessment: A 5000 word research essay 100% (due during the examination period).
Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: Students who successfully complete this subject will:
  • be skilled in research;
  • possess advanced skills of critical thinking and analysis;
  • possess an ability to communicate knowledge intelligibly, economically and effectively; and
  • have an understanding of social, ethical and cultural context.
Related Course(s): Master of Cinema Management
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Cinema Studies
Cinema Studies
Cinema Studies

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