Cinema Studies, Innis College, University of Toronto

INI 325Y: DOCUMENTARY FILM
Schedule of Films and Assigned Readings - 2006-2007

Professor Kay Armatage, Innis College Rm 224
Tel. 416-978-8572; Fax 416-946-0168; kay.armatage@utoronto.ca

Screenings Mondays 4:00-6:00 pm, Innis College Rm 222
Lectures Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 pm, Innis College Rm 312
Office Hours Wednesdays 4:00-6:00 pm, Room 224, Innis College

Mon. Sept. 11 Lumiere Programme. Lumiere Bros., France, 1895 (7 min. sil.)
A Trip to the Moon. Georges Melies, France, 1902 (12 min. sil.)
Animals in Motion. John Straiton. Canada, 1968 (7 min.)
Lumiere Package. Lumiere Bros., France
Tues. Sept 12 Information & Course Mechanics
Mon. Sept. 18

Nanook of the North. Robert Flaherty, USA, 1922 (67 min)
Moana : a romance of the golden age. Robert Flaherty, USA, 1925 ( 67 min.)

Tues. Sept. 19 William Rothman, "Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North," Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video, ed. B.K. Grant & Jeannette Sloniowski (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998), 23-39.
Sherrill Grace, "Exploration as Construction: Robert Flaherty and Nanook of the North,"Essays on Canadian Writing, no. 59 (Fall 1996), 123-146.
Mon. Sept. 25

In the land of war canoes: Kwakiutl Indian life on the Northwest coast
Edward S. Curtis, Canada, 1914 (47 min.)
Grass: a nation's battle for life. Merian C. Cooper, USA, Paramount Pictures, 1925 (70 min.)

Tues. Sept. 26 Carl R. Plantinga, "What is a Nonfiction Film?" Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 7-25.
Mon. Oct. 2

Compilation Documentary

Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. Esther Shub, USSR, 1927 (90 min)

Tues. Oct. 3 Vlada Petric, "Esther Shub: Film as a Historical Discourse," Show Us Life, ed. Tom Waugh (Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1984), 21-46.
Mon. Oct. 9

Thanksgiving - no class

Tues. Oct. 10

Documentary Theory & Practice

Bill Nichols, "Documentary Theory and Practice," Screen (Winter 76/77), 34-48.
Carl R. Plantinga, "Moving Image Icons," Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 40-58.
C.R. Plantinga, "Nonfiction Discourse," Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 83-100.

Mon. Oct. 16

Poetic Documentary

Berlin, Symphony of a City. Walter Ruttman, Germany, 1927 (60 min)
The Bridge. Joris Ivens, Holland, 1928 (11 min)
A Propos de Nice
. Jean Vigo, France, 1929/30 (15 min)
Rain. Joris Ivens, Holland, 1931 (14 min)

Tues. Oct. 17 Michael Renov, "Towards a Poetics of Documentary," Theorizing Documentary, (New York: Routledge, 1993) 12-36.
Carl R. Plantinga, "The Poetic Voice," Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 171-190.
Mon. Oct. 23

Man With a Movie Camera. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929 (67 min).

Tues. Oct. 24 Stephen Crofts & Olivia Rose, "An Essay Towards Man With a Movie Camera," Screen vol. 18 no.1, Spring 1977.
Seth Feldman, "Peace between Man and Machine: Dziga Vertov's The Man With a Movie Camera," Documenting the Documentary, 40-54.
Mon. Oct. 30

Introducing John Grierson

Rien que les heures. Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926. (40 min)
Drifters. John Grierson, GB, 1929 (60 min)

Tues. Oct. 31

John Grierson, "Drifters," The Documentary Film Movement: An Anthology, ed. Ian Aitken (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), 77-81.
Ian Aitken, "Introduction," The Documentary Film Movement: An Anthology, ed. Ian Aitken (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), 1-35.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENTS DUE TODAY

Mon. Nov. 6

Grierson and Realism

Industrial Britain. John Grierson/Robert Flaherty, GB, 1931-33 (22 min.)
Housing Problems. Arthur Elton/Edgar Anstey,GB, 1935 (15 min)
Song of Ceylon. Basil Wright, GB, 1934 (40 min)
Night Mail. Basil Wright, GB, 1936 (25 min)

Tues. Nov. 7

The Name Grierson, The Word Documentary. James Willson/BBC, 1973 (50 min)

Ian Aitken, "Grierson's Theory of Documentary Film," The Documentary Film Movement: An Anthology, ed. Ian Aitken (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), 35-68.
John Grierson, "First Principles of Documentary," Grierson on Documentary, ed. Forsyth Hardy, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966), 145-156.
William Guynn, "The Art of National Projection: Basil Wright's Song of Ceylon," Documenting the Documentary, 83-98.

Mon. Nov. 13

Robert Flaherty

Man of Aran. Robert Flaherty, GB, 1934 (73 min)
How the Myth Was Made. George Stoney, USA.

Tues. Nov. 14 Bill Nichols, "The Domain of Documentary,"Representing Reality (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1991), 3-31.
Mon. Nov. 20

Spectacle

Triumph of the Will. Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935 (100min).

Tues. Nov. 21 Frank P. Tomasulo, "The Mass Psychology of Fascist Cinema: Leni Reifenstahl's Triumph of the Will," Documenting the Documentary, 99-118.
Steve Neale, "Triumph of the Will: Notes on Documentary Spectacle," Screen vol. 20, no. 1, 1979, 63-86.
Mon. Nov. 27

Committed Documentary

Land Without Bread. Luis Bunuel, Spain, 1932 (26 min)
The River. Pare Lorentz, USA, 1937 (32 min)
The Spanish Earth. Joris Ivens, Spain, 1937 (40 min)

Tues. Nov. 28 Vivan Sobchack, "Synthetic Vision: The Dialectical Imperative of Luis Bunuel's Las Hurdes," Documenting the Documentary, 70-82.
Tom Waugh, "Men Cannot Act before the Camera in the Presence of Death: Joris Ivens' The Spanish Earth," Documenting the Documentary, 136-153.
Mon. Dec. 4

"Diving Sequence" and "Marathon Sequence" Olympiad. Leni Reifenstahl, Germany, 1936 (5 min. & 14 min)
The Plow That Broke the Plains. Pare Lorentz, USA, 1936 (28 min.)

Charlie Keil, "American Documentary Finds its Voice: Persuasion and Expression in The Plow that Broke the Plains and The City," Documenting the Documentary, 119-135.

Tues. Dec. 5 TERM TEST - Happy Holidays!

Mon. Jan. 8

Post WWII

La Sang des Betes (Blood of the Beasts). Georges Franju, France, 1949 (22 min)
Hotel des Invalides
. Georges Franju, France, 1953 (23 min)
Night and Fog. Alain Resnais, France, 1955 (31 min)

Tues. Jan. 9 Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, "Documenting the Ineffable: Terror and Memory in Alain Resnais's Night and Fog," Documenting the Documentary, 204-222.
Jeffrey Youdelman, "Narration, Invention and History,"New Challenges for Documentary, ed. Alan Rosenthal (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), 454-464.
Mon. Jan. 15

NFB and the Beginnings of Contemporary Documentary

City of Gold. Colin Low/Roman Kroitor, Canada, 1957 (22 min)
Les Raquetteurs. Michel Brault/Gilles Groulx, Canada, 1958 (15 min)
Circle of the Sun. Colin Low, 1960 (28 min.)
Lonely Boy. Roman Kroitor, Canada, 1961 (27 min).
Very Nice, Very Nice. Arthur Lipsett, 1961 (7 min.)

Tues. Jan. 16 D.B. Jones, "The Canadian Film Board Unit B,"New Challenges for Documentary, 133-147.
Bruce Elder, "On the Candid-Eye Movement," in S. Feldman & J. Nelson eds. Canadian Film Reader (Toronto: Peter MArin, 1977), 86-93.
Barry Keith Grant, "From Obscurity in Ottawa to Fame in Freedomland: Lonely Boy and the Cultural Meaning of Paul Anka," in J. Leach & J. Sloniowski, eds., Candid Eyes: Essays on Canadian Documentaries, (Toronto: UTP, 2003), 48-60.
Mon. Jan. 22

Cinema Verite

Don’t Look Back. D.A. Pennebaker/Richard Leacock, USA, 1966 (90 min)

Tues. Jan. 23 Stephen Mamber, "Direct Cinema and the Crisis Structure," Cinema Verite in America (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1974), 115-140.
Jeanne Hall, "Don't You ever Just Watch? American Cinema Verite and Don't Look Back," Documenting the Documentary, 223-237.
Mon. Jan. 29

Reality Fiction

Titicut Follies. Fred Wiseman, USA, 1967 (90 min).

Tues. Jan. 30 Bill Nichols, "Frederick Wiseman’s Documentaries: Theory and Structure," Ideology and the Image (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981), 208-236.
Barry Keith Grant, "Ethnography in the First Person: Frederick Wiseman's Titicut Follies," Documenting the Documentary, 238-253.
Mon. Feb. 5

Actuality Drama

The Married Couple. Allan King, Canada, 1970 (90 min)

Tues. Feb. 6 Bill Nichols, "The Fact of Realism and the Fiction of Objectivity," Representing Reality, 165-200.
Mon. Feb. 12

Beyond Observational Cinema

Harlan County, U.S.A. Barbara Kopple, USA, 1976 (90 min).

Tues. Feb. 13 David McDougall, "Beyond Observational Cinema," Movies and Methods vol. II, ed. Bill Nichols, (Berkeley: U of California Press, 1985), 274-287.
Vivian C. Sobchack, "No Lies: Direct Cinema as Rape," New Challenges for Documentary, 332-344.
Mon. Feb. 19 Reading Week - No Class
Tues. Feb. 20 Reading Week - No Class
Mon. Feb. 26

Post-Verite

Daughter-Rite. Michelle Citron, USA, 1978 (50 min)
Our Marilyn. Brenda Longfellow, Canada, 1987 (27 min.)

Tues. Feb. 27 Eileen McGarry, "Documentary, Realism and Women’s Cinema,"Women and Film vol. 2 no. 7, Summer 1975.
Linda Williams & B. Ruby Rich, "The Right of Re-Vision: Michelle Citron’s Daughter Rite," Movies and Methods vol. II, 359-368.
Kass Banning, "The Canadian Feminist Hybrid Documentary," CineAction 26/27 (Winter 92), 108-113.
Mon. Mar. 5

The Cinematic Essay

Sans Soleil. Chris Marker, France, 1982 (100 min.)

Tues. Mar. 6

Trinh, T. Min-ha, "The Totalizing Quest of Meaning," Theorizing Documentary, 90-107.

Mon. Mar. 12

Cultural Encounters

Incident at Restigouche. Alanis Obomsawin, Canada, 1984 (46 min)
Women in the Shadows. Christine Welsh, Canada, 1991 (56 min)
Home Feeling. Jennifer Hodge, Canada, 1984 (40 min)

Tues. Mar. 13

Bill Nichols, "Documentary, Criticism and the Ethnographic Film," Ideology and the Image (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981), 237-84.
Cameron Bailey, "A Cinema of Duty: The Films of Jennifer Hodge de Silva," Cine-Action no. 23 (Winter 1990-91), 4-12.

Mon. Mar. 19

Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation

Nice Coloured Girls. Tracey Moffat, Australia, 1987 (26 min)
The Body Beautiful. Ngozi Onwurah, GB, 1991 (30 min)
Handsworth Songs
. Black Audio Film Collective, GB, 1986 (58 min)

Tues. Mar. 20

Stuart Hall, "Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation." Ex-Iles: Essays on Caribbean Cinema, ed. Mbye Cham (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1992), 220-236.
Kobena Mercer, "Recoding Narratives of Race and Nation," Black Film British Cinema, ed. Kobena Mercer (London: ICA Documents #6, 1988), 4-14.

TERM PAPERS DUE TODAY.

Mon. Mar. 26

The Burden of Representation

Looking for Langston. Isaac Julien, GB, 1988 (45 min)
Tongues Untied
. Marlon Riggs, USA, 1989 (55 min)

Tues. Mar. 27 Isaac Julien & Kobena Mercer, "Introduction: De Margin and De Centre," Screen vol.29 no.4 (1988), 2-10.
Kobena Mercer, "Diaspora Culture and the Dialogic Imagination: The Aesthetics of Black Independent Film in Britain," Blackframes (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1989), 50-61.
Sheila Petty, "Silence and Its Opposite: Expression of Race in Tongues Untied," Documenting the Documentary, 416-428.
Mon. Apr. 2

Personal Documentary

The Gleaners and I. Agnes Varda, France, 2000 (82 min.)

Tues. Apr. 3
Mon. Apr. 9

I, Curmudgeon. Alan Zweig, Canada, 2004

Tues. Apr. 10

Last Class: Term Test


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