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FILM GENRES

Documentary Film

Documentary is a means of sharing our vision. Sharing how one perceives a particular moment in time and then re-presents that moment in time to others throught he medium of film. Through light, shadow, color and sound the filmaker crafts a stream of visual messages in which he hopes to convey the sights, sounds, feelings and emotions of a particular moment or event in time. When we expand the definition of documentary to move beyond the bounds of educational films and public service works, we find a wide arrange of experiences being shared.

Screenings

The Lumiere Brothers' First Films (1895) [ View ]

Epileptic Seizures

Anonymos, Hollis Frampton (1980)

Pathe Newsreels (1917-1931)

Kino Pravda, Dziga Vertov (1922) [ View ]

Manhatta, Paul Strand & Charles Sheeler (1921) [ View ]

Nanook of the North, Robert Flaherty (1922) [ View ]

The Bridge, Joris Ivens (1928) [ View ]

Rain, Joris Ivens (1929) [ View ]

Moanna: A Romance of the Golden Age, Robert Flaherty (1926)

H2O, Robert Flaherty (1929)

The Man With A Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov (1929) [ View ]

Salt for Svanetia, Mikhail Kalotozov (1922) [ Excerpts ]

Enthusiasm: Symphony of the Don Basin, Dziga Vertov (1931)

Land Without Bread, Luis Bunuel (1933) [ View ]

A Propos de Nice, Jean Vigo (1931) [ View ]

Taris, Jean Vigo (1931) [ View ]

Song of Ceylon, Basil Wright (1934)

New Earth, Joris Ivens (1934) - music by Hans Eisler

Triumph of the Will, Leni Riefenstahl (1934) - music by Herbert Windt

Olympia Part 1, Leni Riefenstahl (1935) - music by Herbert Windt

Nightmail, Harry Watt & Basil Wright (1936)

The Plow That Broke The Plains, Pare Lorentz (1936)
with Paul Strand, Raph Steiner, Leo Herwitz, Virgil Thompson

Olympia Part II, Leni Reifenstahl (1938)

The City, Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke (1939) - music by Aaron Copeland

Lambeth Walk, Len Lye & G.P.O. Staff (1939)

Moods of the Sea (Fingal's Cave), Slavko Vorkapich (1942)

The Battle of Britain, Lt. Col. Frank Capra & Maj. John Huston (1943) music by Dmitri Tiomkin

Trut! (Sea Hawk), Arne Sucksdorff (1944)

Shadows on the Snow, Arne Sucksdorff (1945)

The Battle of San Pitro, Maj. John Huston (1945)

Let There Be Light, John Huston with Charles Kaufman & Stanley Cortez (1946) music Tiomkin

Color Cry, Len Lye (1952) music by Sonny Terry

In The Street, Helen Leavitt with Janic Leob & James Agee (1952)

The Wonder Ring, Stan Brakhage (1955)

Window Water Baby Moving, Stan Brakhage (1959)

Notes on the Port of St. Francis, Frank Stauffacher with Hy Hirsh (1952)

Treadle & Bobbin, Wheaton Galentine (1954)

Pacific 231, Jean Mitry (1944)

A Study in Choreography for Camera, Maya Deren (1945)

Free Radicals, Len Lye (1958-59)

Particles in Space, Len Lye (1979)

Non Catholicism, Will Hindle (1957-63)

Cassis, Jonas Mekas (1966)

Castro St., Bruce Baillie (1966)

George Dumpson's Place, Ed Emshwiller (1965)

Point of Order, Emile DeAnotonio (1964)
 
Titicut Follies, Frederick Wiseman (1967)

Primary, Richard Leacock (1963)
 
The Governor, Stan Brakhage (1977)

Billabong, Will Hindle (1968)
 
Happy Mother's Day, Richard Leacock (1963)
 
Apollo, Richard Leacock (1970)
 
Little Stabs at Happiness, Ken Jacobs (1961) [ View ] (Courtesy UBUWEB)
 
Sprout Wings & Fly, Les Blank (1983)
   
The Blues According to Lightenin' Hopkins, Les Bland (1963)

Antonia: Portrait of a Woman, Jill Godmillow & Judy Collins (1968)

Burden of Dreams, Les Blank (1982)
 
Unsere Afrikarise, Peter Kubelka (1966)
 
Sicilians Defense, Charles Di Julio (1967)

Small Town Streets, Stan Brakhage (1975)

Serene Velocity, Ernie Gehr (1970) [ View ] (Courtesy UBUWEB)
 
Wild Dogs of Africa, Jane Goodall (1972)
 
Forests of Bliss, Robert Garner (1985)
 
Eyes, Stan Brakhage (1971)
 
Vivre (1957)

The Great Ecstasy of the Sculptor Steiner, Werner Herzog (1975)
 
Hospital, Frederick Wiseman (1970)
 
Deus Ex, Stan Brakhage (1971)
 
Huie's Sermon, Werner Herzog (1980)
 
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes, Stan Brakhage (1971)
 
The Trials of Alger Hiss
, John Lowenthal (1981)

Miracle of Life, Nilsson Lennart (1983)
 
Huey Long, Ken Burns (1987)
 
A Movie, Bruce Conner (1958)
 
Report, Bruce Conner (1965)
 
The White Rose, Bruce Ronner (1965-67)

The Day After Trinity, John Else (1981)
 
America is Waiting, Bruce Conner (1981)
 
Crossroads, Bruce Conner (1976)



Reading List

Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, Erik Barnouw

Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video (Contemporary Film and Television Series), Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski

A New History of Documentary Film, Jack C. Ellis and Betsy A. Mclane




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IGMAR BERGMAN

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