Seminar: "Documentary and the avant-garde"

Professor Michael Renov is a 2021/2022 IAS Distinguished Scholar of the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies.

Abstract:
This seminar will investigate some key issues related to the documentary film: what is the nature of the documentary "truth claim"? To what extent can documentary film produce historical knowledge? Can documentary films create social change? But most of all, this class will look at the diversity of documentary expression and innovation as it has evolved in recent decades. To that end, we will consider documentary animation as well as the essay film, the diary film, and domestic ethnography.