News - Monday, July 21, 2008 18:03 - 0 Comments
Propaganda as Documentary
Documentary film has long been used as a method of distributing a propaganda message, and the United States government as well as political parties are perhaps the the most expert proponents of this method. They, of course, take their cues from Hitler’s Nazi Germany who used propaganda with expert precision. Leni Riefenstahl’s body of films, produced by the Third Reich, are both visually stunning and effective in the shaping of the party message.
One of the major issues in documentary film today, as I see it, is the idea perpetuated by many that the films are somehow “objective” and free from any lens or judgmental point of view. I don’t mean to insinuate that filmmakers make films under this paradigm, merely that they are received as such, and often used as “proof” of fact - when in fact it’s entirely possible a film may be used effectively to distort the fact and the medium itself then becomes a powerful weapon of persuasion.
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Book Reviews - Jul 15, 2008 12:40 - 1 Comment
Book Review: Documenting the Documentary
Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video
by Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski
ISBN: 0-8143-2639-0
Coming Soon!
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Documentary Film Reviews - Jul 18, 2008 10:46 - 0 Comments
New Documentary: Man On Wire
Philippe Petit (born August 13, 1949) is a French high wire artist who gained fame for his illegal walk between the former Twin Towers in New York City on August 7, 1974. [1]
He used a 450 pound cable to do so and also a custom made 26 foot long, 55 pound balancing pole. Tight-rope walker, unicyclist, magician and pantomime artist, Philippe Petit was also one of the earliest modern day street jugglers in Paris in 1968. He juggled and worked on a slack rope with regularity in Washington Square Park in New York City in the early 1970s. Petit is one of the Artists-in-Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Other famous structures he has used for tightrope walks include that Cathedral, The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Louisiana Superdome, and between the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower. Petit currently lives in Woodstock, New York. A documentary film named “Man on Wire” by UK director James Marsh dealing with Petit’s WTC performance won both the World Cinema Jury and Audience awards at the Sundance Filmfestival 2008. The film also won awards at the 2008 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C.
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News - Jul 21, 2008 18:03 - 0 Comments
Propaganda as Documentary
Documentary film has long been used as a method of distributing a propaganda message, and the United States government as well as political parties are perhaps the the most expert proponents of this method. They, of course, take their cues from Hitler’s Nazi Germany who used propaganda with expert precision. Leni Riefenstahl’s body of films, produced by the Third Reich, are both visually stunning and effective in the shaping of the party message.
One of the major issues in documentary film today, as I see it, is the idea perpetuated by many that the films are somehow “objective” and free from any lens or judgmental point of view. I don’t mean to insinuate that filmmakers make films under this paradigm, merely that they are received as such, and often used as “proof” of fact - when in fact it’s entirely possible a film may be used effectively to distort the fact and the medium itself then becomes a powerful weapon of persuasion.
Continue…
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- SnagFilms.com Finds Virtual Theaters For Documentaries
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- National Press Club Documentary to Be Distributed at Journalism Educator’s Conference in Chicago