Introduction to Documentary, Second Edition

364 Pages·2010·7.362 MB·English

by  Nichols, Bill

IntroductIon to documentary
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IntroductIon to
d o c u m e n ta r y
Second edition
Bill nichols
Indiana University Press
Bloomington & Indianapolis
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To Pascale Menconi—as loving and beautiful
a spirit as anyone could hope to know
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This book is a publication of ∞ The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of
Indiana University Press the American National Standard for
601 North Morton Street Information Sciences—Permanence
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www.iupress.indiana.edu
Manufactured in the United
Telephone orders 800-842-6796 States of America
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected] Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data
© 2001, 2010 by Bill Nichols
1st edition 2001, 2nd edition 2010 Nichols, Bill, [date]-
All rights reserved Introduction to documentary
/ Bill Nichols. — 2nd ed.
No part of this book may be reproduced p. cm.
or utilized in any form or by any means, Includes bibliographical
electronic or mechanical, including references and index.
photocopying and recording, or by Includes filmography.
any information storage and retrieval ISBN 978-0-253-35556-0 (cloth : alk.
system, without permission in writing paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22260-2
from the publisher. The Association (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Documentary
of American University Presses’ films—History and criticism. I. Title.
Resolution on Permissions constitutes PN1995.9.D6N539 2010
the only exception to this prohibition. 070.1’8—dc22
2010017294
1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11 10
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contents
· Acknowledgments · ix
· Introduction · xi
1 How Can We Define Documentary Film? · 1
2 Why Are Ethical Issues Central to
Documentary Filmmaking? · 42
3 What Gives Documentary Films a
Voice of Their Own? · 67
4 What Makes Documentaries
Engaging and Persuasive? · 94
5 How Did Documentary Filmmaking
Get Started? · 120
6 How Can We Differentiate among Documentaries?
Categories, Models, and the Expository and
Poetic Modes of Documentary Film · 142
7 How Can We Describe the Observational,
Participatory, Reflexive, and Performative
Modes of Documentary Film? · 172
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8 How Have Documentaries Addressed
Social and Political Issues? · 212
9 How Can We Write Effectively about
Documentary? · 253
· Notes on Source Material · 273
· Filmography · 289
· List of Distributors, Internet Distribution
Venues, Internet Search Engines, and
International Distributors · 301
· Index · 323
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acknowledgments
My greatest debt of gratitude goes to the students who have studied
documentary film with me over the years. Their curiosity and ques-
tions have provided the motivation for this book. I am also greatly
indebted to those who have gathered at the Visible Evidence con-
ferences since their inception in 1993 to exchange ideas and pursue
debates about documentary film. These conferences, initiated by Jane
Gaines and Michael Renov, have proven invaluable to the promotion
of a lively dialogue about documentary film in the broadest possible
terms.
Without the assistance of the filmmakers who so generously pro-
vided still images of their work, this book would be greatly impover-
ished. I thank them for their willingness to provide superb illustrations,
often on short notice.
Michael Wilson initiated and Victoria Gamburg updated and
completed the research for the original list of distributors. Their as-
sistance was timely and indispensable to the completion of the first
edition. Tori Palmatier performed a comparable role for the second
edition. Her search of websites, most of which were not functional at
the time of the first edition’s publication, greatly enriches this resource
list. David Gray took on the task of obtaining the stills I needed and
carried it out superbly. I am greatly indebted to Tori and David for their
invaluable help.
ix
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