Course Syllabus
European Documentary Film |
 |
How to Pick Berries (Elina Talvensaari, 2010)
| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2020 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
Film Studies, Media Studies, Visual Arts |
| Faculty Members: |
Morten Egholm & Helle Pagter |
| Program Coordinator: |
Katrine Trolle- ktr@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Tuesdays & Fridays, 11.40-13.00 Location: The DIS Movie Theatre in V23 |
Description of Course
Documentary films are gaining more critical and commercial prominence these years, especially the ones increasingly pushing the boundaries of fact and fiction. While the ideal of earlier documentary films most often has been objectivity, modern documentary filmmakers more deliberately choose to distort this credo to offer new ways of interpreting reality. Focusing on European documentary film and some of its most prominent historical and contemporary names, this course approaches documentary film from two angles:
- An analytical and contextualizing approach
- A hands-on, ‘Do It Yourself’ production
Starting with the films themselves the analytical part of the course offers an in-depth understanding of the theory, history, genre and ethical considerations of documentary films, with an emphasis on films with a poetic self-reflective approach and films blurring the border between fact and fiction.
In the production, students will work (individually) throughout the semester to produce their own collection of documentary cinematic moments. Starting from a micro-analysis of films watched in class, students are asked to work with specific cinematic parameters to record documentary fragments from their own realities. Towards the end of the course, these moments are edited into cinematic sequences. All shooting takes place outside of class, and is part of students’ homework.
The production is linked to a short paper explaining the choices made and the aesthetic/narrative tools used in the production and a presentation of the production in class where you explain these elements to your fellow students. We will watch films by directors such as Dziga Vertov, Nina Hedenius, Werner Herzog, Ulrich Seidl, Mira Jargil, Janus Metz, and others.
Instructors
Morten Egholm
Ph. D., Film Studies, University of Copenhagen, 2009. Cand. mag., Scandinavian Studies, Film and Media Theory, University of Copenhagen, 1997. Associate professor, Danish Language, Literature and Culture, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 2002-2006. Has written several articles in Danish, English and Dutch on film history, Danish literature, Danish mentality, and Danish TV series. Editor of the film journal Kosmorama 2010-2015. With DIS since 2008, since January 2012 as full time faculty.
Helle Pagter
Documentary film director, The National Danish Film School, 2007. BA (Honours), Contemporary Dance, London Contemporary Dance School (University of Kent), 1996. Additional studies at California Institute of the Arts, 1995. Directs short films and documentaries. Co-conceptualized and co-directed the first ever season of the staged documentary series Married at First Sight. Has made films on the royal Danish family and a television series about homeless youths. Part of the artists group BLUE TIT and the reflective laboratory Pagter & Worsøe. Helle's films have been screened at venues across the globe, she is an external lecturer at The National Danish Film School and sought after consultant. With DIS since 2016.
Field Studies
Wednesday, March 11, 8.30-12.30 & Wednesday, April 22, 13.00-17.00.
Field study time will be dedicated to the production part of the course.
Evaluation and Grading
| Assignment |
Percent |
| Short paper, theoretical-analytical, based on work analyzed in class (3-4 pages) |
20% |
|
Midterm, focusing on the course’s theoretical-analytical part |
20% |
|
Production: Progress and learning effect throughout the semester |
40% |
|
Short paper on the production |
20% |
Short Paper
Topic: Choose a film analyzed in class, or a film by your own choice, and apply it to Bill Nichols’ modes of representation. 3-4 pages long, double space.
Midterm
This is a short answer test where you will be asked to apply the theory and documentary film history to the films watched in class. There will also be questions where you are asked to analyze important details in the films. The answers will be weighted differently.
Production
The production will consist of five homework shoots throughout the semester and a final edit of the collected material. Further instructions will be given throughout the production sessions.
Short Paper on the Production
A report explaining the choices made and the aesthetic/narrative tools used in the production. 3-4 pages, double space, more detailed information will be given throughout the semester.
Required Reading
Bondebjerg, Ib: Documentary and Cognitive Theory: Narrative, Emotion and Memory. Media and Communication 2: 13-22, 2014
Bruzzi, Stella: New Documentary. Second Edition, 2006
Corner, John: The Art of Record – A Critical Introduction to Documentary, 1996.
Edgar, Robert, Kirsty Fairclough-Isaacs, and Benjamin Halligan: The Music Documentary, 2013.
Eitzen, Dirk: Documentary's Peculiar Appeals in: Anderson, Joseph Anderson, Barbara, eds. Moving Image Theory: Ecological Considerations. Carbondale, Ill, 2005.
Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy A. McLane: A New History of Documentary Film, 2008.
Frey, Mattias: The Possibility of Desire in a Conformist World: The Cinema of Ulrich Seidl, in: New Austrian Film, 2011.
Grierson, John: Grierson on Documentary, 1979.
Lane, Jim: The Autobiographical Documentary in America, 2002.
Johnson, Laurie Ruth: Forgotten Dreams. Revisiting Romanticism in the Cinema of Werner Herzog, 2016.
Nichols, Bill: Introduction to Documentary. Second Edition, 2010.
Plantinga, Carl: Rhetoric and Representation in Non-Fiction Films. Second Edition, 2015.
Film Viewings
Please note that it is mandatory to watch each film before the relevant class. Below you will find a lists of films that we will discuss throughout the semester. The films will be available on reserve in a specific semester shelf at the Library (ask one of the librarians), and some of them are available in the Canvas Files. Keep in mind that these films act as the texts of this course and it is therefore just as necessary to watch each film attentively (i.e. take notes) before the class sessions in which it will be discussed.
| Theme 1: European Classics | |
| The Man with the Movie Camera | Canvas |
| Night Mail | Canvas |
| Theme 2: Contemporary Nordic Documentary | |
| How to Pick Berries | In class |
| From Thailand to Thy | Canvas |
| The Time We Have |
Library |
| Theme 3: The Portrait Documentary | |
| My Body | Library |
| Max by Chance | Link |
| Mother is God | Canvas |
| Theme 4: German and Austrian Documentary | |
| Grizzly Man | Canvas |
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|