Introduction to Documentary

Introduction to Documentary provides a one-of-a-kind overview of the most important topics and issues in documentary history and criticism. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, from the law to anthropology, and from history to journalism, this book spells out the distinguishing qualities of documentary. A wide-ranging and freewheeling form of filmmaking, documentary has not yet received a proper written introduction to its public or its future makers. Introduction to Documentary is not organized as a history of the forms, although its examples span a century of filmmaking. Instead, it suggests answers to basic issues that have been debated since the very beginnings of documentary. Each chapter takes up a distinct question, from "How did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "Why are ethical issues central to documentary?" The questions move through issues of ethics, form, modes, voice, history, and politics. A final chapter addresses techniques of writing about documentary in a clear, convincing manner. Introduction to Documentary provides the foundation for further explorations in this exceptionally vital area of filmmaking today. Bill Nichols, an internationally recognized authority on documentary and ethnographic film, holds the Fanny Knapp Allen Chair of Fine Arts at the University of Rochester, where he is Professor of Art History/Visual and Cultural Studies in the Department of Art and Art History. He has published on a wide-range of topics, from cybernetics and visual culture to New Iranian Cinema. His anthology Movies and Methods (1976) helped define the new discipline of film studies. His previous books include Representing Reality and Blurred Boundaries, both on issues in documentary film, and, as editor, Maya Deren: Radical Aspirations, on the postwar American avant-garde's most important figure.