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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "CMS 340"
COURSE NAME: "Documentary Film"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring Semester 2012
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Mamula Tijana
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: MW 16:00-18:05
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: COM 210
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed as an introduction to the history of documentary film. The course presents a survey of key moments and trends in documentary filmmaking from the 1920s to the present. Topics covered include: early Soviet documentary, avant-garde "city symphonies," the British documentary movement of the 1930s, American Direct Cinema, French cinema verité, the rise of video and its effects on documentary practice in the 1980s, the mockumentary genre, the development of the "essay film", and the mainstream documentary "renaissance" of recent years.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course is divided into weekly screenings and lectures.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course aims to explore the different "modes" of documentary filmmaking in all of their formal diversity, to discuss the confines between documentary and fiction filmmaking, and to think about the aesthetic and ethical implications of documentary's claim to "truth".
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Handoutsvarious n/a     
Introduction to DocumentaryBill Nichols 978-0253214690     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Mid-term examExam split into 6 short-answer questions (i.e. 1 exam book page each) and 1 essay question (6 exam book pages).30%
Final Paper2,500 word paper.30%
Final ExamExam split into 6 short-answer questions, and 1 essay question.30%
Class attendance and participationIncludes one informal presentation: students will work in pairs to present on one of the films screened in class. This will not be graded separately, but will contribute to the attendance and participation grade.10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Assessment Guidelines for assigning main letter grades: A, B, C, D, and F.

A: (90-100) Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.

B: (80-89) This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised. There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.

C: (70-79) This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.

D: (60-69) This level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material. Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.

F: (59 and under) This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

More than 3 unexcused absences will result in an F (Fail) grade for Attendance & Participation. More than 5 unexcused absences will result in failing the course.
If unexcused, a tardy of more than 20 minutes will be counted as an absence.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE
N.B.: The use of laptop computers or other electronic devices is NOT permitted during class.

N.B.: Further readings and recommended viewings may be listed throughout the semester. Please check your MyJCU message board for any updates.


Week 1:

What is Documentary?

Screening:
The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1987)

Reading:
Bill Nichols, Introduction to Documentary, Chapter 1, "How Can We Define Documentary Film?"


Week 2: 

Early Prototypes I: Narrative and Non-Narrative Forms

Screening:
Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1921)
Berlin: Symphony of City (Walter Ruttman, 1927)
Las Hurdes, Land Without Bread (Luis Bunuel, 1932)

Reading: 
1) Nichols, Chapter 5, "How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started?".
2) TBC


Week 3: 

Early Prototypes: Soviet Documentary in the 1920s

Screening:
Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)

Readings:
1) TBC
2) Dziga Vertov, "We: Variants of a Manifesto," in Kino Eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov (University of California Press, 1984), pp. 5-10


Week 4:

Leni Riefenstahl: Aesthetics and Propaganda

Screening:
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (Ray Muller, 1993)
Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1933), extracts

Reading: 
1) Nichols, Chapter 4 "What Makes Documentaries Engaging and Persuasive?".
2) Susan Sontag, "Fascinating Fascism," New York Review of Books, Feb. 1975.


Week 5:

John Grierson and British Documentary in the 1930s

Night Mail (Harry Watt, Basil Wright, 1936)
Listen to Britain (Humphrey Jennings, 1942)
Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright, 1934)

Reading: 
1) TBC
2) Nichols, Chapter 8, "How Have Documentaries Addressed Social and Political Issues?".


Week 6: 

Politics and Documentary in the United States, 1930-1950 

Screening: 
The River (Pare Lorentz, 1938)
Why We Fight, I: Prelude to War (Frank Capra, 1943)

Reading:
1) Nichols, Chapter 9, "How Can We Write Effectively about Documentary?"
2) TBC


Week 7:

Review and Mid-Term Exam


Week 8:

Postwar British Documentary: Free Cinema

Screening: 
O Dreamland (Lindsay Anderson, 1953)
Momma Don't Allow (Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, 1956)
Nice Time (Claude Goretta, Alain Tanner, 1957)
We Are the Lambeth Boys (Karel Reisz, 1959)

Reading: 
1) Lindsay Anderson, "A Possible Solution," Sequence, no. 3, Spring 1948, pp. 7-10.
2) Gavin Lambert, "Free Cinema," Sight & Sound, Spring 1956, pp. 173-77.
3) John Berger, "Look at Britain!" Sight & Sound, Summer 1957, pp. 12-14.
4) Jack C. Ellis, "Changing the Guard from the Grierson Documentary to Free Cinema," Quarterly Review of Film Studies, Winter 1982.
5) Free Cinema 1, 3 & 6 Manifestos.


Week 9: 

Postwar French Documentary: Ethnography and Cinéma Verité

Screening:
Chronicle of a Summer (Edgar Morin, Jean Rouch, 1961)

Reading:
1) TBC
2) Nichols, Chapter 3, "What Gives Documentary Films a Voice of Their Own?". 


Week 10:

Direct Cinema

Screening: 
Grey Gardens (David and Albert Maysles, 1975)

Reading: 
1) TBC
2) Joe McElhaney, Albert Maysles (University of Illinois Press, 2010), pp. 91-135.


Week 11:

Documentary Developments in the 1980s

Screening:
Sherman's March: A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation (Ross McElwee, 1986)

Reading:
TBC


Week 12:

The Problem of Speaking for Others: Race, Gender and Documentary

Screening:
Paris is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)
Tongues Untied (Marlon Riggs, 1989)

Reading:
1) Nichols, Chapter 2, "Why are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking?"
2) bell hooks, "Is Paris Burning?", Reel to Real: Race, Sex and Class at the Movies (Routledge, 1996), pp. 275-290.
3) Sheila Petty, "Silence and its Opposite: Expressions of Race in Tongues Untied," in Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video, ed. Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski (Wayne State University Press, 1998), pp. 416-427.


Week 13:

The Essay Film

Screening:
The Gleaners and I (Agnes Varda, 2000)

Reading:
1) Mireille Rosello, "Agnes Varda's Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse: Portrait of the Artist as an Old Lady," Studies in French Cinema 1, no.1 (2001), pp. 29-36.
2) Laura Rascaroli, "Introduction," The Personal Camera: Subjective Cinema and the Essay Film


Week 14:

Screening and Reading TBC