Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Documentary
Other languages of instruction: English
Teaching staff
plagos@uic.es
Introduction
The Documentary course is oriented towards the study of the historical, theoretical, and aesthetic foundations of non-fiction cinema as a mode of audiovisual representation of reality. Drawing on the major theoretical discussions that intersect the practice of documentary cinema (Nichols, Bruzzi, Renov, among others), the course will reflect on concepts such as "reality" and its representation, and the crisis of "truth" as a narrative that shifts from an initially objective quest to the predominance of subjectivity as a contemporary trait. To understand how documentary has become a fundamental tool in the history of cinema for approaching and interpreting — from a creative and artistic perspective — contemporary reality issues, the course includes the analysis of various films that illustrate a diachronic review of the main exponents and currents of documentary cinema — primarily European, American, and Latin American — from its origins to its contemporary hybrid and self-reflexive practices (Post-truth).
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisites required.
Objectives
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The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the richness of the documentary genre, from its major manifestations from its beginnings to the present day. In parallel, students will be required to create a documentary and participate in a workshop with exercises aimed at developing it.
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To introduce students to the creative and expressive possibilities for the audiovisual treatment of reality, exploring the narrative, aesthetic, and formal strategies employed by the major documentary currents and their most paradigmatic exponents, through the viewing and critical analysis of a series of key films in the development of the genre.
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To investigate contemporary documentary trends, their main tensions, hybridizations, fractures, and the blurred boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. Students will be introduced to key subjective, self-representational, and self-reflexive practices (essay film; autobiographical documentary, filmed diaries, letters, portraits, and self-portraits); recycling and re-semantization (archive, found footage), performative, and poetic practices.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 01 - The ability to adapt to varying circumstances
- 02 - The ability to understand, accept criticism and correct errors
- 03 - The ability to administer and manage human and technical resources
- 04 - The ability to work in a team and autonomously
- 05 - The ability to organise time and workspace
- 06 - The ability to develop academic rigour, responsibility, ethics and professionalism
- 07 - The ability to apply the deontology and respect for the audiovisual sector
- 08 - The ability of critical analysis, synthesis, concretion and abstraction
- 10 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
- 11 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
- 12 - The ability to meet deadlines, develop the ability to be punctual and respect for human, technical and material resources
- 13 - The ability to create spoken and written communication
- 14 - Knowledge and mastery of rhetoric and oratory to communicate own ideas
- 16 - The ability to manage, analysis and reflect on content
- 19 - The ability of informative documentation
- 21 - Knowledge and mastery of the digital culture
- 22 - Knowledge and mastery of the distinction between opinion and information / colloquial and cultured register
- 23 - The ability to prioritize newsworthy events and contrast information
- 24 - The ability to plan and organize both short term and long term projects
- 25 - The ability to maximize creative development
- 26 - The ability to develop a sense of taste and perfection in the aesthetics and finalization of projects
- 32 - The ability to confront audiovisual and film projects in all phases (pre-production, shooting, post-production, distribution)
- 33 - The ability to create and direct.
- 34 - The ability to know and respect the different roles of the artistic and technical teams
- 42 - The ability to distinguish, analyze and dominate the distinct genres and formats of television, film and radio
- 43 - the ability to create scripts for film, television and radio according to the demands of the genre
- 44 - The ability to adapt to new audiovisual formats
- 45 - The ability to know and dominate the techniques of audiovisual narrative.
- 46 - The ability to dominate resources used for image (Photographs, lighting...) and sound.
- 48 - Knowledge and mastery of the techniques of filming, directing, producing and editing
- 49 - The ability to write fluent texts, step outlines or scripts
- 51 - Knowledge and mastery of the functioning of Corporate and Institutional Communication.
- 53 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
- 54 - The ability to skillfully manage the literature, terminology and linguistic structures of the English language related to the field of communication.
Learning outcomes of the subject
To study the evolution of the documentary genre from its beginnings to present day.
To create creation workshops in which students can complete their exercises and, in doing so, develop a personal approach through documentary techniques.
To acquire knowledge of the documentary genre through the analysis of documentary films and the perspectives of various documentary filmmakers.
To understand the diverse range of creative possibilities that contemporary documentaries hold.
Syllabus
Unit 1: Cinema Originates as Documentary
- Introduction: The Limits of Documentary Truth. Documenting Reality.
- Pioneers. Origins and Staging of Documentary: The Lumière Brothers.
- The Exploration of Alterity: Robert Flaherty.
- European Documentary Avant-Gardes: D. Vertov, J. Grierson, J. Ivens, J. Vigo, W. Ruttmann, L. Buñuel, etc.
- Propaganda Documentary. L. Riefenstahl.
Unit 2: Modern Documentary (Post-World War II)
- Modes and Conventions of Documentary Representation.
- Cinema Verité: Jean Rouch, Pier Paolo Pasolini, etc.
- Direct Cinema: R. Drew, R. Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker, A. and D. Maysles.
- Free Cinema: Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson.
- New American Cinema: J. Mekas, M. Menken, S. Brakhage, etc.
- The New Latin American Documentary. Militant Cinema of T. Gutiérrez Alea, O. Getino, S. Álvarez, F. Pino Solanas, P. Guzmán, etc.
Unit 3: Post-Truth Documentary and Contemporary Documentary
- The Limits of Reality Representation.
- Subjective, Affective, Performative Turn. Autobiographical and Self-Representational Documentary. Diaries, Correspondences, Portraits, Self-Portraits. A. Varda, D. Perlov, Ch. Akerman, J. Van der Keuken, B. Lehman, A. Ch. Robertson, N. Kawase, etc.
- Documentary and Postmemory. Second Generations in the Post-Dictatorships of Latin America: Albertina Carri, Macarena Aguiló, etc.
- Essay Documentary. Chris Marker, Jean-Luc Godard, Trinh T. Minh-Ha, etc.
- Other Hybrids: The Mockumentary / Recycling, Archive and Re-semantization: Found Footage.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
Fully in-person modality in the classroom. The course is theoretical in nature, based on lectures, directed readings of relevant material, viewing and critical analysis of documentaries, and presentations by students themselves regarding the creative processes leading to the practical exercises developed for the course in parallel.
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 1.2 |
| Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. | 0.2 |
| Practical workshop. A highly practical working activity, where students can acquire skills that are practical or also theoretical (intellectual skills, logical skills, critical skills, intellectual learning skills, study skills, quoting skills, etc). | 0.4 |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 0.8 |
| Mentoring programme. Ensuring a review of and in-depth look at competences and knowledge, as well as the development of habits involving social commitment and responsibility, with the strongest students providing guidance for students from lower years, particularly if they have any type of disability (physical, etc). | 0.4 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
- 40% Practical exercises and film projects
- 20% Individual written exercises on mandatory texts or films delivered during the sessions.
- 30% Final exam.
- 10% Individual mark: attitude, initiative, technical skills, creativity and teamwork.
* It is mandatory to get a minimum of 4 in the final exam in order to average with the rest of the marks of the continuous assessment.
* The lecturer reserves the right to give students a fail mark on their audiovisual project if they don't achieve the minimum level of attendance, initiative and in-class participation.
* The faculty's rules on spelling mistakes and plagiarism shall be strictly observed.
Second sitting
Those students who sit for the second sitting must take an exam, equivalent to 100% of the mark, in which all the subject content (theoretical sessions, documentaries seen in class, compulsory texts) will be assessed. If the average of the continuous assessment exercises is passed, the exam will maintain the value of 30% and will be averaged with the rest of the marks.
Other sittings
From the third sitting onwards, students will have to repeat the course.
Bibliography and resources
Mandatory bibliography
ADAMS SITNEY, P. (1978). “Autobiography in Avant-Garde Film”. En: The Avant-Garde Film: A Reader of Theory and Criticism. Nueva York: University Press.
ARDÉVOL, Elisenda y PÉREZ TOLÓN, Luis (1995). Imagen y cultura. Perspectivas del cine etnográfico. Granada: Diputación Provincial de Granada.
BARON, Jaimie (2013). The Archive effect. Found Footage and the Audiovisual Experience of History. London: Routledge.
BRUZZI, Stella (2006). New Documentary. London: Routledge.
CAMPO, Javier et.al. (Ed.) (2020). El cine documental: una encrucijada estética y política. Buenos Aires: Prometeo libros.
LAGOS, Paola. «Poéticas de la Autorrepresemtación» en LAGOS, P., David Perlov. La imagen bisagra como pensamiento cinematográfico intersticial. Valencia: Shangrila, 2024. Pp. 32-108.
LEDO, Margarita (2004). Del Cine-Ojo a Dogma 95. Barcelona: Paidós.
MARTÍN GUTIÉRREZ, Gregorio (2008). Cineastas Frente al Espejo. Madrid: T&B Ediciones.
NICHOLS, Bill (2001). Introduction to documentary. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
NICHOLS, Bill (1997). La representación de la realidad. Cuestiones y conceptos sobre el documental. Barcelona: Paidós.
NICHOLS, Bill (1994). Blurred Boundaries. Question of meaning in contemporary culture. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press,
PRIVIDERA, Nicolás (2022). Cine documental: la pasión de lo real. Buenos Aires: la marca editorial.
RABINOWITZ, Paula (1994). They must be represented: The Politics of Documentary. New York: Verso Books.
RENOV, Michael (2004). The subject of Documentary. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
RENOV, Michael (1993). Theorizing documentary. New York: Routdlege.
ROUCH, Jean (1979) «La camera et les hommes» en FRANCE, C. de, Pour une anthropologie visuelle.
SÁNCHEZ NAVARRO, Jordi (2001). Imágenes para la sospecha. Falsos documentales y otras piruetas de la no ficción. Barcelona: Glenat.
SCHEFER, Raquel (2008). El autorretrato en el cine documental: figuras, máquinas, imágenes. Buenos Aires: Catálogos.
TORREIRO, Casimiro y CERDÁN, Josetxo (2005). Documental y Vanguardia. Madrid: Cátedra.
TORREIRO, Casimiro, ALVARADO, Alejandro (2023). El documental en España. Historia, ética e identidad. Madrid: Cátedra.
WEES, Willliam (1993). Recycled Images. The arts and politics of found footage films. New York: Anthology films Archives.
WEINRICHTER, Antonio (Ed). (2007). La forma que piensa. Tentativas en torno al cine-ensayo. Pamplona: Gobierno de Navarra.
WEINRICHTER, Antonio (2004). Desvíos de lo real. El cine de no ficción. Madrid: T&B Editores.
ZUNZUNEGUI, Santos, ZUMALDE, Imanol (2019). Ver para creer. Avatares de la verdad cinematográfica. Madrid: Cátedra.
Supplementary Bibliography
AUMONT, Jaques y otros (1995). Estética del cine. Espacio fílmico, montaje, narración, lenguaje. Barcelona: Paidós.
BALLÓ, Jordi y PÉREZ, Xavier (1997). La semilla inmortal. Los argumentos universales en el cine. Barcelona, Anagrama.
BARNOW, Erik (1996). El documental. Historia y Estilo. Gedisa: Barcelona.
BAZIN, André (1991). ¿Qué es el cine? Madrid: Rialp.
BELLOUR, Raymond (2009). Entre Imágenes. Foto, cine, video. Buenos Aires. Colihue.
BRAKHAGE, Stan (1995). “Défense de l’amateur”. En Le Je filmé. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou.
BRESCHAND, Jean (2004). El documental. La otra cara del cine. Barcelona: Paidós.
CARRERA, Pilar (2015). El Relato documental: efectos de sentido y modos de recepción. Madrid: Cátedra.
CHION, Michel (2004) La voz en el cine. Madrid: Cátedra.
CUEVAS, Efrén (2010). La casa abierta. El cine doméstico y sus reciclajes contemporáneos. Madrid: Ocho y medio.
GARCÍA, Sonia (Ed.) (2009). Piedra, papel y tijera. El collage en el cine documental. Madrid: Ocho y medio.
GRANGE, Marie-Françoise (2015), L’autoportrait en cinéma. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
JAMES, David E. (1992). To free Cinema. Jonas Mekas and the New York Underground. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
LANE, Jim (2002). The autobiographical documentary in America. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
LEJEUNE, Philippe. (2008). “Cine y Autobiografía, problemas de vocabulario”. En: Cineastas frente al espejo. MARTÍN GUTIERREZ, G. (Ed). Madrid: T&B Ediciones.
ORTEGA, Mª Luisa (2007). Espejos rotos. Aproximaciones al documental Norteamericano contemporáneo”. Madrid: Ocho y Medio.
PARANAGUA, Paulo (Ed) (2003). Cine Documental en América Latina. Madrid: Cátedra.
PLANTINGA, Carl (1997). Rhetoric and representation in nonfiction film. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Cambridge University Press.
VERTOV, Dziga (1974). El cine ojo. Madrid: Fundamentos.
ZIMMERMAN, Patricia (1995). Reel families: A social history of amateur film. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.