The Oxford anthropologist, Marcus Banks, once described observational cinema as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of ethnographic film, and there is no doubt that observational approaches have played a key role for many ethnographic filmmakers over the past fifty years. In this full-day seminar three seasoned visual anthropologists and filmmakers will give some examples of why and how this has been the case through talks and film screenings.
Observational Cinema and Ethnographic Film
A full-day seminar organized by the Master of Visual Anthropology programme
in cooperation with the Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA)
with
Visiting professor Paul Hockings(Professor emeritus, University of Illinois), Fulbright professor Len Kamerling(Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks) and Peter I. Crawford(professor of visual anthropology, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway)
Wednesday, 20 March 2019, 9.15-17.30
Venue: The UiT cinema (Kino), TEO-6 6.220
The Oxford anthropologist, Marcus Banks, once described observational cinema as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of ethnographic film, and there is no doubt that observational approaches have played a key role for many ethnographic filmmakers over the past fifty years. In this full-day seminar three seasoned visual anthropologists and filmmakers will give some examples of why and how this has been the case through talks and film screenings.
Programme:
09.15-09.30 Introduction (Peter I. Crawford)
09.30-11.00 Presentation and screening of film clips (Paul Hockings)
11.00-11.30 Coffee break
11.30- 13.00: Film/film clip screenings (from The Village, Making a kayak, Heart of the country)
13.00-13.30 Lunch break
13.30-15.00 Presentation and screening of film clips (Len Kamerling)
15.00-15.15 Coffee break
15.15-16.15 Colin Young and observational cinema. Presentation and film screening (Proud to be British)(Peter I. Crawford)
16.15-17.30 Discussion and additional screenings
In a collective tribute to our friend and colleague, Asen Balikci, who passed away in January, we will show excerpts from his Netsilik Eskimo series.
Readings:
Henley, P.(2018), ‘The Authoring of Observational Cinéma: Conversations with Colin Young, Visual Anthropology, 31, pp. 193-225.
Hockings, P. et al.(2014) Where Is the Theory in Visual Anthropology? Visual Anthropology. 27, pp. 436-456.