Inaccurate boundaries: the anthropological documentary between the exploitation of the exotic and the representation of the other

Authors

  • Marcius Freire Universidade Estadual de Campinas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2005.28.3341

Keywords:

documentary, exploitation, anthropology

Abstract

Anthropological film has often joggled in the borderline of two tendencies: exploitation of exoticism and ethnographic concern. Films like John Marshall’s The Hunters, or Robert Gardner’s Dead Birds are examples of how specificities of other cultures may be framed as the extraordinary, the unusual and be embedded in a scientific artifact. The aim of this text is to explore the ambiguous relationship anthropological documentary has entertained with the abnormal and the exotic, examining its ethical and esthetical issues.

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Author Biography

Marcius Freire, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

Possui graduação em "Études Cinématographiques et Audiovisuelles" - Université Paris VIII (1978), graduação em "Arts Plastiques" - Université Paris VIII (1979), mestrado em "Cinéma" - Université Paris VIII (1980), doutorado em "Cinématographie" - Université Paris X-Nanterre (1985) e pós-doutorado na New York University (1997-1999). Atualmente é Professor livre-docente do Departamento de Cinema da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). 

References

BARNOW, Erik, Documentary. A history of non-fiction film, New York: Oxford Press, 1993.

COLLIER JR., John. The future of ethnographic film. In: Jack R. Rollwagen (Org.). Anthropological filmmaking, Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1988.

GARDNER, Robert. On the making of Death Birds. in: Karl Heider (Ed.). The Dani of West Irian. Andover, Mass.: Warner Modular Publications, 1972.

JOURDAN, Pierre L., Cinéma. Premier contact-premier regard, Marseille: Musées de Marseille, 1992.

LEROI-GOURHAN, André, Cinéma et sciences humaines. Le film ethnologique existe-t-til?. In: Revue de géographie humaine et d’ethnologie, n. 3, Paris, 1948.

ROUCH, Jean. La caméra et les hommes. In: Claudine de France (Org.). Pour une anthropologie visuelle, Paris: Mouton Éditeur, 1979.

SOBCHACK, Vivian. Inscribing ethical space: tem propositions on death, representation and documentary. In: Quaterly Review of Film Studies, v. 9, fall/1984.

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Published

2008-04-13

How to Cite

Freire, M. (2008). Inaccurate boundaries: the anthropological documentary between the exploitation of the exotic and the representation of the other. Revista FAMECOS, 12(28), 107–114. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2005.28.3341

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 28 (2005)

Section

Cinema and Imaginary

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