Post-1990 Documentary: Reconfiguring Independence

Post-1990 documentary : reconfiguring independence. Edited by Camille Deprez and Judith Pernin. Edinburgh : Edinburgh university press, 2015. 280 p. ISBN : 9780748694136

In a post-1990 context of unrivalled creativity in documentary filmmaking, what does ‘independence’ really mean? With a broad selection of contributors, this is the first collection of in-depth case studies to cut across different media, formats, subject matters, purposes and national divides. Writing from a wide range of academic perspectives, contributors shed new light on historical, theoretical and empirical issues concerning independent documentary, to better comprehend the radical transformations of the form over the past twenty-five years.

While the digital turn has been widely acknowledged as decisive in reshaping film practices, especially independent ones, this anthology aims at assessing its consequences without overestimating the impact of technology on other political, economic, social and cultural changes. Continuities as well as breaks are therefore put in perspective, with a particular focus on the interactions between these new practices and the established film and television industries.

Divided into three main sections on ‘History and Spaces of Resistance’, ‘The Personal Experience’ and ‘Displacement, Participation and Spectatorship’, Post-1990 Documentary: Reconfiguring Independence provides an innovative interpretation of under-studied subject matters and styles, and rare analysis of differing production, distribution and exhibition strategies. It not only helps to rethink the notion of independence, but also contributes to a fundamental change in our perception of documentary filmmaking.

Sommaire disponible sur la page Academia.eu de Judith Pernin

Voir aussi

• Pernin, Judith. Pratiques indépendantes du documentaire en Chine : histoire, esthétique et discours visuels (1990-2010). Rennes : Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2015. 290 p. (Coll. “Le Spectaculaire Cinéma”). ISBN : 978-2-7535-3687-6.
• Page personnelle de Judith Pernin sur le site du CEFC (Hong Kong)
• Page personnelle de Camille Deprez sur le site de la Baptist University (Hong Kong)

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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