41822 - Documentary and Experimental Cinematography with Lab-based Activities (1)

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Docente: Marco Cucco
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-ART/06
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Drama, Art and Music Studies (cod. 0956)

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will: a) know the creative tendencies that have characterized documentary and experimental cinema, also from an historical point of view; b) know the production and distribution modes of non-fiction cinema; c) connect the major works of experimental and documentary cinema with cinema history.

Course contents

The course investigates the history of documentary cinema from origins to nowadays, taking into consideration the key moments of its historical development. The course considers the international panorama with a focus on specific areas where, in given historical moments, new movements, styles and approaches in making documentaries emerged.

The course pays particular attention to the following topics: the origins of cinema and the travelogues; the two fathers of documentaries (Robert Flaherty and Dziga Vertov); the British social documentaries; documentaries and propaganda; the relationship between fiction films and documentary films in the Italian Neorealism; the Cine Vérité in France and the Direct Cinema in the United States; activist documentaries in the ‘70s and ‘80s; mockmentary and moku-horror; contemporary commercial documentaries. This historical path will be integrated by the in-depth analysis of four documentaries and one mockumentary (see list below).

During the course, a constant comparison between fiction films and documentary films will be consider in order to achieve a better understanding of their own specific features and a well-designed definition of documentary cinema.

The historical and text analysis of documentary cinema and films will be integrated by the investigation of how documentaries are produced and released. In the final part of the course, a special lecture will be devoted to documentary financing in Italy, with a focus on public financing.

 

Mandatory filmography

-Nanook of the North (Robert J. Flaherty, 1922)

-Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)

-Comizi d'amore/Love Meetings (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)

-The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)

-Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2003)

Readings/Bibliography

Formenti C. (2014), Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario. Milano-Udine, Mimesis.

Lasagni MC. (2014), Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria. Milano, Bruno Mondadori.

Nichols B. (2014), Introduzione al documentario – Nuova edizione. Milano, Il Castoro.

Teaching methods

Lectures with the support of slides and video.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral examination to assess whether students have acquired the knowledge of the fundamentals documentary cinema.

Attending-students have to study: a) slides provided by the lecturer; b) personal notes; c) "Nanook cammina ancora" by Maria Cristina Lasagni (cfr. bibliography).

Non-attending students, have to study a) books authored by M.C. Lasagni (2014) and B. Nichols (2014) (cfr. bibliography); b) chapters 1, 2, 4, 9 of the book "Il mockumentary" by C. Formenti (cfr. bibliography); c) mandatory filmography (see list above).

It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents, the use of a proper specific language, and the ability to connect the history documentary films with the social and cultural context. It will be assessed as discrete the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, not articulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of the discipline. It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, lack of knowledge of the history of documentary cinema. It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the mandatory bibliography and inability to analyse the subject.

To take the examination, students shall register in the list by AlmaEsami service. Non-enrolled students will be excluded from the test. Students are also required to sit the examination with their UniBo credentials and a recognition document.

Students who have included this course in study programs of previous academic years are invited to contact the teacher to agree the test methods.

Teaching tools

As support, during the course the lecture will:

-project slides (the slides will be shared with students at the end of each lecture)

-screen films and documentaries.

As in the past edition of the course, the lecturer will invite directors of documentaries for an open discussion with students. The participation of directors depends on their own availability.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cucco

SDGs

Quality education

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.