- 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 perspective; b) know the production and distribution modes of non-fiction cinema; c) connect the major works of experimental and documentary cinema with film history.
Course contents
The course investigates the history of documentary cinema from its origins to nowadays, taking into consideration the key moments of its historical development. The course considers the international panorama with some focuses 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; the two fathers of documentaries (Robert Flaherty and Dziga Vertov); the British social documentaries; documentaries and propaganda; the relationship between Italian Neorealism and documentary films; Cine Vérité in France and the Direct Cinema in the United States; activist documentaries; mockumentary; interactive documentary; contemporary Italian documentaries. This historical path will be integrated by the in-depth analysis of five documentaries (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 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.
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
Traditional lectures supported by supported by slides and audiovisual materials. Teaching will be carried out with traditional methods: the professor will always be in the designated classroom, students will alternate in attendance according to a schedule of shifts being defined (more detailed information on the shifts and how to access the face-to-face lesson will be provided later). It will always be possible to connect remotely and follow live lessons via the Teams platform.
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) the 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
Lectures will be supported by slides and audiovisual materials.
As in the past editions of the course, the lecturer will invite directors of documentaries for an open discussion with students.
Office hours
See the website of Marco Cucco