CHUMS 2500 From Nanook to Banksy: A History of Documentary Film
This seminar critically examines a century of documentary film, encompassing a wide variety of eras and subgenres along the way. The course progresses chronologically but is also structured utilizing Bill Nichols’s six documentary “modes” (expository, poetic, observational, participatory, reflexive, and performative). Moreover, films are analyzed not only in terms of their subject matter, but also with respect to their historical and production contexts, as well as questions surrounding their broader political and/or societal impact.