Synopses & Reviews
A thorough and definitive survey/history of documentary films. Concentrating mainly on the output of the US, the UK, and Canada, the authors outline the origins of the form and then show its development over the next several decades. The book is completely up-to-date in discussing films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.<br/><br/>Written in a simple, chronological format, the text is straightforward and full of content, information, and historical perspective. Each chapter concludes with a list of the key documentaries in that particular time period or genre, and there are helpful appendices listing all the winners of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as the winners of the Grierson Award.<br/> >
Synopsis
A thorough and definitive history of documentary films (with a focus on those produced by the U.S., U.K. and Canada) from the origins of the form up through
Synopsis
A thorough and definitive survey/history of documentary films. Concentrating mainly on the output of the US, the UK, and Canada, the authors outline the origins of the form and then show its development over the next several decades. The book is completely up-to-date in discussing films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.<br/><br/>Written in a simple, chronological format, the text is straightforward and full of content, information, and historical perspective. Each chapter concludes with a list of the key documentaries in that particular time period or genre, and there are helpful appendices listing all the winners of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as the winners of the Grierson Award.<br/> >
Table of Contents
PrefaceChapter One: Some Ways to Think About DocumentaryChapter Two: Beginnings - The Americans and Popular Anthropology, 1922-29Chapter Three: The Soviets and Political Indoctrination, 1922-29Chapter Four: Beginnings - The European Avant-Gardists and Artistic Experimentation, 1922-29Chapter Five: Institutionalization: Great Britain, 1929-39Chapter Six: Institutionalization - United States, 1930-41Chapter Seven: Expansion - Great Britain, 1939-45 Chapter Eight: Expansion - Canada, 1939-45Chapter Nine: Expansion - United States, 1941-45Chapter Ten: The Unfulfilled Promise - Postwar Documentary, 1945-52Chapter Eleven: In Pursuit of Excellence - The National Film Board of Canada's Unit B, 1948-64Chapter Twelve: A New Channel - Documentary for Television in the "Golden Years", 1951-71Chapter Thirteen: British Free Cinema and Social-Realist Features, 1956-63Chapter Fourteen: Direct Cinema and Cinéma Vérité, 1960-70Chapter Fifteen: English Language Documentary in the 1970s - Power of the PeopleChapter Sixteen: English Language Documentary in the 1980s - Video ArrivesChapter Seventeen: English Language Documentary in the 1990s - Reality BytesChapter Eighteen: Other Ways to Think About DocumentaryAppendices