Film Studies (FILM) 30510 - Lecture 01
Canadian Documentary Film
Winter 2007
Lecture Thursday 14:00 - 15:50 Lab 01 Tuesday 14:00 - 17:00 Lab 02 Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00  

Instructor:	Dr. Brian Rusted
Office Location:	SS-340
Office Phone:	220-7766
E-Mail:	rusted@ucalgary.ca
Web Page:
Office Hours:	Wednesday 14:00-16:00

Additional Information

Some films screened for this course may contain content that is sexually explicit, emotionally disturbing, or offensive. Please feel free to discuss this with the instructors if you have concerns.

Students may find the need to attend and pay for films screened off campus in order to complete some of the assignments for this course.

Course Description

The course explores the contributions of Canadian filmmakers to the development of the documentary genre. Particular emphasis will be given to the history and evolution of films produced by the National Film Board with attention to the work of directors such as Colin Low, Michael Rubbo, Alanis Obomsawin, Bonnie Klein, etc

Objectives of the Course

This course will provide students with the opportunity to explore distinctive contributions made by Canadian directors and producers to the documentary genre. Students will gain a sense of,

1. The institutional character of documentary production in Canada 2. The movement from government propaganda to social action 3. The cinematic strategies that produce realism, cinema verite, reflexivity, engagement and change 4. The technological developments that have contributed to Canadian documentary style.

Textbooks and Readings:

Leach, J. and J. Sloniowski, editors. Candid Eyes: Canadian Documentary Film Reader. U of T Press, 2003.

Readings on reserve in the University Library, as assigned.

Readings available online, as assigned.

Assignments and Evaluation

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.

The final grade in the course will be based on the completion of three (3) assignments due during the term, and a registrar scheduled final exam. Each of these assignments will be worth 25% of the final grade.

Students may choose to complete three (3) of the following four (4) as their term work for this course:

1. An in-class presentation that provides a critical introduction to a film or film(s) screened during a particular week. The presentation will take approximately 10 minutes and demonstrate fluency with relevant readings and concepts. A written version of the presentation (with appropriate citation and referencing) will be submitted on the day of the presentation. Sign-up times for this option will be discussed in the first week of class. This assignment will be worth 25% of the final grade.

2. A reflexive review of a Canadian documentary. You may choose to review a contemporary work screened locally, broadcast on television, or used in a local non-theatrical context. Your review should be reflexive by being explicit about what motivated your your choice of topics (audience reaction, structure or the film, qualities of your response, etc.) to write about, and what criteria you have used to critically evaluate the film. Your choice of film should be substantial enough to provide scope for the assignment. This assignment will be worth 25% of the final grade, and will be due in class, February 8.

3. A paper on an historic response to or use of a documentary. Using archival and/or research materials, write an essay that locates a particular film in relation to (for instance), its initial distribution, or use in a particular social context. Your may choose to provide some context for appreciating the critical categories operating in the day, or the production technology at the time. This assignment will be worth 25% of the final grade, and will be due in class March 8.

4. A paper on the auteurist style of a particular documentary filmmaker. Looking at a minimum of two films by a particular film director, discuss aspects of their work that you consider distinctive. Reference should be made to the subject matter, camera work, editing, ethics, and so forth. This assignment will be worth 25% of the final grade and will be due in class, April 5.

Each of the above assignments should be approximately 5-7 typed, double- spaced pages with appropriate referencing and academic style for research papers. Please ask if you are unsure.

The final exam will be scheduled by the Registrar. Prior to the end of term, class time will be allocated to discuss the form and content of the questions for the exam.

Note: Please return assignments directly to the instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination: Yes

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you wish help with your writing at any stage, including drafts, you are invited to contact the Writing Centre, SS110, 220-7255.

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

A+ (96-100); A (92-95); A- (86-91); B+ (81-85); B (77-80); B- (71-76);
C+ (65-70); C (62-64); C- (59-61); D+ (55-58); D (50-54); F (0-49)

 

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people’s words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS110) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Additional Information

Reserve readings will be drawn from the following books on reserve in the Library:

Aitken, Ian. The Documentary Film Movement. Edinburgh University Press, 1998.

Aitken, Ian. Film and Reform: John Grierson and the Documentary Film Movement. Routledge, 1990.

Evans, Gary. John Grierson and the National Film Board: The Politics of Wartime Propaganda. U of T Press, 1985.

Evans, Gary. In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada, 1949-1989. U of T Press, 1991.

Graham, G. Canadian Film Technology, 1896-1986. University of Delaware Press, 1989.

Jones, D.B. Movies and Memoranda: An Interpretive History of the National Film Board of Canada. CFI 1981.

Jones, D.B. The Best Butler in the Business: Tom Daly of the National Film Board of Canada. U of T Press, 1996.

Lewis, Randolph (2006). Alanis Obomsawin: the vision of a Native filmmaker. U of Nebraska Press.

Low, B. NFB Kids: Portrayal of Children by the National Film Board of Canada, 1939-1989. Wilfred Laurier, 2002.

McInnes, G. One Man’s Documentary. U of Manitoba Press, 2004.

Nelson, Joyce. The Colonized Eye: Rethinking the Grierson Legend. U of T Press, 2005 (Reprint of 1988 BTL edition).

Nichols, Bill (2001). Introduction to the Documentary. Indiana University Press.

Renov, Michael. Theorizing Documentary. Routledge, 1993.

Waugh, Thomas. “Show us life!” Toward a History and Aesthetics of the Committed Documentary. Scarecrow 1984.

Winston, Brian (1995). Claiming the Real: The Griersonian Documentary. BFI.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

The course will be organized by the weekly topics listed below. Weekly readings from the text, library reserve or online are indicated. Films to be screened during the weekly lab times are also indicated.

Week 1, Jan 8 Emergence of Documentary Genre

- Leach and Sloniowski, Introduction

- Rothman, Chapter 1 in Nichols 2002

- Evans, 1984, chapter 1

Nanook of the North (Flaherty) 66 min 1922 xmv5736001

Nanook Revisited (Massot) 55 min 1990 xmv5751401

Week 2, Jan 15 Grierson

- Evans, 1984, chapter 8, “Griersonian Legacy”

- Aitken, 1990, chapter 5, “Public Relations, propaganda and documentary film 1900-1939”

Night Mail (Grierson) 24 min 1936 xmp0120201

Song of Ceylon (Grierson) 40 min 1943 xmp0120301

Grierson (Blais) 58 min 1973 xmv5621301

Look to the North 20 min 1940? Xmp0169001

Week 3, Jan 22 Unit B

- Richard Hancox in Leach and Sloniowski

- Evans 1991, chaps 3 and 4, The Golden Years

With Canadians in Korea 16 min 1950? Xmp0169801

Caribou Hunters (Greenlees/Daly) 18 min 1950 XMP0154601

Corral (Low/Daly) 12 min 1954 xmp0174001

Paul Tomkowicz, Street Railway Switchman 10 min, 1954 XMP0103001

City of Gold (Daley) 22 min 1957 xmp0144901

Cattle Ranch (Cote) 21 min 1961 xmp0356301

Along Newfoundland’s Shores 8 min 1962 xmp0149201

Week 4, Jan 29 Technology

- Barry Grant in Leach and Sloniowski

- Seth Feldman in Leach and Sloniowski

- Evans, 1991, chapter 13 “Not with a bang but a whimper”

Lonely Boy (Koenig/Kroitor) 27 min 1962 xmv6091101

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen (Brittain) 44 min 1965 xmp0209501

Candid Eye 110, 1993 XMV5952001

Week 5, Feb 5 Docudrama

- Nichols, 2001, chapter 8 “How can we write effectively about documentary?”

Warrendale (King) 100 min 1967 xmp014151

Paper Wheat (Kish) 58 min 1981 xmv60614

Week 6, Feb 12 Visual Anthropology

- Ruby, Jay (1991). “ Speaking For, Speaking About, Speaking With, or Speaking Alongside- An Anthropological and Documentary Dilemma” Visual Anthropology Review Fall 1991 Volume 7 Number 2. (downloaded from: http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/ruby/speaking.html).

Circle of the Sun 29 min 1961 xmv5561901

Eskimo: Fight for Life (Young) 52 min 1970 xmv5973701

Yesterday – Today: Netsilik Eskimo (Blais/Balikci) 58 min 1971 xmv6167801

Week 7, Feb 26 Challenge for Change

- Jones, Chapter 10, Movies and Memoranda

- Evans, 1991, Chapter 8 “In Search of a Mission”

Hutterites (Low) 28 min 1963 xmp0023601

Cree Hunters of Mistassini (Low/Richardson) 59 min 1974 XMV6026701 or xmp004581 whichever is 59 min.

VTR Rosedale (Chatwin) 31 min 1974 xmv5685801

Week 8, Mar 5 Reflexivity

- Jeanette Sloniowski in Leach and Sloniowski

- Joan Nicks in Nichols, 2002

- Jones 1996, chapter 4 Thermometer of Truth

Waiting for Fidel (Rubbo) 58 min 1974 xmp0364401

Margaret Atwood: Once in August (Rubbo) 58 min 1984 Xmv6016601

Week 9, Mar 12 New Documentary

- Peter Baxter in Leach and Sloniowski

- Mathew Bernstein in Nichols 2002

- Minh-ha in Renov chapter 5 “Totalizing Quest for Meaning”

Volcano (Brittain) 99 min 1976 xmp0138881

Week 10, Mar 19 Studio D

- Joan Nicks in Leach and Sloniowski

- McInnes, “Women’s Touch”

Not A Love Story (Klein) 68 min 1981 xmp0301661

When Women Kill (Doran) 48 min 1994 XMV5683201

Week 11, Mar 26 Politics and the Committed Documentary

- Bruce in Leach and Sloniowski

- Chuck Kleinhans, Chapter 17 in Waugh

- Lewis, Chapter 5, “Why Documentary?”

- Nichols, 2001 chapter 7 “How have documentaries addressed social and political issues?”

Forbidden Love: Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Love (Weissman and Fernie) 85 min, 1992 XMV5506901

Propaganda Model of the Media (Wintonik and Achbar) 43 min 1994 XMV5986701

Case Study: Cambodia and East Timor (Wintonik and Achbar) 29 min 1994 XMV5986801

Week 12, Apr 2 Indigenous Documentary

- Zuzana Pick in Leach and Sloniowski

- Lewis, Chapter 4 “Documentary on the Middle Ground”

- Burnett, Ron (1995). “Community and Community Media” Misa: The Media Magazine of Southern Africa, No. 4. (downloaded here: http://www.eciad.ca/~rburnett/MisaArt.html)

Ballad of Crowfoot 10 min 1968 xmp0002501

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (Koenig/Obomsawin) 120 min 1993 xmv6282701

Week 13, Apr 9 New Technology and Distribution

- Graham, chapter 11 “Television and the Quest for Mobility”

- Burnett, Ron “Video Space/Video Time: The Electronic Image and Portable Video (downloaded here: http://www.eciad.ca/~rburnett/videospace.html)

Scared Sacred (Ripper) 105 mins 2004 XDV0634 01