The Documentary Film Reader brings together an expansive range of writing by scholars, critics, historians, and filmmakers to provide a stimulating foundational text for students and others who want to undertake study of nonfiction film. While documentary has long been a mainstay of universities and cinematheques, its popularity of late has grown tenfold as reality television has flourished and as the ranks of novice filmmakers have swelled. There are now dozens of film festivals dedicated exclusively to documentaries. This reader presents an international perspective on the most significant developments and debates from several decades of critical writing about documentary. It integrates historical and theoretical approaches, offering a collection that is particularly well suited to meet the needs of large undergraduate survey courses on nonfiction film, as well as providing sufficient depth for graduate classes.

About the Author
Jonathan Kahana is Associate Professor of Film and Digital Media at the University of Santa Cruz. He is the author of Intelligence Work: The Politics of American Documentary.

Reviews
The volume offers a rich and varied corpus of works that includes scholarly essays, film criticism, manifestos, interviews, letters, and personal recollections ... [the editors] have performed tremendous acts of scholarly service ... [presenting] a rich mosaic of writing on film form, politics, and practice that order the discursive field while still allowing the unruly documentary construct room to breathe. * Tanya Goldman, Cinema Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199739653
Author Jonathan Kahana
Format Paperback
Page Count 1056
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1952g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 177mm * 47mm