Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of important periods, movements, trends or authors in the history of documentary film. Students will be able to identify the main debates around those periods or authors, developing critical skills to analyse the content at hand and further situate their own practice and thinking as documentary makers and thinkers.

Credits: 2

Schedule: 26.04.2021 - 30.04.2021

Teacher in charge (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022): Arturo Delgado Pereira

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Arturo Delgado Pereira

Contact information for the course (valid 09.04.2021-21.12.2112):

 Course: History of Documentary Film ELO-E1538 2cr

                                                                     Harun Farocki: HOW TO LOOK. 

Major in Documentary Film

2020/2021

Department of Film, Television and Scenography

ELO, Aalto University

 

 

Dates: 26.04.-30.04

Time: 09:30-16.30  

Room: Hybrid course. Online screenings with possibility of R037/Odeion (to be discussed with students)

Responsible teacher: Arturo Delgado Pereira/Olaf Möller. 

Teaching Language: English

E-mail: arturo.delgado@aalto.fi


CEFR level (applies in this implementation):

Language of instruction and studies (valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022):

Teaching language: English

Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    The course explores the history of documentary film through varying content that can include, for instance, early documentary, modernism, propaganda, direct cinema and cinema vérité, performative documentary, ethnographic film, etc. The course could also focus on a particular author or authors to explore in depth a particular period on the history of documentary film.  

  • Applies in this implementation:

    General Description 

    Harun Farocki was one of postwar cinema's most profound thinker-practitioners of documentary filmmaking. While he was extremely influential in the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1970s on, as a critic as well as a director, his wider international recognition came only in the mid-90s. Now, it's not as if his work had been suppressed back home, hidden away from prying foreign eyes. The main reason for his long time solely local fame is his main sphere of work: state television with an educational mandate; which more often than not meant: short formats – works destined for niches. As his films didn't conform with the norms generally accepted for documentary cinema, they were usually called “essayistic” – a label he wrestled with all through his career. In this course, we'll watch not only a cross-section of Farocki's works but also works by others he engaged with. Through Farocki, we'll enter the discussion of the concept/term "essay film".

    The course will be composed of film screenings, discussions and occasional reading material. 


Assessment Methods and Criteria
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    Lectures, film screening, readings, discussions and the completion of a written assignment. Gaining credits for the course requires students’ active participation in lectures and discussions and the completion of the reading and written assignments (i.e. essay) for the course.    

Workload
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    Lectures: 16-27h
    Independent study: 27-65h

  • Applies in this implementation:

    Tentative Schedule: 

    Monday-Friday
    9:30am-4:30pm


DETAILS

Study Material
  • Valid 01.08.2020-31.07.2022:

    Study material changes according to course content.