SPAN 3710 - Latin American Documentary

(CA-AS, ETM-AS) Satisfies Option 1.

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: SPAN 2140, SPAN 2150, SPAN 2170, SPAN 2180, or CASE Q++, or permission of instructor.

I. Troconis.

Documentaries are born out of the necessity to capture the real and to tell a truth. When we watch documentaries, we tend to comfortably rely on that claim and, often, take what they teach us as indisputable evidence of what reality is. In this course, we will put into questions the “reality” that documentaries portray-and the possibility itself of portraying reality-by discussing a selection of Latin American documentaries that raise important issues regarding the ethics and politics of representation. In our discussions, we will critically engage with the boundaries of the cinematic frame and debate the ethical responsibilities of the filmmaker, the value and the political and social impact of the image, the role of the spectator, and the implications of filming and being filmed by an “other”.