Documentary Cinema
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce the exisisting critical debate around of documentary and the key moments in the history of documentary through the analysis of exemplary cases.
Therefore a thematic and methodological study will be proposed in line with the specialist training objectives of the CdS
Therefore a thematic and methodological study will be proposed in line with the specialist training objectives of the CdS
Expected learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to bring the students to acquire awareness of the difficulty in defining the documentary.
Students will also acquire an understanding of the key moments in the history of the documentary and of Bill Nichols' modes of the representation ( poetic, exposity, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative).
Moreover , at the end of the course the students will be able to place a documentary historical on the basis of its stylistic and representational characters.
Students will also acquire an understanding of the key moments in the history of the documentary and of Bill Nichols' modes of the representation ( poetic, exposity, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative).
Moreover , at the end of the course the students will be able to place a documentary historical on the basis of its stylistic and representational characters.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Lesson period
Second semester
If the health emergency continues, lectures will be delivered live with simultaneous streaming online.
At the beginning of the second semester on the course page on Ariel, students will be able to find all the information on the lectures and any changes to the programme and its related documents (bibliography etc) in case of lockdown.
Finally, in case it proves impossible to hold the exam face to face (as planned in the Syllabus), the exam will take place remotely, in ways which will be communicated on the course page on Ariel at the end of the course
At the beginning of the second semester on the course page on Ariel, students will be able to find all the information on the lectures and any changes to the programme and its related documents (bibliography etc) in case of lockdown.
Finally, in case it proves impossible to hold the exam face to face (as planned in the Syllabus), the exam will take place remotely, in ways which will be communicated on the course page on Ariel at the end of the course
Course syllabus
The first part of the course ( Parts A and B) will focus on the difficult is of identify a definition of documentary due to its complex relationship with reality and fiction. Particular attention will be devoted to the case of the mockumentary.
The key moments of the international history of documentary will be look at under the lens of Bill Nichols' modes of rappresentation ( poetic, exposity, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative).
Subsequently the course will focus on the history of Italian documentary from the post-Second World War years to the end of the 1960s by looking at the works of authors as Vittorio De Seta, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Part C will be analyzed the relationship between fiction and non-fiction in two case studies: Chris Marker and Pietro Marcello
The key moments of the international history of documentary will be look at under the lens of Bill Nichols' modes of rappresentation ( poetic, exposity, observational, participatory, reflexive and performative).
Subsequently the course will focus on the history of Italian documentary from the post-Second World War years to the end of the 1960s by looking at the works of authors as Vittorio De Seta, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Part C will be analyzed the relationship between fiction and non-fiction in two case studies: Chris Marker and Pietro Marcello
Prerequisites for admission
The knowledge of contemporary history and the basics of film history and language. The course is in Italian.
Teaching methods
The topics of the course will be addressed through lectures and with the use of slides and audio-video materials analyzed in the classroom.
Attendance, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended. Students who attend at least two thirds of the lessons are considered attending students.
Attendance, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended. Students who attend at least two thirds of the lessons are considered attending students.
Teaching Resources
Part A.
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, nuova edizione 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 1, 2, 3 e 4)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013. (EBOOK available in our digital library)
- Two film chosen from the following: Forgotten Silver (Costa Botes e Peter Jackson, 1995); This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984); The Blair Witch Project (Eduardo Sanchez e Daniel Myrick, 1999); Death of a President (Gabriel Range, 2007); Il mundial dimenticato (Filippo Macelloni e Lorenzo Garzella, 2011).
Part B
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 5, 6, 7 e 8)
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 only chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Film that must be seen
- Nanook of the North (1922, Robert Flaherty); Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlino. Sinfonia di una grande città: 1927, Walter Ruttman); À propos de Nice (1930, Jean Vigo); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Las Hurdes (1932, Luis Buňuel); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: Titicut follies, 1967; o Welfare, 1975; o National Gallery, 2015) or by Michael Moore (for example Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrrenheit 9/11, 2004).
- Choose four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni and Pier Paolo Pasolini
Part C
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
Ivelise Perniola, Chris Marker o del film saggio, Torino, Lindau, 2003 (just these pages:
pp.9-32;67-93;119-132;147-205;243-249).
- Texts are availble on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
-
- Four films that must be seen chosen from
- Chris Marker (two) e Pietro Marcello (two).
- Chris Marker:La jetée (1962); Si j'avais quatre dromadaires (1966); Loin du Vietnam (Lontano dal Vietnam, collettivo, 1967); Sans Soleil (1982); Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993); Level five (1996), Chats perchés (2004).
- Pietro Marcello: La bocca del lupo (2009); Il silenzio di Pelešjan (2011); Bella e perduta (2015)
- Program for non attending students
Part A
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 1, 2, 3 e 4)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013 ( EBOOK avaible in our digital library)
- Four films that must be seen chosen from : Forgotten Silver (Costa Botes e Peter Jackson, 1995); This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984); The Blair Witch Project (Eduardo Sanchez e Daniel Myrick, 1999); Death of a President (Gabriel Range, 2007); Il mundial dimenticato (Filippo Macelloni e Lorenzo Garzella, 2011).
Part B Program for non attending students
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 5, 6, 7 e 8)
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 only chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Film that must be seen
- Nanook of the North (1922, Robert Flaherty); Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlino. Sinfonia di una grande città: 1927, Walter Ruttman); À propos de Nice (1930, Jean Vigo); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) oppure Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass: 1931, Dziga Vertov); Las Hurdes (1932, Luis Buňuel); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia: 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (for example: Titicut follies, 1967: or Welfare, 1975 or National Gallery, 2015) or by Michael Moore (for example Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrrenheit 9/11, 2004).
- Choose eight film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni e Pier Paolo Pasolini
Part C Program for non attending students
-Texts to be studied
Ivelise Perniola, Chris Marker o del film saggio, Torino, Lindau, 2003 (just these pages:
pp.9-32;67-93;119-132;147-205;243-249).
- Texts are availble on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
-
- Six films that must be seen chosen from
- Chris Marker (three) e Pietro Marcello (three).
- Chris Marker:La jetée (1962); Si j'avais quatre dromadaires (1966); Loin du Vietnam (Lontano dal Vietnam, collettivo, 1967); Sans Soleil (1982); Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993); Level five (1996), Chats perchés (2004).
- Pietro Marcello: La bocca del lupo (2009); Il silenzio di Pelešjan (2011); Bella e perduta (2015)
-
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, nuova edizione 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 1, 2, 3 e 4)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013. (EBOOK available in our digital library)
- Two film chosen from the following: Forgotten Silver (Costa Botes e Peter Jackson, 1995); This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984); The Blair Witch Project (Eduardo Sanchez e Daniel Myrick, 1999); Death of a President (Gabriel Range, 2007); Il mundial dimenticato (Filippo Macelloni e Lorenzo Garzella, 2011).
Part B
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 5, 6, 7 e 8)
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 only chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Film that must be seen
- Nanook of the North (1922, Robert Flaherty); Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlino. Sinfonia di una grande città: 1927, Walter Ruttman); À propos de Nice (1930, Jean Vigo); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Las Hurdes (1932, Luis Buňuel); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: Titicut follies, 1967; o Welfare, 1975; o National Gallery, 2015) or by Michael Moore (for example Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrrenheit 9/11, 2004).
- Choose four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni and Pier Paolo Pasolini
Part C
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
Ivelise Perniola, Chris Marker o del film saggio, Torino, Lindau, 2003 (just these pages:
pp.9-32;67-93;119-132;147-205;243-249).
- Texts are availble on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
-
- Four films that must be seen chosen from
- Chris Marker (two) e Pietro Marcello (two).
- Chris Marker:La jetée (1962); Si j'avais quatre dromadaires (1966); Loin du Vietnam (Lontano dal Vietnam, collettivo, 1967); Sans Soleil (1982); Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993); Level five (1996), Chats perchés (2004).
- Pietro Marcello: La bocca del lupo (2009); Il silenzio di Pelešjan (2011); Bella e perduta (2015)
- Program for non attending students
Part A
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 1, 2, 3 e 4)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013 ( EBOOK avaible in our digital library)
- Four films that must be seen chosen from : Forgotten Silver (Costa Botes e Peter Jackson, 1995); This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984); The Blair Witch Project (Eduardo Sanchez e Daniel Myrick, 1999); Death of a President (Gabriel Range, 2007); Il mundial dimenticato (Filippo Macelloni e Lorenzo Garzella, 2011).
Part B Program for non attending students
- Bill Nichols, Introduzione al documentario, Milano, Il castoro, new edition 2014 o 2015 in EBOOK available www.ibs.it (chapters 5, 6, 7 e 8)
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 only chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Film that must be seen
- Nanook of the North (1922, Robert Flaherty); Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlino. Sinfonia di una grande città: 1927, Walter Ruttman); À propos de Nice (1930, Jean Vigo); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) oppure Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass: 1931, Dziga Vertov); Las Hurdes (1932, Luis Buňuel); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia: 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (for example: Titicut follies, 1967: or Welfare, 1975 or National Gallery, 2015) or by Michael Moore (for example Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrrenheit 9/11, 2004).
- Choose eight film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni e Pier Paolo Pasolini
Part C Program for non attending students
-Texts to be studied
Ivelise Perniola, Chris Marker o del film saggio, Torino, Lindau, 2003 (just these pages:
pp.9-32;67-93;119-132;147-205;243-249).
- Texts are availble on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
-
- Six films that must be seen chosen from
- Chris Marker (three) e Pietro Marcello (three).
- Chris Marker:La jetée (1962); Si j'avais quatre dromadaires (1966); Loin du Vietnam (Lontano dal Vietnam, collettivo, 1967); Sans Soleil (1982); Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993); Level five (1996), Chats perchés (2004).
- Pietro Marcello: La bocca del lupo (2009); Il silenzio di Pelešjan (2011); Bella e perduta (2015)
-
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics of the program and, for attending students, also on those addressed during the lessons in the classroom. The exam intends to verify in particular the critical and logical-argumentative abilities of the student.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher. International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher in a timely manner.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher. International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher in a timely manner.
Unita' didattica A
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours