Documentary Cinema
A.Y. 2021/2022
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
More specific information on the delivery modes of training activities for academic year 2021/22 will be provided over the coming months , based on the evolution of the public health situation.
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, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
In part C The main expressive forms of the contemporary Italian documentary will be analyzed through some exemplary cases with particular attention to found footage, performance and autobiography.
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, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
In part C The main expressive forms of the contemporary Italian documentary will be analyzed through some exemplary cases with particular attention to found footage, performance and autobiography.
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 recommended. Students who attend at least two thirds of the lessons are considered attending students.
Attendance, although not mandatory, is 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
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014, capitolo 3 (from p.231 to p. 320)
- 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
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Texts about Chris Marker are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
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); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a film of your choise by Chris Marker between Sans Soleil (1982) and Le tombeau d'Alexandre (1993); documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: 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 four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
Part C
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Marco Bertozzi, Documentario come arte. Riuso, performance, autobiografia nell'esperienza del cinema contemporaneo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018.
- Texts about contemporary Italian documentary are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
- Four film chosen from the following:
Below Sea Level (2008) by Gianfranco Rosi; La bocca del lupo (2009) e Bella e perduta (2015) by Pietro Marcello; Oh! Uomo (2004) by Y.Gianikian - A. Ricci Lucchi; Cadenza d'inganno (2011) by Leonardo Di Costanzo; Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi; L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio ( 2006) by Agostino Ferrente; Alberi (2013) by Michelangelo Frammartino; 87 ore ( 2015) by Costanza Quatriglio; Materia Oscura (2013) and Guerra e pace (2020) by D'Anolfi, Parenti.
- Program for non attending students
Part A.
- Program for non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014, capitolo 3 (from p.231 to p. 320)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013. (EBOOK available in our digital library)
- Three 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 non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Ivelise Perniola, L'era postdocumentaria, Milano, Mimesis, 2014
- Texts about Chris Marker are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
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); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a film of your choise by Chris Marker between Sans Soleil (1982) and Le tombeau d'Alexandre (1993); documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: 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 four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
Part C
- Program for non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Marco Bertozzi, Documentario come arte. Riuso, performance, autobiografia nell'esperienza del cinema contemporaneo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018.
- Texts about contemporary Italian documentary are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
- Five film chosen from the following:
Below Sea Level (2008) by Gianfranco Rosi; La bocca del lupo (2009) e Bella e perduta (2015) by Pietro Marcello; Oh! Uomo (2004) by Y.Gianikian - A. Ricci Lucchi; Cadenza d'inganno (2011) by Leonardo Di Costanzo; Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi; L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio ( 2006) by Agostino Ferrente; Alberi (2013) by Michelangelo Frammartino; 87 ore ( 2015) by Costanza Quatriglio; Materia Oscura (2013) and Guerra e pace (2020) by D'Anolfi, Parenti.
-
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014, capitolo 3 (from p.231 to p. 320)
- 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
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Texts about Chris Marker are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
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); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a film of your choise by Chris Marker between Sans Soleil (1982) and Le tombeau d'Alexandre (1993); documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: 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 four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
Part C
- Program for attending students
Texts to be studied
- Marco Bertozzi, Documentario come arte. Riuso, performance, autobiografia nell'esperienza del cinema contemporaneo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018.
- Texts about contemporary Italian documentary are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
- Four film chosen from the following:
Below Sea Level (2008) by Gianfranco Rosi; La bocca del lupo (2009) e Bella e perduta (2015) by Pietro Marcello; Oh! Uomo (2004) by Y.Gianikian - A. Ricci Lucchi; Cadenza d'inganno (2011) by Leonardo Di Costanzo; Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi; L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio ( 2006) by Agostino Ferrente; Alberi (2013) by Michelangelo Frammartino; 87 ore ( 2015) by Costanza Quatriglio; Materia Oscura (2013) and Guerra e pace (2020) by D'Anolfi, Parenti.
- Program for non attending students
Part A.
- Program for non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014, capitolo 3 (from p.231 to p. 320)
- Cristina Formenti, Il mockumentary. La fiction si maschera da documentario, Milano, Mimesis, 2013. (EBOOK available in our digital library)
- Three 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 non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Maria Cristina Lasagni, Nanook cammina ancora. Il cinema documentario, storia e teoria, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2014 chapters 1 (La storia, pp.1- 170) and 2 (Breve viaggio in Italia, pp.171-230)
- Ivelise Perniola, L'era postdocumentaria, Milano, Mimesis, 2014
- Texts about Chris Marker are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
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); Čelovek s kinoapparatom (L'uomo con la macchina della presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or Entuziazm:simfoniya donbassa (Sinfonia del Donbass, 1931, Dziga Vertov); Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais); Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or other documentary by Rouch; a film of your choise by Chris Marker between Sans Soleil (1982) and Le tombeau d'Alexandre (1993); documentary of your choice by Fredrick Wiseman (ad esempio: 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 four film directed by Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Ermanno Olmi, Cecilia Mangini, Luigi Di Gianni, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alberto Grifi.
Part C
- Program for non attending students
Texts to be studied
- Marco Bertozzi, Documentario come arte. Riuso, performance, autobiografia nell'esperienza del cinema contemporaneo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018.
- Texts about contemporary Italian documentary are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
- Five film chosen from the following:
Below Sea Level (2008) by Gianfranco Rosi; La bocca del lupo (2009) e Bella e perduta (2015) by Pietro Marcello; Oh! Uomo (2004) by Y.Gianikian - A. Ricci Lucchi; Cadenza d'inganno (2011) by Leonardo Di Costanzo; Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi; L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio ( 2006) by Agostino Ferrente; Alberi (2013) by Michelangelo Frammartino; 87 ore ( 2015) by Costanza Quatriglio; Materia Oscura (2013) and Guerra e pace (2020) by D'Anolfi, Parenti.
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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