Documentary Cinema

A.Y. 2023/2024
9
Max ECTS
60
Overall hours
SSD
L-ART/06
Language
Italian
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
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.
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Introduction to the history and problems of defining the documentary between fiction and non-fiction. Author's documentary and Italian cinema of the new millennium. 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.
Part C will analyze some exemplary cases of "author" documentaries in the context of Italian cinema of the new millennium.

The six-credit exam includes the study of parts A and B
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.
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)
- Course slides available on ARIEL
- 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).
- Take the Money and Run (Woody Allen. 1969) o Zelig (Woody Allen,1983)
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)
- Course slides available on ARIEL
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 da presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or another documentary by Dziga Vertov;
- Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais);
- Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or another documentary by Rouch;
- a documentary of your choice by Chris Marker, for example Sans Soleil (1982) e Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993);
- A documentary by Wiseman (for example: Titicut follies, 1967; Welfare, 1975; National Gallery, 2015) or Michael Moore (for example: Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrenheit 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
Vito Zagarrio, Nouvelle vague italiana. Il cinema del nuovo millennio, Venezia, Marsilio, 2021, da pp.7 a pp.190 e da pp. 275 a pp. 285.
- SLIDES and texts about contemporary Italian documentary are available on the the website http//ariel.unimi.it (The course Cinematografia Documentaria)
- Three film chosen from the following:
- SacroGRA (2013), Fuocoammare (2016), Notturno (2020), In Viaggio (2022) di Gianfranco Rosi;
- Noi non siamo come James Bond (2012), Mia madre fa l'attrice (2015) di Mario Balsamo
- Terramatta (2012), Triangle (2014), 87 ore (2015) di Costanza Quatriglio
- Le quattro volte (2010), Alberi (2013), Il buco (2021) di Michelangelo Frammartino
- La bocca del lupo (2009), Bella e perduta (2015) di Pietro Marcello;
- Italy in a Day ( 2014), Fuori era primavera (2020) di Gabriele Salvatores
- Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) e Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) di Alina Marazzi;
- Cadenza d'inganno (2011) di Leonardo Di Costanzo
- La voce di Pasolini (2006) Di Matteo Cerami e Mario Sesti-
- 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)
- Course slides available on ARIEL
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).
- Take the Money and Run (Woody Allen. 1969) o Zelig (Woody Allen,1983)
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)
- Oliver Fahle, Teorie del film documentario, Torino, Einaudi, 2023 Ivelise Perniola, L'era postdocumentaria, Milano, Mimesis, 2014
- Course slides available on ARIEL
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 da presa: 1929, Dziga Vertov) or another documentary by Dziga Vertov;
- Nuit et Brouillard (Notti e Nebbia, 1956, Alain Resnais);
- Moi, un Noir (1959, Jean Rouch) or another documentary by Rouch;
- a documentary of your choice by Chris Marker, for example Sans Soleil (1982) or Le tombeau d'Alexandre (L'ultimo bolscevico,1993);
- A documentary by Wiseman (for example: Titicut follies, 1967; Welfare, 1975; National Gallery, 2015) or Michael Moore (for example: Roger & Me, 1989; Bowling a Columbine, 2002; Fahrenheit 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
Vito Zagarrio, Nouvelle vague italiana. Il cinema del nuovo millennio, Venezia, Marsilio, 2021, da pp.7 a pp.190 e da pp. 275 a pp. 285.
- SLIDES and 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:
- SacroGRA (2013), Fuocoammare (2016), Notturno (2020), In Viaggio (2022) di Gianfranco Rosi;
- Noi non siamo come James Bond (2012), Mia madre fa l'attrice (2015) di Mario Balsamo
- Terramatta (2012), Triangle (2014), 87 ore (2015) di Costanza Quatriglio
- Le quattro volte (2010), Alberi (2013), Il buco (2021) di Michelangelo Frammartino
- La bocca del lupo (2009), Bella e perduta (2015) di Pietro Marcello;
- Italy in a Day ( 2014), Fuori era primavera (2020) di Gabriele Salvatores
- Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) e Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) di Alina Marazzi;
- Cadenza d'inganno (2011) di Leonardo Di Costanzo
- La voce di Pasolini (2006) Di Matteo Cerami e Mario Sesti-
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 six-credit exam includes the study of parts A and B
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.
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor: De Berti Raffaele
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Professor(s)