University of Wisconsin Press, 2002 Paper: 978-0-299-17654-9 | eISBN: 978-0-299-17653-2 | Cloth: 978-0-299-17650-1 Library of Congress Classification CT25.L27 2002 Dewey Decimal Classification 920.073
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Since the late 1960s, American film and video makers of all genres have been fascinated with themes of self and identity. Though the documentary form is most often used to capture the lives of others, Jim Lane turns his lens on those media makers who document their own lives and identities. He looks at the ways in which autobiographical documentaries—including Roger and Me, Sherman’s March, and Silverlake Life—raise weighty questions about American cultural life. What is the role of women in society? What does it mean to die from AIDS? How do race and class play out in our personal lives? What does it mean to be a member of a family? Examining the history, diversity, and theoretical underpinnings of this increasingly popular documentary form, Lane tracks a fundamental transformation of notions of both autobiography and documentary.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jim Lane is executive director of the Emerson College Los Angeles Center. A filmmaker since 1982, his documentaries include Long Time No See, Women of Prague, Background Action, I Am Not an Anthropologist, and East Meets West.
REVIEWS
"The autobiographical documentary is one of the most significant paths taken by American filmmakers in recent years, and Jim Lane is the ideal person to take on this important subject. A scrupulous film historian with a sophisticated grasp of the theoretical issues raised and addressed by autobiographical documentary films, he is also a gifted filmmaker personally committed to the movement he is studying. He writes with singular authority about films whose aspiration, and achievement, is to be at once subjective and objective."—William Rothman, University of Miami, author of The "I" of the Camera
"Analysis of some of the most interesting documentary work of the past three decades. A must-read for anyone studying or making documentary."—Julia Lesage, University of Oregon, co-editor of Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media
"Such fine and sustained work on the documentary film as autobiography is way overdue. Exploring the convergences of autobiography and film theory, Jim Lane makes a major contribution to the whole field of autobiographical studies, demonstrating in the process what significant work autobiography does in the history and culture of our time."—Susanna Egan, Mirror Talk: Genres of Crisis in Contemporary Autobiography
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 3
I The Convergence of Autobiography and Documentary:
Historical Connections I I
2 David Holzman's Diary: An Unlikely Beginning 33
3 The Journal Entry Approach: Narrative, Chronology, and
Autobiographical Claims 48
4 Autobiographical Portraiture: Family and Self 94
5 Women and the Autobiographical Documentary: Historical
Intervention, Writing, Alterity, and the Dialogic Engagement 145
Afterword I9I
Notes 197
Filmography 222
Works Cited 224
Index 233
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University of Wisconsin Press, 2002 Paper: 978-0-299-17654-9 eISBN: 978-0-299-17653-2 Cloth: 978-0-299-17650-1
Since the late 1960s, American film and video makers of all genres have been fascinated with themes of self and identity. Though the documentary form is most often used to capture the lives of others, Jim Lane turns his lens on those media makers who document their own lives and identities. He looks at the ways in which autobiographical documentaries—including Roger and Me, Sherman’s March, and Silverlake Life—raise weighty questions about American cultural life. What is the role of women in society? What does it mean to die from AIDS? How do race and class play out in our personal lives? What does it mean to be a member of a family? Examining the history, diversity, and theoretical underpinnings of this increasingly popular documentary form, Lane tracks a fundamental transformation of notions of both autobiography and documentary.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jim Lane is executive director of the Emerson College Los Angeles Center. A filmmaker since 1982, his documentaries include Long Time No See, Women of Prague, Background Action, I Am Not an Anthropologist, and East Meets West.
REVIEWS
"The autobiographical documentary is one of the most significant paths taken by American filmmakers in recent years, and Jim Lane is the ideal person to take on this important subject. A scrupulous film historian with a sophisticated grasp of the theoretical issues raised and addressed by autobiographical documentary films, he is also a gifted filmmaker personally committed to the movement he is studying. He writes with singular authority about films whose aspiration, and achievement, is to be at once subjective and objective."—William Rothman, University of Miami, author of The "I" of the Camera
"Analysis of some of the most interesting documentary work of the past three decades. A must-read for anyone studying or making documentary."—Julia Lesage, University of Oregon, co-editor of Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media
"Such fine and sustained work on the documentary film as autobiography is way overdue. Exploring the convergences of autobiography and film theory, Jim Lane makes a major contribution to the whole field of autobiographical studies, demonstrating in the process what significant work autobiography does in the history and culture of our time."—Susanna Egan, Mirror Talk: Genres of Crisis in Contemporary Autobiography
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 3
I The Convergence of Autobiography and Documentary:
Historical Connections I I
2 David Holzman's Diary: An Unlikely Beginning 33
3 The Journal Entry Approach: Narrative, Chronology, and
Autobiographical Claims 48
4 Autobiographical Portraiture: Family and Self 94
5 Women and the Autobiographical Documentary: Historical
Intervention, Writing, Alterity, and the Dialogic Engagement 145
Afterword I9I
Notes 197
Filmography 222
Works Cited 224
Index 233
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE