Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film, 3 Volume Set - Hardcover

9781579584450: Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film, 3 Volume Set

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579584454 ISBN 13: 9781579584450

Publisher: Routledge, 2005

The Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film is a fully international reference work on the history of the documentary film from the Lumi�re brothers' Workers Leaving the Lumi�re Factory (1885) to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 (2004). This Encyclopedia provides a resource that critically analyzes that history in all its aspects. Not only does this Encyclopedia examine individual films and the careers of individual film makers, it also provides overview articles of national and regional documentary film history. It explains concepts and themes in the study of documentary film, the techniques used in making films, and the institutions that support their production, appreciation, and preservation.

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From Booklist:

Documentaries such as Nanook of the North, The Sorrow and the Pity, and Victory at Sea are among the classics of film history. More recently, documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Hoop Dreams, and When We Were Kings have also garnered acclaim. The power of these films is such that a number of them have become part of our collective memory: think of the images of the 1960s in Gimme Shelter and Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music or the stark depictions of absolute evil in Night and Fog and Triumph of the Will. The documentary tradition is nearly as old as the film industry itself and is represented in most of the countries around the world.

In this set, readers will find articles discussing the documentary scene in the Czech Republic, the former Yugoslavia, the Near and Middle East, Southeast Asia, and nearly everywhere else. A number of filmmakers better known for other kinds of cinematic work are also included because of their documentary work, for example, Jean-Luc Godard, John Huston, and Agnes Varda. With an advisory board made up of an international group of scholars and a list of contributors to match, these volumes offer a comprehensive look at the subjects: films, filmmakers, and filmmaking traditions around the world are examined in articles ranging in length from 500 words to several thousand. Many of the signed entries are accompanied by suggestions for further reading, selected film lists, and brief biographies. In addition to the alphabetically arranged and thoroughly cross-referenced entries, there are a thematic list of entries and an exhaustive index. Black-and-white still photographs from a variety of documentary films accent the cavalcade of entries.

Stanley Kubrick once explained film genres: "Confront a man in his office with a nuclear alarm, and you have a documentary. If the news reaches him in his living room, you have a drama. If it catches him in the lavatory, the result is a comedy." This set should be available to confront the users of any large reference or film collection. Carolyn Mulac
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review:

'Well-written and informative... This is a useful resource for all film collections. Recommended for public and academic libraries.' - Library Journal

'The film and cultural studies worlds are in dire need of a good encyclopedia of documentary film, and at first glance this three-volume set would seem to fit the bill. Recommended.' - Choice

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