The Flaherty: Decades in the Cause of Independent Cinema - Hardcover

Zimmermann, Patricia R.; MacDonald, Scott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253026245 ISBN 13: 9780253026248

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2017

This is the inspiring story of The Flaherty, one of the oldest continuously running nonprofit media arts institutions in the world, which has shaped the development of independent film, video, and emerging forms in the United States over the past 60 years. Combining the words of legendary independent filmmakers with a detailed history of The Flaherty, Patricia R. Zimmermann and Scott MacDonald showcase its history and legacy, amply demonstrating how the relationships created at the annual Flaherty seminar have been instrumental in transforming American media history. Moving through the decades, each chapter opens with a detailed history of the organization by Zimmermann, who traces the evolution of The Flaherty from a private gathering of filmmakers to a small annual convening, to today’s ever-growing nexus of filmmakers, scholars, librarians, producers, funders, distributors, and others associated with international independent cinema. MacDonald expands each chapter by giving voice to the major figures in the evolution of independent media through transcriptions of key discussions galvanized by films shown at The Flaherty. The discussions feature Frances Flaherty, Robert Gardner, Fred Wiseman, Willard Van Dyke, Jim McBride, Michael Snow, Hollis Frampton, Erik Barnouw, Barbara Kopple, Ed Pincus, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Bruce Conner, Peter Watkins, Su Friedrich, Marlon Riggs, William Greaves, Ken Jacobs, Kazuo Hara, Mani Kaul, Craig Baldwin, Bahman Ghobadi, Eyal Sivan, and many others.

About the Author:

Patricia R. Zimmermann is Professor of Screen Studies at Ithaca College. She is the author of Reel Families: A Social History of Amateur Film (IUP, 1995) and Open Spaces: Openings, Closings, and Thresholds of International Public Media, among many other titles.

Scott MacDonald is Professor of Art History at Hamilton College. He is author of many books including, most recently, Avant-Doc: Intersections of Documentary and Avant-Garde Cinema and Binghamton Babylon: Voices from the Cinema Department (a nonfiction novel).

Review:

Part myth and half truth, The Flaherty Seminar’s reputation as a hot bed of polemical debate attests to its absolute centrality to the documentary tradition. And here’s the proof: historical context provided by the authors and scintillating encounters generated between filmmakers and participants. Raw, incendiary, insightful: it’s a treasure to behold. (Bill Nichols author of Introduction to Documentary, 3rd edition)