ReFocus: The Films of Barbara Kopple

Susan Ryan

ISBN 10: 1474439942 / ISBN 13: 9781474439947

Published by Edinburgh University Press, GB, 2019

About this Item

As the first woman to win two Best Documentary Oscars and the recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards, Barbara Kopple deserves scholarly attention. Two of her early documentaries, Harlan County USA and American Dream, not only won Academy Awards but are foundational within the study of documentary as a whole. In ReFocus: The Films of Barbara Kopple, a range of international scholars trace Kopple's career to date, analysing her contributions in the contexts of funding, style, production and reception, and examining her films' interrogations of social class using the lenses of gender, sexuality and race. In a shifting digital media landscape, Kopple's critical reputation is also assessed, alongside her enduring influence on contemporary filmmakers.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781474439947

Bibliographic Details

• Title: ReFocus: The Films of Barbara Kopple
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474439942
• ISBN 13: 9781474439947
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 552 grams

About this title

Synopsis

As the first woman to win two Best Documentary Oscars and the recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards, Barbara Kopple deserves scholarly attention. Two of her early documentaries, Harlan County USA and American Dream, not only won Academy Awards but are foundational within the study of documentary as a whole.
In ReFocus: The Films of Barbara Kopple, a range of international scholars trace Kopple’s career to date, analysing her contributions in the contexts of funding, style, production and reception, and examining her films’ interrogations of social class using the lenses of gender, sexuality and race. In a shifting digital media landscape, Kopple’s critical reputation is also assessed, alongside her enduring influence on contemporary filmmakers.

About the Authors

Jeff Jaeckle is the editor of Film Dialogue (Wallflower Press, 2013) and co-editor (with Sarah Kozloff) of ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges (EUP, 2015). His scholarship on language in cinema, aesthetics and Hollywood film has also appeared in Film Quarterly, New Review of Film and Television Studies and Quarterly Review of Film and Video. He holds a doctorate from the University of Texas-Austin and teaches at Portland Community College.

Susan Ryan holds a doctorate in Cinema Studies from NYU and teaches documentary production and film studies at The College of New Jersey. She worked with Barbara Kopple for several years as a producer and archival researcher on Fallen Champ, Defending Our Daughters, My Generation, A Conversation with Gregory Peck, and several other documentaries. She is also the producer/director of From the ‘Burg to the Barrio (2012).