Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives, New Practices

From a boom in theatrical features to footage posted on websites such as YouTube and Google Video, the early years of the 21st century have witnessed significant changes in the technological, commercial, aesthetic, political, and social dimensions of documentaries on film, television and the web.

In response to these rapid developments, this book rethinks the notion of documentary, in terms of theory, practice and object/s of study. Drawing together 26 original essays from scholars and practitioners, it critically assesses ideas and constructions of documentary and, where necessary, proposes new tools and arguments with which to examine this complex and shifting terrain.

Covering a range of media output, the book is divided into four sections:

• Critical perspectives on documentary forms and concepts
• The changing faces of documentary production
Contemporary documentary: borders, neighbours and disputed territories
• Digital and online documentaries: opportunities and limitations

Rethinking Documentary is valuable reading for scholars and students working in documentary theory and practice, film studies, and media studies.

Thomas Austin is Senior Lecturer in Media and Film at the University of Sussex, UK. He is the author of Hollywood, Hype and Audiences: Selling and Watching Popular Film in the 1990s (2002) and Watching the World: Screen Documentary and Audiences (2007).

Wilma de Jong is Lecturer in Media and Film at the University of Sussex, UK. She owned an independent film company for twelve years and is co-editor of Global Activism, Global Media (2005).