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Message from: owner-viscom@xc.org (african-cinema-conference@xc.org)
About: New Book on 'Cross Cultural Filmmaking....'

Fri, 19 Sep 97 16:53:00 PDT

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    Originally from: owner-viscom@xc.org
    Originally dated: Fri, 19 Sep 97 16:53:00 PDT

    ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEWLY PUBLISHED HANDBOOK
    ON DOCUMENTARY AND ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMMAKING

    "Cross-Cultural Filmmaking:
    A Handbook for Making Documentary and Ethnographic Films and Videos"

    by Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Taylor

    Paper (flexi-cover): $24.95 (ISBN: 0-520-08760-7)
    Cloth: $65.00 (ISBN: 0-520-08759-3)

    Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997
    584 pp., 7 x 10", 56 b/w photographs, 24 line illustrations, 2 tables

    Order information:
    Toll-free telephone (U.S. and Canada): 1 800 777 4726
    Telephone: (1) 609 883 1759
    Toll-free fax: 1 800 999 1958

    Dust jacket copy:

    This handbook is for anyone who wants to make or study documentary and
    ethnographic films and videos. It provides a step-by-step guide to film-
    and video-making -- from research and funding, through the "nuts and bolts"
    of production, to distribution -- as well as a thorough orientation to the
    ethical and aesthetic issues that confront documentarians in the field.
    Filled
    with practical illustrations, state-of-the-art technical information, and
    advice from numerous leading filmmakers and anthropologists, this book is
    the essential guide for veteran and beginner alike.

    "Anthropology needs an up-to-date manual of filmmaking. Fifty years ago
    Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson demonstated what film can do for
    ethnography. It was daringly novel then, but times have changed, the
    technology has changed, and now every fieldworker expects to be able to
    work in this new medium. In presenting the new technology and the history
    of ethnographic filmmaking together, 'Cross-Cultural Filmmaking'
    represents a coming-of-age for anthropology."
    -- Mary Douglas, author of "Purity and Danger"

    "This is an extraordinarily valuable work that many of us have been
    waiting for. Gracefully integrating the most progressive ideas about what
    ethnographic media could still be, this volume provides a thorough account
    of the use of film and video as a mode of ethnography as well as a nearly
    irresistible enticement to give it a try."
    -- George Marcus, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Rice
    University

    "'Cross-Cultural Filmmaking' is the definitive guide to making an
    informed and savvy contribution to the 'photochemical permeation of the
    world'."
    -- Paul Rabinow, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of
    California, Berkeley

    "'Cross-Cultural Filmmaking' is an excellent book. It provides a wealth
    of sensible and perceptive advice in a calm jargon-free style. Beautifully
    organized and filled with instructive examples, it deals with the whole
    range of visual, financial, ethical and aesthetic issues in documentary
    filmmaking in considerable depth. It will immediately become the standard
    manual for teachers and filmmakers."
    -- Alan Macfarlane, Professor of Anthropological Science, Cambridge
    University

    "Here is the definitive A-Z of documentary filmmaking. No stone is left
    unturned, no truth unshared, and fresh insight informs every chapter.
    Student fiction filmmakers should also savor this book, because only if your
    dramatic film achieves a real sense of actuality... can you begin to
    convince your audience."
    -- Mike Leigh, director of "Secrets and Lies"

    "Barbash and Taylor have created a thinking person's guide to documentary
    filmmaking. Not only is it required reading for any student who wants to
    learn production techniques, but it offers an indispensable refresher-course
    for seasoned documentary filmmakers who wnat to catch up on the latest
    critical thinking about their practice."
    -- Ruby Rich, film critic

    "'Cross-Cultural Filmmaking' is the ideal 'how to' companion for the
    serious documentarian and ethnographic filmmaker. Informed by theory,
    seasoned by experience, and sensitive to issues of cultural difference,
    this book enlarges our underastanding of documentary production as
    both creative art and social praxis."
    -- Bill Nichols, author of "Representing Reality" and "Blurred Genres"

    Order information:
    Toll-free telephone (U.S. and Canada): 1 800 777 4726
    Telephone: (1) 609 883 1759
    Toll-free fax: 1 800 999 1958

    ********************************************************
    JAY RUBY - Temple University - PO Box 128, Mifflintown, PA 17059
    USA fax - 717-436-9559 voice - 717-436-9502
    My Web page is http://www.temple.edu/anthro/ruby/jayruby.html



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