Kees Bakker

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jeudi 31 décembre 2009

Emile de Antonio : American Collage

Par Kees le jeudi 31 décembre 2009, 12:09 - Documentaire

In the framework of a retrospective of the work of Emile de Antonio in Milano Federico Rossin has edited a book on this important American documentary film director. This collection of essays gives a focus on each film of de Antonio by different authors like Peter von Bagh, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Nicole Brenez, Dario Marchiori and others. Federico Rossin wrote an introductory essay and compiled a de Antonio specific glossary. My contribution concerns the film In The Year Of The Pig (1968) and is entitled "History Like a Napalm Pie in the Face of the Spectator". But then in Italian...

Federico Rossin (a cura di), American Collage - il cinema di Emile de Antonio, Agenzia X, Milano, 2009.

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Joris Ivens and Fumio Kamei - China, 1938

Par Kees le jeudi 31 décembre 2009, 11:24 - Documentaire

From 18 to 20 November 2008 the Beijing Normal University's School of Media and Arts, the Central Studio for Newsreel and Documentaries and China Film Archive organised an international academic conference titled "50 years of Joris Ivens and China". The life of Dutch documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens was closely linked to China over his long career. Ivens first came to in China in 1938. Over the next 50 years he shot four films about China. All became classics of documentary film. This year marks the 110th anniversary of Ivens' birth. An  wrapped up in Beijing Thursday. The organisers Zhang Tongdao and Sun Hongyun invited me for a talk in which I compared two films: one by Joris Ivens and the other by Fumio Kamei. This has now become an article, published in issue 3.1 of Studies in Documentary Film.

In 1938 both Joris Ivens and Fumio Kamei went to China to make a documentary about the war that was going on there between China and Japan. Ivens, sympathizing with the Chinese people, made The 400 Million. Kamei made Fighting Soldiers, intended as propaganda for the home front. Two films thus on the same war, but with opposed views. What does this mean for the representation and the interpretation of reality? Sketching a hermeneutic approach, this article tries to develop some possible answers to this question.

‘THEY ARE LIKE HORSES WITH BLINDERS ON’ One war, two views: Joris Ivens and Fumio Kamei, China, 1938 in Studies in Documentary Film 3.1, Intellect, Bristol, 2009, pp. 19-33.

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mercredi 8 octobre 2008

Cinema Context

Par Kees le mercredi 8 octobre 2008, 14:43 - Cinéma

Film in the Netherlands from 1896

An encyclopedia of film culture

Cinema Context provides a wonderful research tool on film culture, and especially Dutch film culture. It is a rich database with information on films, film exhibition, people and the dutch film "industry".
As the site states itself: "Cinema Context demonstrates that the heart of film culture is the screening. Without audience members, cinemas and distributors, a film does not exist; only during a screening does it come to life. The context in which a film is shown will provide a better insight into local film culture. Cinema Context consists of four data collections that inform us about the fundamentals of film culture: films, cinemas, people and companies." As such, the site is a good example of new tendancies in film historical research and at the same time rich ressource to develop this research. The project is piloted by Karel Dibbets and can serve as inspiration to film history projects in other countries. So, do not hesitate to plunge into Cinema Context (natuurlijk ook in 't Nederlands te raadplegen).

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Ethics and Documentary

Par Kees le mercredi 8 octobre 2008, 11:35 - Documentaire

7th International Documentary Conference - São Paulo

Talk on the philosophical aspects of ethics and documentary during the 7th International Documentary Conference held in São Paulo, March 28-30 2007, mainly based on my article The Good, the Bad and the Documentary (you can find it here).

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