Ian Aitken - The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film

The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film

The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film is a fully international reference work on the history of the documentary film from the Lumire brothers Workers Leaving the Lumire Factory (1885) to Michael Moores Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004).

Documentary film dates back to the last decades of the nineteenth century and has been practiced since then in every region of the world. This Encyclopedia provides a resource that critically analyzes that history in all its aspects. Entries examine individual films and the careers of individual filmmakers, but also include overview articles of national and regional documentary film history.

Previously published in three volumes, entries have been edited for the new, concise edition and two new entries have been added, on India and China.

The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film:

• discusses individual films, bringing together all aspects of documentary film.
• introduces filmmakers, including lesser-known filmmakers from countries such as India, Bosnia, China, and others.
• examines the documentary filmmaking traditions within nations and regions, including places such as Iran, Brazil, Portugal, and Japan.
• explores themes, issues, and representations in regard to specific documentary films, including human rights, modernism, homosexuality, and World War I, as well as types of documentary film such as newsreels and educational films.

This accessible concise edition provides an invaluable resource for both scholars and students. With stills from key films, this resource provides the decisive entry point into the history of an art form.

Ian Aitken is Professor, in the Department of Cinema and TV, Hong Kong Baptist University. He is the author of Film and Reform: John Grierson and the British Documentary Film Movement (Routledge, 1990, 1992), The Documentary Film Movement: An Anthology (Edinburgh University Press, 1998), The Cinema of Alberto Cavalcanti: Realism, Surrealism and National Cinemas (Flicks Books, 2000) and The Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film, three-volume set (Routledge, 2006).

The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film

Edited by Ian Aitken

First published as The Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film in 2006
This concise edition published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2013 Ian Aitken

The right of Ian Aitken to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The concise Routledge encyclopedia of the documentary film / ed. by Ian Aitken.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Documentary filmsEncyclopedias. I. Aitken, Ian.
PN1995.9.D6C545 2011
070.18dc23

2011024554

ISBN: 978-0-415-59642-8 (hbk)

List of stills

Board of Advisers

Alan Burton
Department of Media and Cultural Production, De Montfort University

John Corner
School of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool

Jack C. Ellis
Professor Emeritus, Department of Radio, TV and Film, Northwestern University

Sylvia M. Harvey
Department of Media Production, University of Lincoln

Kay Hoffmann
Haus des Dokumentarfilms, Germany

Bert Hogenkamp
Netherlands Audiovisual Archive

Julia Lesage
Department of English, University of Oregon

Scott MacDonald
Department of Film and Electronic Arts, Bard College

Bill Nichols
Cinema Department, San Francisco State University

Ab Markus Nornes
Department of Asian Languages & Cultures and Department of Film and Video, University of Michigan

Derek Paget
Department of Film, Theatre and Television, University of Reading

Michael Renov
School of CinemaTelevision Critical Studies, University of Southern California

Alan Rosenthal
Communication Department, Hebrew University

William Rothman
School of Communication, University of Miami

Vivian Sobchack
School of Theater, Film and Television, University of California, Los Angeles

Thomas Waugh
Department of Cinema, Concordia University

Deane Williams
School of Literary, Visual and Performance Studies, Monash University

Brian Winston
School of Communication and Creative Industries, University of Westminster

List of Contributors

Ian Aitken
Hong Kong Baptist University

D. Jae Alexander
University of Southern Mississippi

Samara L. Allsop
Independent scholar

Joshua Amberg
University of California, Los Angeles

Carolyn Anderson
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Kevin Taylor Anderson
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Richard Armstrong
British Film Institute

Isabel Arredondo
State University of New York, Plattsburgh

Michael B. Baker
Independent scholar

Kees Bakker
Independent producer of documentaries

Charles Bane
Louisiana State University

Ilisa Barbash
Harvard University

Elke Bartel
Middle Tennessee State University

Stefano Baschiera
National University of Ireland, Cork

Gerd Bayer
University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

Phillip Bell
University of New South Wales, Australia

Nitzan Ben-Shaul
Tel-Aviv University

Jeff Bergin
Independent producer

Robert Beveridge
Napier University

Mira Binford
Quinnipiac University

Brett Bowles
Iowa State University

Melissa Bromley
British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive

John Burgan
Documentary filmmaker

Marina Burke
University College Dublin

Alan Burton
De Montfort University

Andreas Busche
Film critic and film archivist

Lou Buttino
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Jos Cabeza San Deogracias
Complutense University, Madrid

Mara Elena de las Carreras-Kuntz
University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Northridge

Michael S. Casey
Graceland University

Catalina Ceron
Independent director and producer of documentaries

Michael Chanan
University of the West of England

David Chapman
University of East London

Thomas Cohen
Rhodes College