Overview

Independent documentary is enjoying a resurgence in post-reform India. But in contemporary cinema and media cultures, where 'independent' operates as an industry genre or critical category, how do we understand the significance of this mode of cultural production? Based on detailed onsite observation of documentary production, circulation practices and the analysis of film texts, this book identifies independence as a 'tactical practice', contesting the normative definitions and functions assigned to culture, cultural production and producers in a neoliberal economic system. Focusing on selected filmmakers, the book establishes how they have reorganised the dominance of industrial media, technology and social relations to develop practices that build upon principles of de-economisation, artisanship and interdependence.

Full Product Details

Author:   Shweta Kishore (Lecturer in Screen and Media, RMIT University)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
Weight:   0.326kg
ISBN:  

9781474433075

ISBN 10:   1474433073
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   25 August 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Histories and Cultures: Space, Filmmaker, Text, Spectator Public Space and Democratic Instruments An Involved Filmmaker Text, Representation and Reflexivity Spectator and Horizontal Communication 2. Method and Meaning Filmmakers, Histories, Concerns, Aesthetics Artisanal Production Documentary as Signifying Practice 3. Documentary Financing and Production NGOS and Useful Media Institutionally Managed Practice Self-Managed Practice A Tactics of Practice; Decapitalisation and De-economisation 4. Documentary Circulation and Exhibition The Regulated Public Domain From Information to Emotion Between Participant and Audience A Tactics of Circulation: An Involved Publics and Decentering Copyright 5. People and Documentary The Represented and Institutional Subject Artist, Meanings, Obligation Speaking with the Subject Independent: Interdependent and Negotiated Consent Practice Afterword Filmography Works Cited

Reviews

A fine contribution to our understanding of social-issue and activist documentary cinema and its lively incarnation in India since 1987. Rigorous and resourceful, Kishore's labour of love ranges from the work of five exemplary artists to their theoretical and political context. With the growing circulation of independent Indian nonfiction voices and images, practising independence becomes increasingly urgent.--Professor Thomas Waugh, Concordia University

Author Information

Shweta Kishore lectures in Screen and Media at RMIT University, Australia. She is the author of Indian Documentary Film and Filmmakers: Independence in Practice and has published widely on Indian documentary, documentary ethics, feminist film, and activist film festivals. Shweta is a documentary practitioner and has curated documentary and artist cinema programmes for the Kochi Muziris Biennale (India), The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre (Vietnam), and the Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia).

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