Looking Machine: Essays on Cinema, Anthropology and Documentary Filmmaking

This book of essays brings together his latest ideas on filming, documentary, anthropology and the art of cinema, based on his practice as an award-winning maker of ethnographic films.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 11 January 2019
Publisher: Manchester University Press

This new collection of essays presents the latest thoughts of one of the world's leading ethnographic filmmakers and writers on cinema. It will provide essential reading for students in cinema studies, filmmaking, and visual anthropology. The dozen wide-ranging essays give unique insights into the history of documentary, how films evoke space, time, and physical sensations, and the intellectual and emotional links between filmmakers and their subjects.

In an era of reality television, historical re-enactments, and designer packaging, MacDougall defends the principles that inspired the earliest practitioners of documentary cinema. He urges us to consider how the form can more accurately reflect the realities of our everyday lives. Building on his own practice in filmmaking, he argues that this means resisting the pressures for self-censorship and the inherent ethnocentrism of our own society and those we film.

MacDougall's essays are a testament to his commitment to the power of cinema to challenge our assumptions and broaden our understanding of the world. They will be of interest to anyone who wants to explore the potential of this medium to tell powerful stories and engage with complex social issues.

Weight: 360g
Dimension: 157 x 233 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526134110