Film is Memory: Forgotten Narratives, Reminiscence and Personal Archives

Pre-requisites for enrolment

None.

Content of Course

1. Introduction. Film as artifact.

Screening: London. Patrick Keiller. Nostalgia, memory, place and politics in the work of Patrick Keiller. Discussion around the assertion of the ‘city as an archive’.

2. Film as autobiography.

Screening: Gallivant. Andrew Kotting. Can the medium of moving image successfully capture the essence of a person in order to ‘archive’ a sense of their self, life or experiences?

3. Film and memory.

Screening: Stories We Tell. Sarah Polley. The potency of memory as a filmic device. How does the notion of memory define who and what we are as individuals and how we orient ourselves in the present?

4. Found, archival footage and collective memory.

Screening: The Miners’ Hymns. Bill Douglas. PLUS screening of a short, archival 16mm film from the Screen Bandita archive. The notion of archival film as a conductor for tapping into collective memory. Thinking about found film, is it possible to connect emotionally with visual material that has no direct link to us personally? How does the inherent materiality of photochemical film affect the experience of watching it?

5. Recording and reflecting through photography and film.

Screening: Grey Gardens. Maysles brothers. Authorship, perception and perspective in the process of documentation.

Teaching method(s)

Each class will consist of an introductory lecture relating to the week’s themes and film, followed by a full screening and then an open discussion.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Appreciate how moving image ability to record lives and memories and reflect personal and emotional experience;

• Gain a deeper understanding of the way archival material can create an experiential link to/ dialogue with the past;

• Discuss the complex relationship between notions of ‘reality’ and ‘truth’ in the cinema of memory.

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Anderst, L. 2013. Memory’s Chorus: Stories We Tell and Sarah Polley’s Theory of Autobiography. Senses of Cinema, (online) Available at: http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/feature-articles/memorys-chorus-stories-we-tell-and-sarah-polleys-theory-of-autobiography/

• Cullinan, N. and Dean, T. eds., 2011. Film: Tacita Dean. London: Tate Publishing.

• Hawke, J. A Life In Pictures. Meanjin, (online) Available at: http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/a-life-in-pictures/

• Keiller, P. The View from the Train: Cities and Other Landscapes. Reprint. 2014. Verso Publishing.

• Olesen, C. Found footage photogénie: An interview with Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi and Mark-Paul Meyer. Necsus, (online) Available at: http://www.necsus-ejms.org/found-footage-photogenie-an-interview-with-elif-rongen-kaynakci-and-mark-paul-meyer/

Class Handouts

Handouts will be provided by email and will consist of lecture notes, biographical film information, extracts from readings and online resources.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.