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Just
Films: A Teach In
The Poetics, Politics and Practice of Films for Change
Saturday, June 24, 2006: 10 am – 4 pm
Members: $5; Nonmembers: $10. Signup now!
An
all-day event, the latest in our continuing exploration of art and
justice. The Just Films Teach-In offers a chance to consider the
role of film in promoting justice and social change. What exactly
is a ‘just film’? Are films for change just films, or
are they documents of injustice in public arenas? What are the just
filmmaker’s rights and obligations? How can film advocacy best
be used to reach a wide audience and change people’s minds?
How do the public roles played by international human rights films,
‘new political documentaries,’ and historical memoirs
differ? Are these the quintessential media that matter – social
media that make a political difference? The Teach-In will address
these and other questions through three related areas of inquiry:
Just Films’ aesthetics, filmmakers’ rights, and filmmakers’
obligations. Featured participants will include film scholars, documentary
filmmakers, social change activists and cultural property experts
(and, as always, engaged community members).
The
event is co-hosted by the Center
for Social Media at American University.
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10:00
am - 11:00 am
Mapping the Genre: What is a Just Film?
How does a film's politics or 'message' affect its classification:
should we receive these films as information or as dramatizations?
As documents or as narratives? As art or as tools for change? As ethnography
or as investigative reportage? Can they be all of these things? Do
they speak to cultural insiders or do they have universal relevance?
Can we, in fact, speak of the Just Film genre or aesthetics in any
meaningful way? Join us as we explore the history, aesthetics and
the new internationalism of films for justice.
Special guest: Dr. Lalitha Gopalan, Professor of Film Studies, Georgetown
University.
Author of Bombay (British Film Institute Modern Classics, 2005) and
Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema
(University of California Press, 2002) |
11:00
am - 12:00 pm
Copyrights and copywrongs: Who owns a Just Film?
To whom do these stories belong? Documentary filmmakers rely heavily
on found footage and images to effectively tell their stories and,
in many cases, this material is copyrighted. What particular problems
do documentary filmmakers face with rights clearance for these materials?
Where do we draw the line between protecting innovation and promoting
public knowledge? With politically charged docs on the rise, what
is the effect of an increasingly restrictive interpretation of copyright
law? With the Smithsonian-Showtime contract now dominating news headlines,
this topic becomes all the more urgent in discussing the contested
politics of knowledge around just films.
Special guests:
Dr. Patricia Aufderheide, Professor, School of Communications, American
University and
Director, Center for Social Media, American University.
Dr. Peter Jaszi: Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American
University and Director, Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic
Co-authors of the report, "Untold Stories: Creative Consequences
of the Rights Clearance Culture" November 2004 |
| CATERED
LUNCH
2:30
pm - 3:30 pm
Film Activism: Whose Public Media? Whose Publics?
How do these public media make a difference? Along with documentary
and activist filmmakers, we will examine the purpose and effectiveness
of activist films. Do they serve the public interest by informing
the public of an issue, by actually aiding a cause, or, more generally,
by speaking to and demonstrating democracy and independence? What
are an activist filmmaker's obligations to the public or to its
'subjects'? To what extent have films been used as successful tools
for change? What is the activist filmmaker's role in relation to
the truth and to truth-telling: observer, witness, reporter or interpreter?
Participants will address these questions from their filmmaking
practice or experience.
Special Guest: Steve York, Managing Producer, York Zimmerman, Inc.
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