The Event of Documentary is an innovative volume that highlights the range and politics of "events" that emerge when documentaries are produced and circulated. Building on Ariella Azoulay's concept of the "event of photography," its contributors account for the host of dynamics in play when producing documentary media. The "event of documentary" refers not only to the subtle or explicit negotiations between the filmmakers and subjects but also to the activity that occurs after the processes of media production are complete.
Documentary film sparks an exchange of ideas-between people in the films, between filmmakers and their subjects, and between films and their viewers. Practitioners and scholars alike have paid considerable attention to the ethics of the encounter between filmmakers and subjects, mining images and extratextual information for evidence of the dynamics of the encounter. But the information age has radically transformed access to extratextual information related to the production, distribution, marketing, critical response, and exhibition context of films. Now it is almost expected that viewers will encounter films beyond their traditional exhibition window. This type of engagement, the book argues, is distinct for documentary and has enormous implications for theorizing documentary spectatorship and the broader documentary imaginary.
By developing what counts as an event of documentary, The Event of Documentary expands the political relations that can, and must, be considered when analyzing the field of documentary in the current moment.
