{"product_id":"filming-history-from-below-9780231195973","title":"Filming History from Below","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn recent decades, a type of historical documentary has emerged that focuses on tightly circumscribed subjects, personal archives, and first-person perspectives. Efrén Cuevas categorizes these films as “microhistorical documentaries” and examines how they push cinema’s capacity as a producer of historical knowledge in new directions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCuevas’ monograph achieves its ambitions. It proves that investigative history can be communicated via documentary film; and it demonstrates this potential, in particular, in the case of microhistorical documentaries. Its analysis of home videos as a suitable source is especially strong, revealing how they can be integrated into film and contextualised without drawing upon expository methods. -- Stuart A. Neave, University of St Andrews * Frames Cinema Journal *\u003cbr\u003eAmong the many books being published today on film and history, \u003ci\u003eFilming History from Below\u003c\/i\u003e stands out for the uniqueness of its approach and its excavation of a previously untapped subject. Cuevas shows how microhistorical documentaries significantly broaden our understanding of movements, moments, and people of the past and thus add to the broader discourse of history. -- Robert Rosenstone, author of \u003ci\u003eHistory on Film\/Film on History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eFilming History From Below,\u003c\/i\u003e Cuevas coins the term “microhistorical documentary,” bringing together two disciplines to examine how documentary film can contribute to a radical, more inclusive understanding of the past. He analyzes films by masters such as Jonas Mekas, Rea Tajiri, Péter Forgács, and Rithy Panh to offer a fresh take on the importance of the perspective ‘from below.’ The films’ subjects relate to burning issues like immigration, statelessness, totalitarianism, and genocide, and Cuevas makes a highly persuasive case for why microhistorical documentary matters. A challenging, original, and important book. -- Deirdre Boyle, The New School\u003cbr\u003eCuevas makes a strong and convincing case for the emergence and significance of what he calls the microhistorical documentary. His astute theorization of this category grounds deep, contextualized studies of films by a variety of documentary filmmakers who evince a microhistorical attitude in cinema. This significant, admirably written book will be of interest to anyone concerned with documentary cinema and with representations of history on film. -- Philip Rosen, author of \u003ci\u003eChange Mummified: Cinema, Historicity, Theory\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: Film and History\u003cbr\u003e1. Microhistory and Documentary Film\u003cbr\u003e2. The Archive in the Microhistorical Documentary\u003cbr\u003e3. Péter Forgács’s Home Movie Chronicle of the Twentieth Century: \u003ci\u003eThe Maelstrom\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFree Fall,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eClass Lot\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4. The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II: \u003ci\u003eSomething Strong Within\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Family Gathering\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFrom a Silk Cocoon\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHistory and Memory\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5. Rithy Panh’s Autobiographical Narrative of the Cambodian Genocide: \u003ci\u003eThe Missing Picture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6. Identities and Conflicts in Israel and Palestine: \u003ci\u003eIsrael: A Home Movie\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFor My Children\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMy Terrorist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMy Land Zion\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA World Not Ours\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e7. The Immigrant Experience in Jonas Mekas’s \u003ci\u003eLost, Lost, Lost\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue: Looking to the Future\u003cbr\u003eFilmography\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400349294935,"sku":"9780231195973","price":22.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780231195973.jpg?v=1730470459","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/filming-history-from-below-9780231195973","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}