Description
Book SynopsisNora M. Alter reveals the essay film to be a hybrid genre that fuses the categories of feature, art, and documentary film. The essay film draws on a variety of forms and approaches; in the process, it fundamentally alters the shape of cinema.
The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction locates the genre’s origins and follows its transformations.
Trade ReviewFor many years, Nora Alter has been our most brilliant advocate of the essay film as an open genre that floats between documentary, fiction, and the art film.
The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is the first comprehensive survey of this difficult and experimental genre in both its historical context and variable aesthetic manifestations. The depth and complexity of Alter’s account of the essay film’s critical force and aesthetic innovations will not soon be surpassed. -- D. N. Rodowick, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago
This magisterial study marks a milestone in scholarship on the most intellectually expansive and unpredictable film genre of the last half-century. Global in scope, Alter’s book displays the essay film's astonishing richness of forms and functions from its beginnings in the 1920s to contemporary art installations. Both a reliable history and a sharp-eyed investigation,
The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is indispensable for anyone interested in the past and future of nonfiction cinema. -- Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley
The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction is unfailingly lucid, balanced, and informed. Alter provides generous and illuminating analyses of specific films, filmmakers, and decisive shifts in the arts and media history. Her book is a definitive guide to the multiple modes of production and global contexts of a vital tradition that continues to enrich contemporary culture and nurture critical thought. -- Edward Dimendberg, University of California, Irvine
The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction deepens the reader’s understanding of the history, aesthetics, and politics of its subject. -- Josh Guilford * Film Quarterly *
This book is invaluable for its scope and depth; the sheer number of films and filmmakers considered makes it an indispensable resource. * Choice *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Beginnings
2. Speaking Essays or Interruptions
3. The Essay Film as Archive and Repository of Memories
4. The Essay Film as the Fourth Estate
5. The Artist Essay: Expanding the Field and the Turn to Video
6. New Migrations: Third Cinema and the Essay Film
7. Beyond the Cinematic Screen: Installations and the Internet
Notes
Bibliography
Index
