American Documentary Film

Projecting the Nation

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by Jeffrey A. Geiger

Type: Studies
Subject: Genre > Documentary
Keywords: documentary, United States
Publishing date: 2011
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 288 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7486-2147-7

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Book Presentation:
Richard Wall Memorial Award 2012 - Finalist

What key concerns are reflected in documentaries produced in and about the United States? How have documentaries engaged with competing visions of US history, culture, politics, and national identity?

This book examines how documentary films have contributed to the American public sphere - creating a kind of public space, serving as sites for community-building, public expression, and social innovation. Geiger focuses on how documentaries have been significant in forming ideas of the nation, both as an imagined space and a real place.

Moving from the dawn of cinema to the present day, this is the first full-length study to focus on the extensive range and history of American non-fiction filmmaking. Combining comprehensive overviews with in-depth case studies, Geiger maps American documentary's intricate histories, examining the impact of pre- and early cinema, travelogues, the avant-garde, 1930s social documentary, propaganda, direct cinema, postmodernism, and 'new' documentary. Offering detailed close analyses and fresh insights, this book provides students and scholars with a stimulating guide to American documentary, reminding us of its important place in cinema history.

Key Features
• Historical overview of major documentary forms and practices in the USA
• Case studies, including Nanook of the North, The Plow that Broke the Plains, Grey Gardens, and Fahrenheit 9/11
• Analysis of critical debates relating to filmic representations of reality

Praise for the Book

"Beautifully combining research with his own thoughts on the subject, Geiger has written a book that should be used in all undergraduate documentary classes, and could be used by more advanced students as well. Simply put, this is one of the definitive texts on the subject, not out of place among the likes of John Grierson, Erik Barnouw, and Bill Nichols." - Scope, Douglas C. MacLeod Jr.

About the Author:
Jeffrey Geiger is Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex, where he founded the Centre for Film Studies in 2001. Other books include Facing the Pacific: Polynesia and the U.S. Imperial Imagination (2007), the co-edited Film Analysis: A Norton Reader (2005, expanded edition 2013), and Cinematicity in Media History (2013).

Press Reviews:
This well-research volume provides a solid survey of the documentary tradition in the US... Highly recommended.– K. S. Nolley, Williamette University, Choice

This well-researched volume provides a solid survey of the documentary tradition in the US... Highly recommended.– K. S. Nolley, Williamette University, Choice

This is nothing less than a tremendous achievement... and the new benchmark in concise appreciation of American documentary film history.– Ian Scott, University of Manchester, H-Nationalism

Beautifully combining research with his own thoughts on the subject, Geiger has written a book that should be used in all undergraduate documentary classes, and could be used by more advanced students as well. Simply put, this is one of the definitive texts on the subject, not out of place among the likes of John Grierson, Erik Barnouw, and Bill Nichols.– Douglas C. MacLeod Jr, Scope: Issue 26

Beautifully combining research with his own thoughts on the subject, Geiger has written a book that should be used in all undergraduate documentary classes, and could be used by more advanced students as well. Simply put, this is one of the definitive texts on the subject, not out of place among the likes of John Grierson, Erik Barnouw, and Bill Nichols.– Douglas C. MacLeod Jr., Scope: Issue 26

In American Documentary Film, Jeffrey Geiger examines the role of documentary film in mobilizing, promoting, and even suppressing central myths of U. S. national identity. His brilliant close readings illuminate the relationship between the rhetorical, technical and stylistic elements of specific films and a broader set of contexts and concerns. Rigorous yet accessible, this elegantly-written book will be of great value to the general reader and the specialist alike, and it will transform the way we consider the history, theory, and practice of documentary filmmaking.– Valerie Smith, Princeton University

In American Documentary Film, Jeffrey Geiger examines the role of documentary film in mobilizing, promoting, and even suppressing central myths of U.S. national identity. His brilliant close readings illuminate the relationship between the rhetorical, technical and stylistic elements of specific films and a broader set of contexts and concerns. Rigorous yet accessible, this elegantly-written book will be of great value to the general reader and the specialist alike, and it will transform the way we consider the history, theory, and practice of documentary filmmaking.– Valerie Smith, Princeton University

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press

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