DER 50th Anniversary Screening Series

This selection of DER films includes voices and visions of those who are usually at the mercy of their documenters’ perspective. The poetic documentary Blunden Harbour is gently undressed—revealing the projections and generalizations that often accompany reverence—with Jamaine Campbell’s restoration of its humanity and intimacy in a radically compassionate inversion of “director’s commentary.” Thomas Henderson—who appears as a young boy in the film—names his Kwakiutl relatives as they appear onscreen, describes their activities and relates what has happened since. And the indigenous media project of Brazil, Video in the Villages, confronts the manifold implications and effects of televisual mediation and representation in The Spirit of TV with no Western mediation; the Waiãpi harness the medium to study themselves and other tribes while communicating frankly to their oppressors. Next, Jero on Jero comments on the ability of the filmmakers to faithfully capture—rather than denigrate—a sacred experience; a spirit medium is finally able to watch herself channeling in trance, as if seeing another self speaking words she has never heard before. Finally, Nina Davenport takes a different approach in Hello Photo, surrendering to the inherent bias and voyeurism of the tourist’s camera and its effect on those in front of and behind the camera—attempting to capture the beautiful and various facets of a culture as it wittingly and unwittingly puts itself on display.

• 
  Sponsored

  Affordable Spanish Classes in Boston (in-person and online courses) | BASE

  Monday, May 06, 2024 goes until 05/25

  Boston Area Spanish Exchange (BASE)
• 
  Sponsored

  WBUR Earth Week Events

  Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024 goes until 04/26

  WBUR CitySpace at The Lavine Broadcast Center

Sesh by The Boston Calendar | Advertise Terms | Privacy Policy | About