S E M I N A R

CINEMA & MEMORY
Ilustration, inquiry or the re writing of history?

CARMEN GUARINI

Documentary cinema has played an important role in our society since its origins. From the eternal establishment of key moments of the history of mankind, it has turned into both a reflection and a witness of this history. However, history and memory are not synonymous, yet they interrelate.

With this seminar we offer an open space, propagating the reflection and discussion with respect to the role of documentary cinema in the construction of memory.

Through the analysis of a selection of documentary films, we will proceed to approach several themes that are intrinsic to the actual debates regarding the function and place of memory in the contemporary society and in film, a medium that serves as an artefact that affects both the production and the circulation of social representations that influence and reflect memory. The documentary narrative actively participates in the discussion with regard to the construction of sentiments of the collective memory, and from this point of view it interests us to approach it.

 PROGRAMME 
We offer five sessions in which the following films shall be screened and analysed:

 FIRST DAY  
1. The disturbances of memory in the cinematographic documentary narrative
The concept of memory: the memory as a construction.
Films and memory: a classification.
The cinematographic as a construction of memory/memories.
La memoria obstinada (Obstinate Memory) (Patricio Guzman 1998)
H.I.J.O.S. el alma en dos(H.I.J.O.S. the soul split in half) (Carmen Guarini, Marcelo Cespedes 2005)

 SECOND DAY 
2. The theatres of memory
Staged memory
Reflexivity and its role in the elaboration of a collective memory
S21 La maquina de la muerte Kmer Rojo (S21 The Khmer RougeDeath Machine) (Rithy Pahn 2003)
Ernesto Che Guevara, Diario de Bolivia (Ernesto Che Guevara, the Bolivian Diary) (Richard Dindo 1994)

 THIRD DAY 
3. Cinema as memory
Memory and History. Truth and narrative
Archives and the re-elaboration of history
La guerra de un solo hombre (One Man´s War) (Edgardo Cozarinsky 1982)
2x50: 100 años de cine francés (2x50 Years of French Cinema) (Jean Luc Godard 1995)

 FOURTH DAY 
4. Memory and its transmission
Memory and testimony.
The role of cinema in the transmission of memory.
Shoa (Shoah) (Claude Lanzmann 1985)
Memoria del saqueo (Social Genocide) (Fernando Solanas 2004)

 FIFTH DAY 
5. The burden of memory
The film maker and his/her memory
Family memory and the staged memory
Punto de partida ( Starting Place) (Robert Kramer 1995)
El desencanto (The Disenchantment) (Jaime Chavarri 1976)

 Suggested bibliography:

BARNOUW, Erik. El documental. Gedisa, Barcelona, 1996.

COMOLLI, Jean Louis. Textos varios. En: Medios Audiovisuales. Ontología, Historia y Praxis. Libros del Rojas, Eudeba, Buenos Aires, 1999.

FELD, Claudia (2002)   Del estrado a la pantalla: Las imágenes del juicio a los ex comandantes en Argentina, Madrid y Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI.
FERRO, Marc. Cinéma et Histoire. Denoel/Gaonthier, Paris, 1977.
GAUTHIER, GUY. Le documentaire un autre cinéma. Nathan Université. Paris, 1995.
GETINO, Octavio. Cine y dependencia. El cine en la Argentina. Puntosur, Buenos Aires, 1990.
GUARINI, Carmen. Cine antropológico y memoria. Nuevos actores, nuevas prácticas. En: Actas del Congreso Arg. De Antropología Social, La Plata. 1997.
GUARINI, Carmen. Antropología visual y Derechos humanos. Imágenes para el análisis de la escena social. En: Diálogos Antropológicos. Dossie 1, IMAGEM. Universidad de Rio Grande do Sul. Brasil, 1997.
GUARINI, Carmen. El Escrache: un análisis del desorden. En: Reunión de Antropología del Mercosur, Misiones, 1999. Actas del Congreso.
GUZMAN, Patricio. La Batalla de Chile. Hiperión, Madrid, 1977.
HALBWACHS, Maurice   Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire, Albin Michel, Paris, 1994.
JELIN, Elizabeth (2002)  Los trabajos de la memoria, Madrid y Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI.
MACDOUGALL, D. (1998) “Films of Memory” in Transcultural Cinema, Princeton University Press.
MESTMAN, Mariano. Notas para una historia de un cine de contrainformación y lucha política. En: Causas y Azares,2, Buenos Aires, 1995.
MOUESCA, Jacqueline. Plano Secuencia de la Memoria de Chile (25 años de cine chileno). Ed. Del Litoral, Madrid, 1988.
NICHOLS, Bill. La representacion de la realidad. Paidos, Barcelona.
NINEY, François. L’épreuve du réel à l’écran. De Boeck Université. Belgica. 2000.SCHMUCLER, Hector. Las exigencias de la memoria. Revista Punto de vista Nro 68. Buenos Aires, 2001.
SOLANAS, Fernando. La mirada. Entrevista de Horacio Gonzalez. Puntosur. BsAs 1989.
TODOROV, Tzvetan. Los abusos de la memoria.  Paidós, Barcelona. 2000.
VEZZETI, Hugo. Responsabilidades de la memoria. Coloquio de Montevideo: Responsabilidades colectivas en los traumas sociales. En: http://www.goethe.de/hs/mot/vortra/vez
VEZETTI, Hugo. Activismos de la memoria: el  escrache. Revista Punto de vista Nro. 62. Buenos Aires. 1998.