Resources

An eclectic mix of sources, with no attempt to be comprehensive!

Books & articles

Archival Storytelling: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Finding, Using, and Licensing Third-Party Visuals and Music [Sheila Bernard & Kenn Rabin, Focal Press, 2008]

Confessions of a Documentary Teacher (Part 1) by David Wingate (Part 2, Part 3)

Confronting Reality: Some Perspectives on Documentary [CILECT Review Vol 2, No. 1, November 1986]

Cross-Cultural Filmmaking: A Handbook for Making Documentary & Ethnographic Films and Videos [Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Taylor, University of California Press 1997] Out of print and inevitably rather outdated as far as the technology is concerned, but many valuable insights.

Directing the Documentary [Michael Rabiger, Focal Press/Elsevier, 5th ed. 2009)

Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction [Pat Aufderheide, OUP, 2007]

Documentary Storytelling (Sheila Curran Bernard, 3rd ed. Focal Press, 2010)

Educating Film-Makers [Duncan Petrie & Rod Stoneman, Intellect, forthcoming August 2014) A timely intervention that examines the history of the film school in Western Europe and North America as well as looking ahead to the issues and questions for the next decades. Essential reading!

For Documentary [Dai Vaughan, University of California Press, 1999]

Living Dangerously : A Biography of Joris Ivens [Hans Schoots, Amsterdam University Press 2000] Digital Edition

On Filmmaking [Alexander Mackendrick, ed. Paul Cronin, Faber & Faber 2004] Not specifically on documentary, but with many insights on visual storytelling. I strongly recommend Paul Cronin’s workshop based on Mackendrick’s teachings held regularly at the London Film School – link below

Teaching Documentary Film in Europe [eds. Klaus Stanjek & Renate Gompper, Vistas (Berlin) 1995] English/German edition issued after the first VISIONS project, now out of print but occasionally available second-hand

Teaching Film & TV Documentary [Sarah Casey Benyahia, British Film Institute 2008] includes a range of online resources, including student handouts

The Art of Nonfiction Movie Making [Jeffery Friedman, Robert Epstein, Sharon Wood; Praeger, 2012]

The Social Documentary in Latin America [Julianne Burton, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990] Digital Edition

Trailer Mechanics: How to Make Your Documentary Fundraising Trailer [Fernanda Rossi, 2nd Ed. 2012] available directly from the documentary doctor (link below)

Visual Storytelling by Nancy Kalow – free PDF download from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

Websites

animated documentary the place for all things animadoc

a teacher’s guide to use of personal essay films the center for social media

besider – approche documentaire blog of 2011 workshop at la fémis (in french)

capturing reality: the art of the documentary from the canadian national film board

center for documentary arts and research interdisciplinary explorations at uc santa cruz

chicago media works great list of documentary resources

cilect association of the world’s major film and television schools

collabdocs where documentary meets the social, semantic & open web

doc alliance online portal of six key european documentary film festivals

doc on-line free articles in portuguese, spanish, english and french

docs in progress inspirational non-profit in washington dc

docubase mit open documentary lab’s all encompassing database

documentary film festivals comprehensive list on the pbs / pov website

documentary is never neutral a political documentary helping hand

documentary newport newport film school’s documentary blog site

documentary site very comprehensive site – good teaching resource

documentary starts here blog that, well, starts there

documentary workshop the lodz film school’s doc site – contact them for login details

docwest international centre for documentary and experimental film

dokweb institute of documentary film, prague

esodoc european social documentary, training initiative for films with social impact

european documentary network based in copenhagen

fair use and documentary film the center for social media

film education uk charity’s website – section on documentary

filmkommentaren.dk tue steen müller’s blog (in danish and english)

film studies for free blog entry on documentary

i-docs all about  interactive documentaries

kino eye “everybody who cares for his art seeks the essence of his own technique” vertov

labour in a single shot travelling workshop devised by Harun Farocki & Antje Ehmann

mackendrick on film  paul cronin’s site on one of the most inspirational teachers of film

nonfics real stories, real insight

0pen documentary lab @ MIT  “to advance the new arts of documentary”

the d-word worldwide community of documentary professionals

zelig school for documentary, tv & new media, bolzano, italy