This dissertation examines cultural artifacts that represent the common: the political logic expressed in practices of mutual aid and solidarity, resource-sharing, de-privatization, and the collective management of social reproduction. While terms like "common" and "communal" are often associated with the discourse of the Bolivarian Revolution—the political project that has been in power in Venezuela since 1999—, I shed light on works created at the margins of the state between 2010 and 2021. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, including fiction and documentary films, paper-based artworks, nonfiction writing, and activist media, I analyze the underlying logics of commoning as they unfold within urban spaces and explore the role of popular religiosity in sustaining the politics of the common. Additionally, I delve into the controversy surrounding recent mega-mining projects in the Amazon to examine the tension between viewing nature as a set of exploitable common resources versus understanding nature as a living entity. Thus, employing the common as an interpretive framework, I analyze the cultural landscape in response to the profound social, political, and economic crisis that emerged in Venezuela in the early 2010s. Furthermore, my cultural studies perspective highlights the potential of aesthetic and fictional works to generate theories of the common, thereby contributing to global debates on this subject predominantly shaped by historians, philosophers, and social scientists.

Texas Pararnormalists mixes participatory and observational styles in an effort to portray a small community of paranormal practitioners who live and work in and around North Texas. These practitioners include psychics, ghost investigators, and other enthusiasts and seekers of the spirit world. Through the documentation of their combined perspectives, Texas Paranormalists renders a portrait of a community of outsiders with a shared belief system and an unshakeable passion for reaching out into the unknown.

No / The first ever English-language title devoted exclusively to the shocking, controversial and influential mondo documentary film cycle. "The Mondo Cane films were an important key to what was going on in the media landscape of the 1960s especially post the JFK assassination." J.G BALLARD Mondo Cane in 1962 was the blueprint for a shocking, controversial and influential documentary film cycle. Known collectively as 'mondo films' - or 'shockumentaries'" -this enduring series of films is a precursor of the Reality-TV show. A box-office draw for three decades and now a staple of the video rental market, these explosive 'exposés' would often pass fabricated scenes as fact in order to gave the public a sensationalist, highly emotive view of the world. SWEET & SAVAGE is the first ever English-language book devoted exclusively to the Mondo documentary film. A study of Mondo as a global film phenomenon, it includes a detailed examination of the key films and includes exclusive interviews with the 'godfathers' of this cult genre. Includes an exclusive interview with author J.G. Ballard.

This written thesis gives an account of the creative production of Two Fingers: Michael's Struggle, a twenty-nine minute documentary video that explores the life of Michael Alan Rasch who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It explains in detail the process of pre-production, production, and post-production of the documentary. It also discuses the integration of theories applied in the documentary. Two Fingers shows that although Michael has lived with the disease almost his entire life, his perspective and attitude are more about living and enjoying life. Through it, the filmmaker intends the viewer to gain a tremendously important lesson about the human spirit.

According to the American Heritage College Dictionary, the word “community” derives from the Latin roots: communitas and communis meaning “fellowship” and “common,” respectively. The word “amateur” derives from the Latin roots: amator meaning “lover.” A community of amateurs, who love to put on plays, exists within the Denton Community Theatre. Their first attempt at classical theatre was the January 2006 production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Brad Speck. The film follows two actors (through observational shooting) - Kevin Wickersham, a waiter who is trying theatre for the first time, and Jeffrey Johnson, a theatre college student trying Shakespeare for the first time - as they relate to a process and community that is new to them.

The film starts with another ordinary day, two elderly men playing Backgammon, cars passing by, children playing in the street; scenes anyone anywhere in the world can relate to. Seemingly without warning, as the sun set on that ordinary day, the audience is taken on a perilous journey through war-torn Beirut. Born in Beirut is a thoughtful and poetic examination of war through the eyes of a child who lived through endless conflict in war-torn Beirut. The film examines the futility of war and the price paid in innocent lives.

No Way Out: A Historical Documentary is the written companion to a forty-minute documentary film entitled "No Way Out". The film deals with a 1974 inmate standoff at a prison in Huntsville, Texas known as the Carrasco Incident. The film examines the prison takeover through the eyes of those who lived through it. Composed of five interviews, "No Way Out" is a compilation of various points of view ranging from former hostages, members of the press, and law enforcement. The written companion for this piece discusses the three phases of the production for this film. These chapters are designed to share with the reader the various intricacies of documentary filmmaking. The thesis also explores theoretical issues concerning collective memory, coping behavior, and the ethics of historical documentary filmmaking.

As the written accompaniment for The Luxury of Tears, a twelve-minute documentary video exploring the emotional impact of sexual assault on male survivors and their partners, this document examines the visual texts of both the fiction and nonfiction genres. Specifically, I contend that fiction film manufactures male survivorship with regard to rape events in such manner which contributes to the thematization of social silence. Such silence perpetuates the feminization of rape as a social problem, and dissolves the development of male survivor resources. A discussion of production processes, challenges, and resolutions is included.

A research report submitted by the Wits School of Arts, Film and Television Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Film and Television. Johannesburg 2015 / In our modern contemporary time period the vast and rapid expansion of globalisation is stronger than ever, resulting in the shifting of how identities are currently being formed. In Johannesburg there has been major shifts in the socio-political realities of our nation, coupled with globalisation there is a noticeable shift in way identities are formed in our present fractured environment. These shifts are important to acknowledge as South Africa is in the process of changing its image towards of an all encompassing equal state, and so It is imperative to study how these shifts are impacting on identity formation. There are multiple difficulties in a study such as this, initiating a study on a subject/s that is itself incomplete fails to produce finite answers or outcomes. Rather many varying results are produced and compiling this information proves challenging when attempting to comprehend these findings. It is my aim to understand not only how identities are being formed within the rejuvenating city, but also how the rejuvenation of the city is impacting on the formation of identities. Because of the long-established fractured nature of Johannesburg there has been a fracturing of identities that continues even in the face of the changes that are occurring. However with the changes meant to curb these fractures I question if these fractures are in fact diminishing, remaining the same or is there actually a noticeable change occurring. Initially I consider the history of South Africa as this has evidently impacted on the city, my research is it then focused on Johannesburg, as this is the environment I live in and have formed my own identity in. I also investigate how through the use of auto-ethnography I am able to practice ‘self-expression’ staged upon my personal view of Johannesburg and the fractures I encounter. Because I use auto-ethnography as my autobiographical filming technique I have exclusive control over the film and this proved challenging as I was positioning myself in the film as a form of subjectivity. This created a problem in how I was intending to represent myself along with the fractured landscape of Johannesburg. My outcome is a self-subjective representation of myself positioned into my environment represented as my personal view. I focus on the fractures I experience within my own environment the suburbs and that of the city, also the fracture between these two spaces and the continuing fracture in my own identity and relationship with the city. My research will allow for an avenue of self-representation on a very personal and idiosyncratic level as to encourage the city to be represented as it is experienced and perceived by its inhabitants. However my production can be seen as being specific to a similar case, that being of my own, but this practice allows for the use of auto-ethnography to represent our own individual perspectives and the subjectification of ourselves as inhabitants of the city from a personal perspective rather than a generalised and broad perspective.

The video decribes a Chinese temple, Kwan Kong temple. This documentary follows the ceremony of this temple. We will watch the interaction between the worshipers and their God. The accompanying paper reports on the production background, preproduction process, and includes discussion of the problems encountered from production through postproduction stages.