We are at a particular moment in history where new technologies are changing the way films are made, distributed, and screened, as well as how audiences interact with documentary texts and discourses. This dissertation project questions documentary's instrumentality in the public sphere in two parts. Using the response to Ken Burns' The War, as a point of departure, it first addresses the lacuna of theory and scholarship on documentary films, owed largely to its nascent arrival in academia as a dedicated field of study. Using the films and the public response around the films, I point out the problems with how documentary has been understood in both public and academic thought, with particular emphasis on truth claims, subjectivity narratives, and audience identification, as well as production techniques as rhetoric. Secondly the project takes two cases studies to examine these issues in documentary discourse and to exemplify the ways technology is changing documentary as we know it, one a reality television show focused on teenage mothers and the other Michael Moore's well known film Fahrenheit 9/11. Ultimately I argue that we are in a new era of documentary production that may be characterized by its interactivity between films, publics, and discourses. It is my hope that by combining my practical knowledge of documentary production for film and television with academic scholarship I will provide a valuable text for documentary theorists and rhetoricians alike. / text

This report serves as a first-person account of the conceptualization, pre-production, and post-production phases of my short documentary thesis film. We Will Always Be Here interweaves stories from residents, historians, and grassroots activists in a visual essay about the transforming landscape in the rapidly expanding neighborhood of East Austin. The film explores themes of identity politics and cultural resistance amid the seemingly unstoppable expansion of the city of Austin. / text

Centered on the universal search for home, The Ocean in Between is an autobiographical documentary about my bicultural identity and sense of guilt as a first generation Italian emigrant daughter. As I embark on a journey between Italy and the United States, I attempt to reconcile my American aspirations with my Italian roots. Using observational footage, direct interviews, and narration, this film provides a poetic and intimate look at family relations, love and death, bicultural identity, and sexuality.

The images included in my thesis work reflect my experience growing up with military propaganda—pictures of cheerful white women in pearls as part of my rural middle American landscape. I do not name the oppressor because I am not here to pick at the thorns, but to get to the root of the oppression. These are some of the servicewomen I’ve met. Their stories parallel but cannot encompass the private experiences of all service women. I am grateful for their generosity; without them there would be no pictures. The battle for equality is much older than Rosie the Riveter but we still ask the same questions we asked Joan of Arc in the 15th century: if she isn’t working miracles, what is she doing on the battlefield?

Life is a One-Way Ticket is a twenty-three minute documentary about jazz photographer Herman Leonard's 80th birthday party. The event took place at Rosy's Jazz Hall, a club in the uptown section of New Orleans where musicians including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Stevie Wonder once performed. Within the documentary, I show the celebration as an analogy for the life of Herman Leonard. In short but moving passages, Herman Leonard reflects upon the nature of his longevity, the world today, and the "luck" he has had with photography. In addition to the voice of Herman Leonard, interviews with Herman Leonard's friends and family show him as both a world-class photographer and the down-toearth human being. Upon completion of the documentary, the final cut will be authored onto a DVD. This will allow for extra features, including an extended interview with Herman Leonard.

Every summer Camp Hopewell in Oxford, Mississippi hosts its annual summer camps. Over the course of a week, kids between the ages of seven and fifteen run, play, hike, and canoe. It's the pretty standard summer camp fair, but there is something that makes a week at Camp Hopewell different. Every child that comes to camp has been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Some have had it for years and consider camp their second home while some have just been diagnosed and still live in fear of their condition. For this one week, however, they all have something in common, and while they eat, sleep, and play, they learn to take care of their own Diabetes. Diabetes Camp is a 25 minute documentary film that is meant to show audiences the remarkable occurrences at Camp Hopewell through the eyes and voices of the campers and the staff that work there.

Orientador: José Carlos Marques / Banca: Marcelo Magalhães Bulhões / Banca: Flavio de Campos / Resumo: Diante do enquadramento que a mídia atribui aos ídolos esportivos, conferindo-lhes aspectos mitológicos que os transformam em heróis, figuras corajosas o suficiente para adentrar no mundo da aventura, vencer desafios e conquistar dádivas em prol da sociedade, o presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar as narrativas presentes nos documentários "Garrincha, Alegria do Povo" (1963, direção de Joaquim Pedro de Andrade) e "Isto é Pelé" (1974, direção de Luiz Carlos Barreto e Eduardo Escorel). Mais especificamente, pretende estabelecer uma comparação entre as trajetórias dos futebolistas Garrincha e Pelé, retratadas nas referidas obras, e a estrutura da Jornada do Herói de Joseph Campbell, um dos mais renomados estudiosos da mitologia universal. As reflexões propostas visam analisar a possibilidade de enquadramento do atleta no âmbito do mito, o que se dá pela verificação da passagem dos protagonistas pelo núcleo Separação-Iniciação-Retorno do monomito, percurso padrão da aventura mitológica do herói, uma figura predestinada a superar desafios e a realizar feitos grandiosos. / Abstract: In the face of the media's attribution to sports idols, giving them mythological aspects that transform them into heroes, courageous enough figures to enter the world of adventure, overcome challenges and win gifts in favor of society, the present study aims to analyze the narratives present in the documentaries "Garrincha, hero of the Jungle" (1963, directed by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade) and "This is Pelé" (1974, directed by Luiz Carlos Barreto and Eduardo Escorel). More specifically, it intends to compare the trajectories of the soccer players Garrincha and Pelé, portrayed in the mentioned works, and the structure of the Hero's Journey of Joseph Campbell, one of the most renowned scholars of universal mythology. The proposed reflections aim to analyze the possibility of framing the athlete within the scope of the myth, which is verified by the verification of the protagonists' passage through the nucleus Separation-Initiation-Return of the monomyth, standard route of the mythological adventure of the hero, a predestined figure to overcome challenges and to perform great deeds. / Mestre

Thesis advisor: John Michalczyk / Werner Herzog is one of the most important directors of today. He is also, however, woefully misunderstood. These four essays attempt to refute some commonly held views about the director, but also to reinforce others. The first essay looks at his cultural heritage. The second essay places Herzog under the microscope of the Auteur Theory of cinema. The third examines his relationship with his volatile, long-time collaborator Klaus Kinski. The final essay turns to Herzog's documentary films and asks what role they play in his oeuvre. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Fine Arts. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-55). / This work attempts to present the development of a new self-image of Latin American identity as manifested in the New Latin American Cinema Movement. Also, it attempts to help articulate intentions, strategies, and final products that are being formulated throughout the continent. The main part of this thesis is a compilation/documentary (in the form of a 3/4 inch video cassette) comprised of interviews with filmmakers and excerpts from these films as presented at the Second New Latin American Cinema Festival (held in Havana in November of 1980). This tape will illustrate the author's efforts to examine, present, and contribute to this growing movement. / by Joaquin O. Mercado Cardona. / M.S.V.S.

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 229-234. / by Linda Benedict-Jones. / M.S.V.S.