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The thesis and the two films form a practice PhD in drama exploring ethnofiction - an experimental ethnographic filmmaking approach pioneered by visual anthropologist Jean Rouch. In the mid-1950's Rouch started to experiment with fiction and 'projective improvisation' in ethnographic films such as Jaguar (1957-1967), Moi, unnoir (1957) and La pyramide humaine (1959). Film critics would call these films 'ethnofictions'. After agreeing a story outline, the camera simply follows the subjects' improvisations of their own, and others', lived experiences. The aim is to show aspects of ethnographic research otherwise hard to represent. A key question of the doctoral research has been whether a nuanced understanding of foreign cultures can be created and mediated by combining ethnographic research methods with the processes of dramatic work. Even though Rouch made ethnofictions as part of his ethnographic research, he infused the genre with elements of surrealism and poetry, and often opposed anyone trying to establish theories about his films. Defying Rouch's view on this matter, this thesis explores ethnofiction as an ethnographic filmmaking method by drawing on the experiences from fieldwork and filmmaking among transgendered Brazilians living in São Paulo. The fieldwork resulted in a feature-length ethnofiction and an ethnographic documentary short: Transfiction focuses on identity and discrimination in the daily lives of Brazilian travestis and transsexuals. Informed by transgendered artists, prostitutes, healthworkers and political activists, Fabia Mirassos projected her life through the role of Meg, a transsexual hairdresser confronting intolerance and re-living memories of abuse. Savana 'Bibi' Meirelles plays Zilda who makes her living as one of the many transgendered sex workers in São Paulo, as she struggles to find her way out of prostitution. Drama Queens is an ethnographic documentary short and contains four scenes from the over 200 hours of rushes that were recorded during the fieldwork. The scenes are from São Paulo's annual Pride Parade and present Bibi, Fabia and Phedra who were the main informants of the research conducted at the theatre Os Satyros in central São Paulo.

The thesis aims at a critical reflexion on experimental ethnography with a special focus on the role of sound. A reassessment of its predominant discourse, as conceptualized by Cathrine Russell, is paired with a conceptual approach to film sound and audio-vision. By reactivating experimental filmmaker Peter Kubelka’s concept sync event and its aesthetic realisation in Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa, Peter Kubelka, 1966) the thesis provide a themed reflection on the materiality of film as audiovisual relation. Sync event is a concept focused on the separation and meeting of image and sound to create new meanings, or metaphors. By reintroducing the concept and discussing its implication in relation to Michel Chion’s audio-vision, the thesis theorizes the audiovisual relation in ethnographic/documentary film more broadly. Through examples from the Russian avant-garde and Surrealism the sync event is connected to a historical genealogy of audiovisual experiments. With James Clifford’s notion ethnographic allegory Unsere Afrikareise becomes a case in point of experimental ethnography at work. The sync event is comprehended as an ethnographic allegory with the audience at its focal point; a colonial critique performed in the active process of audio-viewing film.

Exploring the theme of Diaspora, this paper is an accompanying document for the documentary, A Dream Lost in Dream. It sheds light on the purpose, and process of producing this documentary. The main purpose for the production of this documentary has been described as initiation of healthy and casual dialog between diverse populations in America. It emphasizes the importance of creating visual media targeting masses rather than the elite. It is argued that it can act as a tool of awareness, reducing anxiety in the society. It also embarks on the production journey of the documentary A Dream Lost in Dream. The film is a portrayal of an East Indian immigrant struggling between economic survival, family issues and passion to fly.

The thesis aims at a critical reflexion on experimental ethnography with a special focus on the role of sound. A reassessment of its predominant discourse, as conceptualized by Cathrine Russell, is paired with a conceptual approach to film sound and audiovision. By reactivating experimental filmmaker Peter Kubelka’s concept sync event and its aesthetic realisation in Unsere Afrikareise (Our Trip to Africa, Peter Kubelka, 1966) the thesis provide a themed reflection on the materiality of film as audiovisual relation. Sync event is a concept focused on the separation and meeting of image and sound to create new meanings, or metaphors. By reintroducing the concept and discussing its implication in relation to Michel Chion’s audio-vision, the thesis theorizes the audiovisual relation in ethnographic/documentary film more broadly.Through examples from the Russian avant-garde and Surrealism the sync event is connected to a historical genealogy of audiovisual experiments. With James Clifford’s notion ethnographic allegory Unsere Afrikareise becomes as a case in point of experimental ethnography at work. The sync event is comprehended as an ethnographic allegory with the audience at its focal point; a colonial critique performed in the active process of audio-viewing film.

No estado do Rio de Janeiro e no agreste da Paraíba, há centenas de grupos de mulheres voluntárias comprometidas com o resgate de saberes tradicionais sobre cuidados com a saúde por meio de plantas medicinais. Esses grupos produzem preparações medicamentosas, suplementos alimentares, sabonetes e pomadas, vendidos a preço de custo ou doados. No Rio de Janeiro, a Rede Fitovida conta com mais de cem grupos espalhados por diversas regiões, promove eventos culturais e reivindica o reconhecimento de seus saberes como patrimônio imaterial. Já no agreste da Paraíba, as mulheres se organizam em comissões nos sindicatos de trabalhadores rurais do Polo Sindical da Borborema, a fim de promover a melhoria da qualidade de vida dos agricultores familiares locais. Elas promovem oficinas, encontros e visitas mútuas para difundir o uso de plantas medicinais, motivadas não só pela solidariedade, mas pela bandeira de não deixar esse conhecimento ser vencido pelo tempo. A proposta desta pesquisa é comparar as formas de transmissão de conhecimento de tais grupos, evidenciando, por consequência, os resultados decorrentes dessa ação. Para efeito de uma análise aprofundada. / In the metropolitan area of the state of Rio de Janeiro and in the semiarid region of the state of Paraiba, there are hundreds of groups of women who voluntarily commit themselves to rescue traditional knowledge about health care with medicinalplants. Those groupsproducemedicinalpreparations,foodsupplements,soapsand ointments are organized in a network called RedeFitovida that transmits their knowledge through cultural events and claims recognition of such knowledge as their intangible heritage. In Paraiba, women organize themselves into committees within rural workers' unions seeking to improve workshops, meetings and interchange visits aiming to spread the use of medicinal plants. By using an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation, which allows a more careful look on the social phenomenon, this research aims to understand how those groups transmit their traditional knowledge. Besides written ethnography, this research presents seven short ethnographic documentaries. The purpose of this research is to examine and compare the mechanisms used by those groups to transmit their traditional knowledge. By using an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation, the research aims to offer a more careful look

Existem no Rio de Janeiro cento e oito grupos que produzem remédios com ervas medicinais de maneira voluntária. Desde 2000, formam a Rede Fitovida para transmitir conhecimento e debater soluções conjuntas para as dificuldades que enfrentam. É um movimento sem filiação partidária ou religiosa cujas características principais são o trabalho voluntário e a venda de preparações medicamentosas a preço de custo. É composto por mulheres com 50 anos ou mais, de camadas populares, que se reúnem em cozinhas comunitárias. O objetivo da pesquisa é analisar os aspectos culturais práticas curativas e transmissão de conhecimentos  de um grupo que integra a Rede Fitovida. Através da metodologia antropológica e do registro audiovisual, o que possibilita um olhar mais cuidadoso sobre os fenômenos sociais, esta pesquisa visa compreender quem são essas mulheres, o que fazem e por que o fazem. Na medida em que participam de uma rede de trocas, além de cuidarem da saúde de si, dos familiares e vizinhos, as mulheres da Rede Fitovida se constituem como um movimento social reivindicatório  pois demandam o reconhecimento do Estado pelo saber que detêm  e transformam a própria percepção enquanto sujeitos em processo de envelhecimento, resignificando alguns estigmas negativos da velhice. / In Rio de Janeiro State, there are one hundred and eight groups of women who produce medicines with herbs. Since 2000, they are organized in a network called Rede Fitovida to transmit their knowledge and debate how to deal with their common difficulties. Its a social movement without party or religion affiliation composed by old women from popular layers that get together at kitchens of communitarian centers. None of them receive money or any other kind of payment for their work. Their activity is volunteer and non- profitableThe objective of this ethnography is to analyze cultural aspects of a group that belongs to this network, such as healing practices and knowledge transmission. Through an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation  which allows a more careful look on the social phenomena  this research aims to understand who are those women, what they do and why. As part of a network of exchanges, besides taking care of their health and of their neighborhoods, these women create a social movement that demands the recognition for their traditional knowledge by the State. They also change their own perception of individuals in aging process, overcoming the negative elderly stigmas

No estado do Rio de Janeiro e no agreste da Paraíba, há centenas de grupos de mulheres voluntárias comprometidas com o resgate de saberes tradicionais sobre cuidados com a saúde por meio de plantas medicinais. Esses grupos produzem preparações medicamentosas, suplementos alimentares, sabonetes e pomadas, vendidos a preço de custo ou doados. No Rio de Janeiro, a Rede Fitovida conta com mais de cem grupos espalhados por diversas regiões, promove eventos culturais e reivindica o reconhecimento de seus saberes como patrimônio imaterial. Já no agreste da Paraíba, as mulheres se organizam em comissões nos sindicatos de trabalhadores rurais do Polo Sindical da Borborema, a fim de promover a melhoria da qualidade de vida dos agricultores familiares locais. Elas promovem oficinas, encontros e visitas mútuas para difundir o uso de plantas medicinais, motivadas não só pela solidariedade, mas pela bandeira de não deixar esse conhecimento ser vencido pelo tempo. A proposta desta pesquisa é comparar as formas de transmissão de conhecimento de tais grupos, evidenciando, por consequência, os resultados decorrentes dessa ação. Para efeito de uma análise aprofundada. / In the metropolitan area of the state of Rio de Janeiro and in the semiarid region of the state of Paraiba, there are hundreds of groups of women who voluntarily commit themselves to rescue traditional knowledge about health care with medicinalplants. Those groupsproducemedicinalpreparations,foodsupplements,soapsand ointments are organized in a network called RedeFitovida that transmits their knowledge through cultural events and claims recognition of such knowledge as their intangible heritage. In Paraiba, women organize themselves into committees within rural workers' unions seeking to improve workshops, meetings and interchange visits aiming to spread the use of medicinal plants. By using an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation, which allows a more careful look on the social phenomenon, this research aims to understand how those groups transmit their traditional knowledge. Besides written ethnography, this research presents seven short ethnographic documentaries. The purpose of this research is to examine and compare the mechanisms used by those groups to transmit their traditional knowledge. By using an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation, the research aims to offer a more careful look

Existem no Rio de Janeiro cento e oito grupos que produzem remédios com ervas medicinais de maneira voluntária. Desde 2000, formam a Rede Fitovida para transmitir conhecimento e debater soluções conjuntas para as dificuldades que enfrentam. É um movimento sem filiação partidária ou religiosa cujas características principais são o trabalho voluntário e a venda de preparações medicamentosas a preço de custo. É composto por mulheres com 50 anos ou mais, de camadas populares, que se reúnem em cozinhas comunitárias. O objetivo da pesquisa é analisar os aspectos culturais práticas curativas e transmissão de conhecimentos  de um grupo que integra a Rede Fitovida. Através da metodologia antropológica e do registro audiovisual, o que possibilita um olhar mais cuidadoso sobre os fenômenos sociais, esta pesquisa visa compreender quem são essas mulheres, o que fazem e por que o fazem. Na medida em que participam de uma rede de trocas, além de cuidarem da saúde de si, dos familiares e vizinhos, as mulheres da Rede Fitovida se constituem como um movimento social reivindicatório  pois demandam o reconhecimento do Estado pelo saber que detêm  e transformam a própria percepção enquanto sujeitos em processo de envelhecimento, resignificando alguns estigmas negativos da velhice. / In Rio de Janeiro State, there are one hundred and eight groups of women who produce medicines with herbs. Since 2000, they are organized in a network called Rede Fitovida to transmit their knowledge and debate how to deal with their common difficulties. Its a social movement without party or religion affiliation composed by old women from popular layers that get together at kitchens of communitarian centers. None of them receive money or any other kind of payment for their work. Their activity is volunteer and non- profitableThe objective of this ethnography is to analyze cultural aspects of a group that belongs to this network, such as healing practices and knowledge transmission. Through an anthropological methodology and audiovisual documentation  which allows a more careful look on the social phenomena  this research aims to understand who are those women, what they do and why. As part of a network of exchanges, besides taking care of their health and of their neighborhoods, these women create a social movement that demands the recognition for their traditional knowledge by the State. They also change their own perception of individuals in aging process, overcoming the negative elderly stigmas

The thesis deals with the involvement of digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR) with video-capturing capacity in documentary and ethnographic film, more particularly, it examines whether and to what extent these genres were influenced by a trend called DSLR revolution. The main contribution of the work is a qualitative analysis of the testimonies of ten filmmakers, who used DSLR cameras while working on their films during the years 2010-2014. The synthesis of this analysis is conceptualised as a reconstruction of the process of decision-making whether to use or not to use a DSLR camera, considering its benefits (affordability, technical and aesthetic qualities, compactness and simplicity) and its limits (ergonomics, visual artifacts, workflow limits). The reconstruction of this decision-making process is considered in the context of specific experiences of the participants and it focuses on the impact of DSLRs on filming workflow and final product. The final chapter deals with the DSLR revolution as a social trend which was stimulated by the influence of online communities of DSLR filmmakers who actively participated in the course of the revolution. Appendix of the thesis contains a brief description of the film projects of all participants and the model of the structured questionnaire used for data...