Based on the premise that only in being accessible can the film reach its potential for history making, the contribution of the film archive to a particular film historical narrative is fragmented: the films that are extant are not necessarily available and the ones that are available are not necessarily publicly accessible. The contention of the thesis is that ‘doing’ film history in the context of the film archive should always be seen in light of an ever increasingly narrowing fragmentation of accessible material that takes place in the film archive. What is new about the contribution of this thesis is not that the film archive can be seen simultaneously as a result of a particular historical narrative as well as contributing to one, but that this debate is put in the context of copyright as a determining factor of why the accessible part of the film archive is only a partial picture. To this end, the thesis proposes a reorganisation of existing categories of analysis in the form of a cross-section of the film archive based on copyright ownership plotted against the material’s ‘availability’. By such practices as using a risk-managed approach to copyright clearance for archival digitisation projects, the film archive can be seen to act as a mediator between copyright and film historiography. On the one hand, the film archive is subjected to copyright law, against the constraints of which it can be seen to resist. On the other hand, the archive makes productive use of copyright in its involvement in the interplay between the ownership of the physical objects and the ability to control the subsequent use and dissemination of those objects. Some of these resistant and productive practices, such as found footage filmmaking as a historiographic intervention and providing access to public domain material, are analysed in the context of some of the digital access practices of EYE Film Institute Netherlands between 2002-2005, in which the film archive can be seen to actively shape access to its film archival holdings as well as a particular potential for film history writing.

Debates concerning the veracity, ethics and politics of the documentary form circle endlessly around the function of those who participate in it, and the meaning attributed to their participation. Great significance is attached to the way that documentary filmmakers do or do not participate in the world they seek to represent, just as great significance is attached to those subjects whose participation extends beyond playing the part of eyewitness or expert, such that they become part of the very filmmaking process itself. This Ph.D. explores the interface between documentary practice and participatory culture by looking at how their practices, discursive fields and histories intersect, but also by looking at how participating in one might mean participating in the other. In short, the research is an examination of participatory culture through the lens of documentary practice and documentary criticism. In the process, however, this examination of participatory culture will in turn shed light on documentary thinking, especially the meaning and function of ‘the participant’ in contemporary documentary practice. A number of ways of conceiving of participation in documentary practice are discussed in this research, but one of the ideas that gives purpose to that investigation is the notion that the participant in contemporary documentary practice is someone who belongs to a participatory culture in particular. Not only does this mean that those subjects who play a part in a documentary are already informed by their engagement with a range of everyday media practices before the documentary apparatus arrives, the audience for such films are similarly informed and engaged. This audience have their own expectations about how they should be addressed by media producers in general, a fact that feeds back into their expectations about participatory approaches to documentary practice too. It is the ambition of this research to get closer to understanding the relationship between participants in the audience, in documentary and ancillary media texts, as well as behind the camera, and to think about how these relationships constitute a context for the production and reception of documentary films, but also how this context might provide a model for thinking about participatory culture itself. One way that documentary practice and participatory culture converge in this research is in the kind of participatory documentary that I call the ‘Camera Movie’, a narrow mode of documentary filmmaking that appeals directly to contemporary audiences’ desires for innovation and participation, something that is achieved in this case by giving documentary subjects control of the camera. If there is a certain inevitability about this research having to contend with the notion of the ‘participatory documentary’, the ‘participatory camera’ also emerges strongly in this context, especially as a conduit between producer and consumer. Making up the creative component of this research are two documentaries about the reality television event Band In A Bubble, and participatory media practices more broadly. The single-screen film, Hubbub , gives form to the collective intelligence and polyphonous voice of contemporary audiences who must be addressed and solicited in increasingly innovative ways. One More Like That is a split-screen, DVD-Video with alternate audio channels selected by a user who thereby chooses who listens and who speaks in the ongoing conversation between media producers and media consumers. It should be clear from the description above that my own practice does not extend to highly interactive, multi-authored or web-enabled practices, nor the distributed practices one might associate with social media and online collaboration. Mine is fundamentally a single authored, documentary video practice that seeks to analyse and represent participatory culture on screen, and for this reason the Ph.D. refrains from a sustained discussion of the kinds of collaborative practices listed above. This is not to say that such practices don’t also represent an important intersection of documentary practice and participatory culture, they simply represent a different point of intersection. Being practice-led, this research takes its procedural cues from the nature of the practice itself, and sketches parameters that are most enabling of the idea that the practice sets the terms of its own investigation.

Mémoire en recherche-création / Le présent mémoire s’intéresse aux films réalisés par les religieuses au Québec. Depuis les années 1930, celles-ci ont produit de nombreux films amateurs, qui n’ont toutefois suscité que très peu d’intérêt culturel ou académique. Un état de la recherche est d’abord effectué, s’appuyant principalement sur les travaux de l’historienne Jocelyne Denault, la première (et la seule) à avoir écrit sur ce corpus jusqu’à ce jour. Une incursion est proposée dans la production cinématographique de trois communautés localisées à Montréal. Ce faisant, nous associons les différents objets à trois catégories mieux établies : le cinéma utilitaire, le film de famille et le film de réemploi. L’étude de cas du film Le Livre d’or (Sœurs Missionnaires de l’Immaculée-Conception 1964) nous permet de s’intéresser à des films hybrides, mêlant ces trois catégories. Nous nous intéressons ensuite à la valeur documentaire des réalisations des religieuses, s’appuyant principalement sur l’exemple de Chez nous (Barrette s.g.m. 1961) et les documents corollaires à sa production. Ayant démontré la valeur historique et patrimoniale des films faits par les sœurs, nous procédons à une présentation de l’état actuel de leur archivage. Partant du constat que ces films sont plus menacés que jamais, autant par l’oubli que par la destruction, nous considérons deux procédés de mise en valeur possibles et imaginons les différentes possibilités quant à leur concrétisation : la mise en exposition et le film de réemploi. Nous concluons par un pressant appel à l’action afin de sauvegarder et de mettre au jour ces éléments précieux de la mémoire collective. / This thesis focuses on films made by religious sisters in Quebec. Since the 1930s, women religious communities have produced numerous amateur films, which have received practically no critical or academic attention. This essay begins with a survey of past and ongoing research, based mainly on the work of historian Jocelyne Denault, the first (and only) person to have written on this subject to date. An incursion is then proposed into the cinematographic productions of three communities located in Montreal. In doing so, we link the various objects under study to three more established categories: utilitarian cinema, the home movie, and the compilation or found footage film.The case study of the film Le Livre d'or (Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception 1964) allows us to look at hybrid films, mixing these three categories. We then turn our attention to the documentary value of the nuns' productions, relying mainly on the example of Chez nous (Barrette s.g.m. 1961) and the documents corollary to its production. Having demonstrated the historical and patrimonial value of the films made by the sisters, we proceed to a presentation of the current status of their preservation. Starting with the observation that these films are more threatened than ever, as much by oversight as by destruction, we consider two possible processes of enhancement and envision the different ways in which they could be put into practice: exhibitions and audiovisual reuse. We conclude with an urgent call for action to safeguard and bring to light these precious elements of collective memory.