How do technologies shape what counts as documentary truth? From early ideas of cinema's exactitude in documenting historical events to the contemporary era of generative AI, this course traces FILMEDIA 130 years of cinema history to understand how the tools filmmakers use fundamentally reshape ideas of authenticity and the role of documentary film. We will examine how technologies are never neutral, but also how their applications can take unexpected turns: sync sound gave rise to both the interview mode and to cinema verite, portable video democratized access and exploded the language of moving images, and right now algorithms seem inevitable in shaping what remains visible. The course will examine the roots of documentary ideas and techniques starting from early cinema through the establishment of documentary as an institutional form, to direct cinema's mythology, DV intimacies, machine vision, and deepfakes. Students will read theoretical texts, watch and discuss films, and make video essays as their primary mode of analysis, learning to think through form as critical practice. This course has no prerequisites and no previous filmmaking experience is required, but a willingness to dive deep into the documentary form is essential.
3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
How do technologies shape what counts as documentary truth? From early ideas of cinema's exactitude in documenting historical events to the contemporary era of generative AI, this course traces 130 years of cinema history to understand how the tools filmmakers use fundamentally reshape ideas of authenticity and the role of documentary film. We will examine how technologies are never neutral, but also how their applications can take unexpected turns: sync sound gave rise to both the interview mode and to cinema verite, portable video democratized access and exploded the language of moving images, and right now algorithms seem inevitable in shaping what remains visible. The course will examine the roots of documentary ideas and techniques starting from early cinema through the establishment of documentary as an institutional form, to direct cinema's mythology, DV intimacies, machine vision, and deepfakes. Students will read theoretical texts, watch and discuss films, and make video essays as their primary mode of analysis, learning to think through form as critical practice. This course has no prerequisites and no previous filmmaking experience is required, but a willingness to dive deep into the documentary form is essential.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.