PLATFORMAVIDEO9

This section is dedicated to ethnographic documentary or better say to films created in anthropology. It aims at short films, up to 20 minutes, made in universities all around the world, by students of Social Anthropology and in particular during postgraduate studies by film or visual anthropology students. The aim is to discuss the innovations provided and the restrictions posed to students of ethnographic film making (i.e. time, production, experimentation etc).

Despite the  fact that words such as “image’’ and “visual” can be found in the science of social anthropology, the term ‘’visual anthropology’’ has not (and still is not) evaluated accordingly. Although, the role of visual material (static or/and moving picture) has been significant, it is a fact that skepticism and fear towards experimentations in the abilities of the image, delayed the establishment of what is called, visual anthropology.

Technological changes along with the facilities incosts and access to creative means, contributed to the rise of a number of films with ethnographic references or anthropological interest. Thus, the last thirty years,  a change has been noticed as to the use of image in anthropology and in other social studies.
 
In this context, the change is taking place and concerns the introduction in many Universities of studies for Visual, the Object and Anthropology, namely what is called Documentary, Ethnographic Documentary or even better Anthropological Documentary.