Humanities & Social Sciences
January 2025
Cinematic Ethnography
Experiencing cultures through some audiovisual practices
by Laurent Van Lancker
Cinematic ethnography proposes an interdisciplinary approach to theories and practices at the intersection of art, anthropology and cinema. The book proposes a model of collective aesthetics and collaborative filmmaking, going beyond the straightforward representation of reality that is so prevalent in visual anthropology and film studies. This book explores the practices of filmmakers who utilise sensory collaborative approaches to convey diversity of knowledge. It affirms that the more we allow cinema to infuse audio-visual transmissions of reality, the more we might be able to experience the evoked reality. The book proposes a dialogic journey, inviting the reader to pause during the reading of the book to watch some of the author's films, which exemplify the discussed theories and practices. This innovative work from a practising filmmaker and visual anthropologist invites us to rethink how our cinematic practices, rather than aiming at factual representation and description, might instead contribute to a collaborative understanding of intercultural dialogue and shared knowledge. For those interested in visual anthropology, documentary film or broader questions about the nature of art and representation, Cinematic ethnography is a thought-provoking invitation to see - and tell - things differently.
