[Frameworks] Experimental Documentary

[Kathryn MacKay]

kathrynkatemackay at gmail.com

On 2010-07-19, at 12:20 AM, Fred Camper <f at fredcamper.com> wrote:

> "The films you have just seen are not "experimental." I made some
> experiments in the process of working on them, and I left those
> experiments back in the editing room. What you have seen are finished
> films."
>
> I don't know if I ever heard a filmmaker say that exactly, but I think
> it was the sentiments of many filmmakers starting in the 1960s.
>
> As I argued in an article in the 20th anniversary issue of "Millennium
> Film Journal," published in 1987, the phrase "experimental film" no
> longer connotes, in its most common usage, a film that is new,
> different, pushes the boundaries, etc. "Experimental film" is now,
> instead, a genre. Scratching on film, painting on film, lack of an
> obvious linear narrative, and a number of other features (though not
> necessarily all of them) make a film "experimental."
>
> This in itself is neither a good nor bad thing, in my view, as long as
> the filmmaker who is scratching on film understands she or he is
> working in a tradition, and is aware of the past, and believes she is
> adding something.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
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