A popular practice-led course suited to documentary filmmakers, film academics and non-fiction enthusiasts looking to further their approach and understanding of non-fiction cinema and its theoretical applications.

Course Description

Indicative Course Outline

Session 1: Soviet Montage and Poetic Documentary

• Documentary elements·       
• Soviet montage and conceptual watching·       
• The poetic documentary

Session 2: Continuity and Observational Documentary·       

• Spatial and emotional impact of shot sizes·       
• The immersive actuality of continuity·       
• The observational documentary.

Session 3: Interviews and Participatory Documentary

• Characterisation through interviews
• The function of cutaways
• The participatory documentary

Session 4: Defamiliarisation and Reflexive Documentary

• Brecht and defamiliarising the audience
• The reflexive documentary
• The hybrid documentary

Session 5: Narrative and Point-of-View

• Narrative structure: story and plot
• Narrative point-of-view
• Creating empathy for characters

Session 6: Comedy Documentary

• Documentary comedy and distantiation
• Parody and mockumentaries
• The investigative documentary comedy

Session 7: Materialities: Objects and Spaces

• The mediation of space and time
• Everyday materialities
• Memory as trace and event

Session 8: Essay Film

• Portrait essay
• Travel essay
• Diary essay
• Editorial essay
• Refractive essay

Session 9: The Other and Performative Documentary

• Representing the Other
• Embodied knowledge
• The performative documentary

Session 10: Stigma and Stereotypes

• Stereotypes and social stigma
• Methods for de-stigmatising communities
• Case study: undoing disability stereotypes

 

Tuesday evenings, 6:30 PM – 21:00 13^th January - 17^th March 2026

 

If you have any enquiries regarding this course, please contact shortcourses@opencitylondon.com

 

Course Costs:

For each course, we offer three rates: General, Students/Concessions, and UCL Students. 

For a full breakdown of our costs/concessions, please reach our Terms and Conditions:

https://opencitylondon.com/school/terms-and-conditions/