Books

RIP Norman Mailer

November 12th, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • 1 comment • Related Posts • Tags

Dance as though no one is watching you,
Love as though you have never been hurt before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Live as though heaven is on earth.
Source Unknown

The Life of Norman Mailer
And if you’ve never read “Armies of the Night,” to please do yourself a favor. It is at once about what is best and worst in America.

Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction

November 1st, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

Pat Aufderheide, my mentor, friend and former boss, has recently released a new book! Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction “takes readers along the diverse paths of documentary history and charts the lively, often fierce debates among and scholars about the best ways to represent reality and to tell the truths worth telling.” You can read the table of contents and some chapter intros on the Center for Social Media website. “Drawing on the author’s four decades of experience as a film scholar and critic, this book is the perfect introduction not just for teachers and students but also for all thoughtful filmgoers and for those who aspire to make documentaries themselves.”

Visible Evidence

April 5th, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • 2 comments • Related Posts • Tags

I did an independent study in documentary film as an undergraduate, and my professor allowed me to choose my textbook. I chose Collecting Visible Evidence edited by Jane Gaines and Michael Renov. Well, neither my professor nor I were quite sure what to do with that book. The essays are dense, to say the least, and unfortunately I haven’t yet made it to a Visible Evidence conference to see if an in-person interaction with the folks who write these essays would prove more fruitful. But for theorizing documentary, this is were its at.

I just read via H-Film that Visible Evidence is launching a listserv that “aims to continue to grow the community by providing a forum on documentary images, sounds, and situations in film, television, on the internet, in journals, in museums, in galleries, and on billboards (to name just a few).” I’m not sure if anyone who reads this blog keeps their eye on the academic film community, but there is a lot of great stuff going on at conferences and in film writing, outside of festivals and the larger marketplace. If you wish to join the listserv, go here for directions.

Support WITNESS on ebay

December 7th, 2006 • Agnes Varnum • 2 comments • Related Posts • Tags

At the risk of overposting today, I want to ask friends and colleagues to please blog/email/shout from the rooftops that WITNESS, the amazing human rights organization using video to prompt social change, is holding a fundraising auction on ebay. The items up for bidding are expensive so this is for those deep-pocketed music and art aficianados who are looking for that unique gift to give this holiday season. The auctions end on Monday, so don’t put it off.

For those without a need or budget for the big-ticket items, and since I’m on the topic of supporting this organization, WITNESS has an online store where you can pick up many of the videos they have produced. And for the social justice videographer or educator, WITNESS has produced the first and only of its kind that I know of, guide to making and using video in advocacy - Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism ($24.95). It is edited by the top in the field: Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni, and Thomas Harding.

Some Books to Remember

October 6th, 2006 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

Yes, I spend a good portion of my life in front of the tube and screen, but my love is actually stories. To that end, I’ve done pretty well on a summer reading list (thank goodness for Borders buy 2 get 1 free!). I won’t review them all but here’s the list just in case anyone is interested or wants to discuss;-)

The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Wicked by Gregory Macuire
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (soon to be a movie, I believe)
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (would be a great movie!)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
Transmission by Hari Kunzru

Yet on my list:

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday (I saw the restored print of the film at NMAI and have wanted to read the book)
Four Spirits by Sara Jeter Naslun (author of my fav book Ahab’s Wife)

Not too shabby considering all of the movies I was watching for work!

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