(cont'd)
I think the 'reflexivity' in such cases, taken to the extreme, goes further
than a reflection on the filmmaker's presence at the filming, but actually
to the myriad limitations of that presence -- the ultimate of these being
their very mortality perhaps. And if this dimension can be touched upon in
the film, it reflects the way that all documentaries, whether about
something NOW, or THEN, etc., are sort of eulogistic by nature of the
process and perhaps by its root in photography. So as the audience we
reflect on how we read such a thing, how we authorize it, etc. I'm thinking
of Sontag's comments on how we bestow authority upon 'old photographs'.
Sorry that's a bit of a ramble, maybe I'll recompose it again later.
LMN.
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Lu Nelson
F Eleven Films Ltd.
26 - 485 West 14th Ave
Vancouver V5Y 1X5
ph (604) 779 2510
fax (604) 779 2515
"Hourglass/Jeff Wall":
http://www.truewestfilms.com/jeffwall/index.html
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