I felt the urge to also name a few of my
favorites - some have already been mentioned. But
then I have lost track and I suddenly do not
know, if they really about surveillance or
paranoia, such as Three days of the Condor, which
has some 70s surveillance in it, but not to the
extend as the Conversation has. Condor is,
besides having a stunning Fay Dunaway acting -
about paranoia. It is more like the serious 70s
forrunner of the absurd and hysterical "Burn
after reading" - with a less stunning, but
fantastically idiotic Brad Pitt.. I am getting
carried away here... sorry.
So, do pursue this further we should get a
systematic in this - after all this is for the
website - and the better we make it, the better
it will be of use. Someone needs to sit down and
categorize the films. I have the feeling that
surveillance alone will not be enough as a
category, and just the appearance of a camera
does not alone make a film a film about
surveillance.
Then, does it have to be "about" surveillance or
what actually is it that is transported in the
movies. Is paranoia a related subject, are movies
about secret services relevant films?? I second
Dietmar in his arguments.
This is a start - who will help to proceed?
best wishes
nilz
At 23:44 Uhr +0100 04.11.2009, Dietmar Kammerer wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>being a cultural studies scholar and a film
>critic, I'm of course glad to find that there
>are so many among you that seem to be interested
>in cultural representations of surveillance. The
>field is vast and every day I find new examples
>for "surveillance films", ranging from Reality
>TV (Ed TV, Truman Show, Halloween: Resurrection,
>My Little Eye etc.) over paranoia movies (The
>Conversation) to high-tech-special effects
>vehicles (Enemy of the State, Eagly Eye, Echelon
>Conspiracy), etc.
>
>But I still feel the need to express my doubts
>against the sheer compilation of film titles.
>Just to add indiscriminately surveillance film
>after film on a list gives us in - my view -
>little, if any insight into the working of
>surveillance within our culture. What is needed
>are ways to describe and analyze these filmic
>images in a way that proves fruitful for the
>discussion of surveillance and control in
>contemporary (or historic) society. I.e., a
>handful of exemplary films can tell us more than
>a list of hundred films.
>
>By the way, the book that has most film titles
>related to surveillance in cinema probably is:
>Norman Denzin, The Cinematic Society: The
>Voyeur's Gaze. For the reasons mentioned above,
>I'm sceptical if Denzin gives us any real
>insight, apart from the sheer volume of examples
>he has collected.
>
>All of this notwithstanding, I'd like to add another film:
>"Citizen Cam" by Jerome Scemla, a fake
>documentary / mockumentary on surveillance.
>You'll find it here at full length:
>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1338861782113210207#
>
>
>dietmar
>
>
>David Murakami Wood schrieb:
>>A few that haven't been mentioned yet, probably
>>because they hover at the edges of being about
>>either conspiracy and paranoia, or reality TV,
>>rather than surveillance:
>>
>>Ed TV (came out around the same time as The
>>Truman Show and has similar themes)
>>
>>Series 7: The Contenders (the funniest film about reality TV, like... ever)
>>
>>The Conversation and Blow-Up are just as much
>>about paranoia as surveillance (an
>>under-explored link - see David Harper's
>>excellent piece on Surveillance and Paranoia in
>>S&S from last year and there will be another
>>article on the same theme in the forthcoming
>>open issue). In that light, why not include
>>things like All the President's Men and The
>>Parrallax View?
>>
>>They Live (John Carpenter's gonzo 'none of it's
>>real' movie, in whichaliens are secretly ruling
>>the world and watching everything we do,
>>waybefore The Matrix)
>>
>>Or indeed, The Matrix and Dark City?
>>
>>And do you include espionage films? After all,
>>there are plenty of spy thrillers that involve
>>strong surveillance elements.
>>
>>David.
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Rodrigo Firmino <[log in to unmask]>
>>Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 14:25
>>Subject: Re: Your favourite surveillance films?
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> > Kirstie,
>> >
>> > Would mind making your compilation available to everyone in the
>> > list? I am
>> > very interested too.
>> > And here is another one:
>> > Prison Images by Haroun Farouki - http://www.farocki-film.de
>> > "A film composed of images from prisons. Quotes from
>> > fiction films and
>> > documentaries as well as footage from surveillance
>> > cameras. A look at the
>> > new control technologies, at personal identification
>> > devices, electronic
>> > ankle bracelets, electronic tracking devices. The cinema has
>> > always been
>> > attracted to prisons. Today's prisons are full of video surveillance
>> > cameras. These images are unedited and monotonous; as
>> > neither time nor
>> > space is compressed, they are particularly well-suited to
>> > conveying the
>> > state of inactivity into which prisoners are placed as a
>> > punitive measure.
>> > The surveillance cameras show the norm and reckon with
>> > deviations from it.
>> > Clips from films by Genet and Bresson. Here the prison
>> > appears as a site of
>> > sexual infraction, a site where human beings must create
>> > themselves as
>> > people and as a workers. In Un Chant d'amour
>>by Jean > Genet, the guard looks
>> > in on inmates in their cells and sees them
>>masturbating. > The inmates are
>> > aware that they are being watched and thus become
>> > performers in a peep
>> > show. The protagonist in Bresson's Un Condamné à mort s'est
>> > échappé turns
>> > the objects of imprisonment into the tools of his escape. These topoi
>> > appear in many prison films. In newer prisons, in contrast,
>> > contemporaryvideo surveillance technology aims at
>> > demystification. (Harun Farocki)"
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Rodrigo.
>> >
>> >
>> > On 04/11/09 14:14, "K.S.Ball" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hello everyone
>> > > I1m trying to compile a list of surveillance films for the SSN
>> > website (among
>> > > other things).
>> > > So, what are your favourite surveillance films? ‘The Lives of
>> > Others1 wins
>> > > hands down for me! Enemy of the State and The Matrix (the
>> > first one) are
>> > > Hollywood1s best contributionsSbut anyone who knows me will
>> > realize that film
>> > > isn1t my strong point.
>> > > Apols if this has been done before on the list but I had a
>> > quick search in our
>> > > archives and couldn1t find anything. If you have a favourite
>> > documentary (e.g.
>> > > Suspect Nation, for example) then please mention that too.
>> > > Thanks a lot
>> > > Kirstie
>> > > > > Dr Kirstie S Ball
>> > > Director of Research Degrees &
>> > > Senior Lecturer in Organization Studies
>> > > Open University Business School
>> > > Walton Hall
>> > > Milton Keynes
>> > > MK7 6AA
>> > > United Kingdom
>> > > Dir 01908 655669
>> > > Fax 01908 655898
>> > > Research page: http://www7.open.ac.uk/oubs/research/staff-
>> > detail.asp?id=436> Biography:http://www.open.ac.uk/oubs/people-
>> > and-partners/people-profile.php?st
>> > > aff_id=436
>> > > Trustee and director, Surveillance Studies Network:
>> > > www.surveillance-studies.net <http://www.surveillance-studies.net
>> > > <http://www.surveillance-studies.net/> >
>> > > Founding co-editor, Surveillance and Society: www.surveillance-
>> > and-society.org
>> > > <http://www.surveillance-and-society.org
>> > > <http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/> >
>> > > > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC
>> > 000391), an exempt
>> > > charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in
>> > Scotland (SC 038302).
>> > > **************************************************** This is a
>> > message from
>> > > the SURVEILLANCE listserv for research and teaching in
>> > surveillance studies.
>> > > To unsubscribe, please send the following message to : UNSUBSCRIBE
>> > > SURVEILLANCE For further help, please visit:
>> > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help>
>> > ****************************************************
>> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> > --
>> > Rodrigo J. Firmino
>> > Professor em Gestão Urbana, Arquitetura e Urbanismo
>> > > Programa de Pós-graduação em Gestão Urbana - PPGTU
>> > Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná - PUCPR
>> > Av. Imaculada Conceição, 1155 - Prado Velho
>> > Parque Tecnológico, Bloco 3, 2o Andar
>> > CEP 80215901, Curitiba - PR
>> > Tel.: +55 41 3271-2623
>> > > www.twitter.com/rodrigo_firmino
>> > www.pucpr.br/ppgtu | www.twitter.com/ppgtu
>> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> > --
>> >
>> >
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>> >
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>Dr David Murakami Wood
>>Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Surveillance Studies | Associate Professor
>>Surveillance Studies Centre | Department of
>>Sociology | Queen's University, Ontario
>>e-mail: [log in to unmask] | blog: http://ubisurv.wordpress.com
>>
>>Managing Editor | Surveillance & Society |
>>http://www.surveillance-and-society.org
>>
>>Trustee | Surveillance Studies Network | http://www.surveillance-studies.net
>>
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>
>
>--
>
>/ Dietmar Kammerer Lebuser Str. 17 10243 Berlin
>/ tel +49/30/40693931 mobil +49/179/5306683
>
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Universität Hamburg
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