Wintersemester 2025/26

Protagonist:innen im Dokumentarfilm

Dozent*in/Dozenten*innen: Frauke Ihnen und Maya Klar

Beteiligte externe Partner bzw. Firmen: Keine

Studiengang/Studiengänge: Freies Studium, DMK

Kurssprache : Englisch

Zeit & Ort: Dienstags, ab 14.10.2025, 11:00 – 13:00 Uhr

Offen für: alle Studierende

Maximale Teilnehmerzahl: 20

Leistungspunkte: 2 SWS: 2 LP

Anmeldung: f.ihnen-beilhack@filmuniversitaet.de, maya.klar@filmuniversitaet.de, bis 10.10.2025

Beschreibung: 

Documentary protagonists are never simply “found” in the world — they are shaped, framed, and narrated into being. Every nonfiction character is a construction that evokes emotional and affective responses, conveying multiple layers of meaning through body, space, relationships, narrative form, and a wide range of cinematic techniques. This process is never neutral: it involves a lengthy decision-making process on the part of the filmmaker, while the protagonists themselves oscillate between being lived individuals and cinematic figures.

Across four modules, the course explores different aspects of characters in documentaries. We begin by studying how nonfictional figures are constructed through narrative, performance, and cinematic form, creating various levels of empathy and authenticity. We then consider the range of autobiography and ethnography, reflecting on how the filmmaker’s own presence shifts the balance of representation between the ‘self’ and the ‘other.’ From there, attention turns to the ethical and economic dimensions of portraying real people, questioning how power, intention, and responsibility are expressed and negotiated — especially in extreme cases such as depicting antagonists or individuals in vulnerable situations. Finally, we explore hybrid characters, where the boundaries of representation give rise to alternative strategies such as reenactments, animation, digital proxies, and the inclusion of fictional elements.

We will draw on various nonfiction examples and diverse academic approaches, from the foundational scholarly texts on the documentary film by Bill Nichols, Carl Plantinga, and Michael Renov; through thinkers from other disciplines such as anthropology, history, visual culture, philosophy, and political studies; to interviews and texts by filmmakers, and reviews published about their films. The course invites students to approach documentary portrayal critically and skeptically, while also appreciating the creative strategies filmmakers have developed to address its inherent challenges.

*The course is essentially theoretical, but depending on students’ desires and needs, we can offer time for showcasing and discussing ongoing projects.

Voraussetzung: Keine