'i'-Sight: First-Person Cinema

The 'I' is the moment of failure in every
narrative effort to give an account of oneself. -
Judith Butler

We now see subjectivities and truths as plural not
only among subjects, but within a given subject,
the self that is divided, and even in part unknown
to itself. - Maureen Turim


Who and what is the "I" that claims to see and
speak through constructed images in first-person
films? Is "I" one or multiple, an authentic
'performance' or a simulated projection, an
entrenched monologue or an active dialogue? Is
this "I" best expressed literally or figuratively;
verbally or visually; through exposition or
through lyrical association and juxtaposition?

This course examines the theory and practice of
first-person filmmaking in both historical and
contemporary practice. Beginning with a
theoretical examination of the first-person
filmmaking that flourished starting in the late
1960s (mostly white and male) and was reignited by
women and minority makers the 1980s and '90s, the
latter half of the course will focus on films from
2010s and 20s emerging from this tradition. We
will examine a variety of films in which the
filmmaker leaves or interrogates their corporeal
trace on the medium, whether through embodied
presence, personified voice, or gestural camera
movements. First-person films raise a number of
issues about 'voice' in film; about the nature and
performance of 'self;' about the desire to be seen
and to authentically see; and about the power and
politics of representation. From the naïve to the
self-reflexive or strategic "I," and with poetic
or political intention, first-person cinema offers
a range of affective potential and epistemological
complexity. Acknowledging the position from which
they speak, or interrogating conventional
boundaries between private and public,
first-person filmmakers frequently reflect on the
filmmaking process to explore strategies of
representation and to acknowledge the labor that
comprises their process.

We will look at a broad selection of work that is
geographically, politically, ethnically and
gender-diverse. Students will be responsible for
researching the work of given filmmakers and
presenting to the class so as to expand our range
over the fourteen weeks of the semester.
Filmmakers examined include Jon Jost, Kazuo Hara,
Marlon Riggs, Marlon Fuentes, Marilu Mallet, and
well as many working in the short form. Recent
films of the last five years include work by
Khalik Allah, Carolina Moscosa, Madsen Minax,
Jason Lord, and Jean-Baptiste de Laubier
(contemporary filmmakers may shift depending on
class interests and knowledge).