'In recent months Studies in Documentary Film has been inundated with a plethora of rigorous, inventive and wide-ranging approaches to the documentary film in all its forms. Alongside the attention to the latest theoretical approaches and the ever-evolving multifarious forms we have always insisted upon the historical dimension to documentary film studies. In this issue we have maintained this variety of approaches with the inclusion of Jillian Smith’s rereading of Frederick Wiseman’s Titicut Follies (1968). Rather than imposing the ideas of Walter Benjamin on to the film, Smith works with the film and Benjamin’s ideas to propose a new appreciation of Wiseman’s film as an example of the historical fragment and, in doing this, opens the work for documentary film theory more readily. Similarly, James Leggott and Tobias Hochscherf reinvigorate recent scholarship on the Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) by introducing the relationship struck between the Amber Film Collective and DEFA in the 1980s as an historical moment which contributes to the ongoing writing of documentary film history. Saër Maty Bâ in his “Visualizing rhythm, transforming relationship: jazz and Seven Songs for Malcolm X” considers what John Akonfrah’s work has to contribute to the idea of black aesthetics. Due to some communications and administrative errors Studies in Documentary Film published “Problematizing (black) documentary aesthetics: John Akomfrah’s use of intertextuality in Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) in SDF 1.3. an outmoded version of “Visualizing rhythm”. We apologise to Saër Maty Bâ and our readers for this oversight and hope that “Visualizing rhythm” represents the full force of Saër’s research.' (Editorial introduction)
'This interview with film-makers Carolyn Strachan and Allesandro Cavadini focuses on their collaboration with the Borroloola Aboriginal community in the making of Two Laws (1981). They explain why they chose to ‘surrender’ directorial control to the community and how this action led to the unique form and style of this documentary. The detailed and frank discussion of the complex processes of collaboration, what Marcia Langton once called the‘actual dialogue’ of cross-cultural film production, deepens our appreciation of this unique group-authored film. It also allows us to consider how film in general can function meaningfully as a site of cross-cultural exchange.' (Introduction)
'In this commentary, Faye Ginsburg contextualizes the importance of the film, Two Laws, noting that its emergence in the world of documentary cinema constituted a paradigm shift, drawing upon Thomas Kuhn's identification of this process within models of scientific progress. She discusses its impact by suggesting its significance as paralleling that of Jean Rouch in the world of ethnographic cinema and she outlines its influence on the emergence of indigenous media in central Australia in the 1980s.' (Publication abstract)
'This article examines the ways in which the documentary film Two Laws deploys a variety of strategies to represent the historical claim to land made in the early 1980s by the Borroloola people of Australia's Northern Territory. Cross-cultural collaboration between the indigenous people of Borroloola and two non-indigenous film-makers produced a film that combines a vigorous reflexivity with dramatic re-enactment and oral testimony. Importantly, the presentation of evidence in support of the land claim is achieved via a form communally devised by the Borroloola people based on their cultural needs and contingent on Borroloola social structure. In this way the so-called documentary truth claim and indigenous land claim intersect in Two Laws: for the Borroloola people, the filmic evidentiary truth claim functions in a direct way in support of their legal claim to their lands.' (Publication abstract)
These notes reflect on the unreserved collaborative essence of Kanymarda Yuwa/Two Laws (Cavadini and Strachlan, 1981). Its re-release draws us once again back to the core of the story's existence—‘the people of Borroloola’. It fundamentally re-asserts some of the messages of Borroloola Elders and community and highlights the continuing impacts of a more sophisticated colonial agenda.' (Publication abstract)
'This article is an edited transcript of an unrehearsed audio dialog between Professor Bill Nichols and filmmaker Jill Godmilow on the film, Two Laws. The dialogue provides the voice-over commentary on the DVD release of the film. It is suggested that the film might be seen as a gesture of decolonization and the authors draw upon the history of ethnographic and documentary film to identify the particular features and innovations which, they argue, the film achieves. The authors work through the films four sections, (Police Times, Welfare Times, The Struggle for Our Land, Living With Two Laws), providing commentary on particular shots, framing etc and concluding, in Nichols' words, that ‘the resolution to the film…is in the form of resolve…namely the peoples’ resolve to move forward and to fight to retain access and rights to their traditional lands.'' (Publication abstract)
'The title of this book refers to the shimmering effect produced in the distinctive art forms of the Aboriginal clans (Yolngu) of north-eastern Arnhem Land in Australia. In bark and rock painting, for example, fine cross-hatching designs create a unique pulsating sensation of light and movement, which has, for some time now, attracted intense interest from both anthropologists and the international art world. This critical ethnography of the place of media in the Yolngu community in Gapuwiyak explores how media technologies such as video are being adopted as a new means of producing this shimmering effect and examines the significance of this effect in Yolgnu culture and identity. The aim of the book’s in-depth analysis of this new media practice is to guide non-Aboriginal readers towards an understanding and appreciation of Indigenous media in Yolngu terms.' (Introduction)
