Documentary Film and The Politics of Representation

Abstract

This paper deals with the concept of representation in relation to the making of the documentary film. A documentary film does not replicate reality as it is but it does distort, construct and more importantly represent the subjects in accordance with a particular discursive point of view. Within the production of documentary films, the filmmaker makes use of many techniques such as language, photographs, sounds and other methods to convey their message. This paper tends to examine and investigates these tools as they are seen as tools of power. Moreover, these tools tend to produce knowledge about the subjects being filmed. Accordingly, this paper attempts to examine the way documentary film works as a representational system and how documentary produces meaning similar to other form of power. I also attempt to expose the dynamics behind the production of a documentary film and show the different techniques adopted and employed in the documentary making.

Keywords:  Representation, photography, discourse, knowledge, power