Bai D. —
Chinese autobiographical documentaries: toward an ethics of filming
// Philosophy and Culture. – 2024. – ¹ 7.
– P. 31 - 42.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2024.7.71316
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/fkmag/article_71316.html
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Abstract: The article is devoted to autobiographical documentaries on the topic of self-therapy, which have been popular in China in the last three years. Using the example of the films "Small Talk" and "Gather before the Jump", the article analyzes how the characters in films with the help of dialogues build their image as "victims of family relations" and completing the plot of self-healing. The author notes that the directors of such films are often too immersed in their own traumatic experiences, to the point that they use the camera as a tool to defend their personal position, and not as a path to self-awareness. They overlook the influence of the passage of time on the validity of traumatic memories and do not monitor equality when communicating with their parents. As a result of the directors' cognitive biases, the representation of traumatic experiences in films is not completely objective. Based on the theory of cognitive psychology and the theory of film psychoanalysis, the author of the article concludes that the discussion of the author's subjectivity should be extended to the subjectivity of his cognitive structure, and not to the personalization of artistic expression. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption that, although such documentaries with a subjective perspective can help the director express his inner feelings, in fact, the arguments given in the author in defense of his personal position. This does not create a general picture of the event; for example, during a film screening in a group, the subjective position of the author forms a unanimous negative attitude among the audience towards the issue of childhood trauma. The article discusses performance, subjectivity and ethical issues that take place in such films. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of this "video practice, which is part of the sphere of everyday life", which distinguish it from other non—functional narrative practices. The article reveals the methods of documentary film, which allow to bridge the gap between the representation of the film and the actual reality.
Bai D. —
The development of self-therapeutic documentary films in China
// Man and Culture. – 2024. – ¹ 4.
– P. 76 - 87.
DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2024.4.71035
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/ca/article_71035.html
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Abstract: This article is devoted to the study of the development of self-therapeutic documentaries in China since 2000. The object of the study is a Chinese documentary about self-therapy. The subject of the research are documentaries about self-therapy in the early 2000s: "More than One is unhappy" (2000), "Home Videotape" (2001), "Nightingale is not the only Voice" (2001), as well as films that appeared after 2016: "Small Talk" (2016), "Minding the Gap" (2017) and "The Lovely Widow and Her Annoying Son" (2019). Special attention is paid to self-therapeutic documentaries presented at the Mother Film Festival and the documentary masterclass FamilyLens, created in China in 2022. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the causes of its occurrence, the definition of the genre and the form of the film text. To understand the trajectory of development of Chinese documentaries about self-therapy, as well as the causes and characteristics of each period, this study uses an integrated approach using content analysis and text analysis, as well as psychoanalytic theory to explain the filming of documentaries about self-therapy. The author argues that the key point in the foundation of the subgenre of documentaries about self-therapy in China is the presence of the director as the main character of the film, filming himself. The study identifies two distinct periods in the development of self-therapeutic documentary films in China, both of which are closely related to the development of film equipment. In conclusion, the author not only evaluates the positive attitude of self-therapeutic documentary practice towards self-awareness and raising public awareness of problems related to the native family, but also argues that researchers should pay more attention to potential ethical problems present in films. This is because, in fact, directors do not heal during filming, but use it as a means of attacking their parents.