Visible Evidence: Documentary and Democracy in Crisis

VISIBLE EVIDENCE: DOCUMENTARY AND DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

How does documentary respond to what has been widely diagnosed as the current crisis of democracy? Populist nationalism, political tribalism, environmental damage, migration crisis and global pandemic have bearings on our public sphere. In its Frankfurt Edition, Visible Evidence, the international conference on documentary film and media,...

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VISIBLE EVIDENCE: DOCUMENTARY AND DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

How does documentary respond to what has been widely diagnosed as the current crisis of democracy? Populist nationalism, political tribalism, environmental damage, migration crisis and global pandemic have bearings on our public sphere. In its Frankfurt Edition, Visible Evidence, the international conference on documentary film and media, seeks to explore documentary’s potential as a space for representation and democratic deliberation. The conference brought together scholars, artists, archivists and activists for five days of discussions, screenings, workshops and talks.

From Dec 14-18th Visible Evidence, in its 27th installment, was hosted by the Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies (TFM) at Goethe University, Frankfurt in collaboration with Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. Designed as a public event in collaboration with the city’s leading cultural institutions, the conference made a conscious nod towards documentary history as an instrument of public opinion. The notion of crisis, a thread weaved through the history of documentary, and in light of current affairs seems ever more pertinent, calls for new political, formal and social possibilities that consolidate and expand documentary’s role as a space for representation and democratic deliberation. These new possibilities were explored in a dialogue between theory and practice.

Das vollständige Konferenzprogramm findet sich auf der Website. Die Konferenz fand in englischer Sprache statt.