Jürgen Böttcher and Documentary Film (Routledge Focus on Film Studies)

Jürgen Böttcher and Documentary Film introduces the reader to this east-German filmmaker who, despite having made 40 films from the east side of the Berlin Wall, is practically unknown. Through the comparison of films made in the same year, one by an American and one by Böttcher, the author places him as ahead of his time in regards to technology, content, and style, and neck-and-neck with contemporary American filmmakers in cinéma vérité/direct cinema. The book moves beyond Böttcher’s dramatic biography to explore his role in the history of film. Was it actually the Germans who created sync sound for documentary? When and how were women featured? Offering a concise journey through the history of documentary film within this cultural context, but also a deep-dive into specific case-studies that show the nuances and complexities of classifying film texts, this volume will interest students and scholars of film studies, German cinema, cinéma vérité, film production, film theory, and world cinema. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Figures and Table Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 1.1. The GDR 1.2. Jürgen Böttcher’s German Reputation as a Filmmaker 1.3. Documentary 1.4. Direct Cinema, Cinéma Vérité, and Observational Documentary Terminology 1.5. Overview of Uses 2. The Biography of Jürgen Böttcher, Filmmaker, and STRAWALDE, Artist 2.1. Early Years 2.2. Higher Education 2.3. Drei Von Vielen (Three of Many) 2.4. DEFA Film Studios, Leipzig Documentary Film Festival, and Ofenbauer (Furnace Builders) 2.5. Stars 2.6. Barfuß und ohne Hut (Barefoot and Without a Hat) 2.7. Jahrgang 45 (Born in 1945) 2.8. Der Sekretär (The Party Secretary) 2.9. Tierparkfilm (A Film About a Zoo) 2.10. The Wolf Biermann Petition 2.11. Martha 2.12. Verwandlungen (Transformations) Tryptic Film: Potter’s Stier (Potter’s Bull), Venus Nach Giorgione (Venus According to Giorgione), and Frau Am Klavichord (Woman at the Clavichord) 2.13. Local and International Political Concerns 2.14. Rangierer (Shunters) 2.15. International Travel and In Georgien (In Georgia) 2.16. Die Mauer (The Wall) 2.17. Transition to Painting 3. Dramaturgy and Structure in Observational Documentary in 1962: Jürgen Böttcher’s Ofenbauer (Furnace Builders) and Robert Drew and Richard Leacock’s The Chair 3.1. The Transition Between Expository Mode and Observational Mode 3.2. Technology, Observation, and Drew Associates 3.3. The Chair and Ofenbauer 3.4. The Hero’s Journey in Documentary Film 3.5. Multiple Protagonists in Ofenbauer 3.6. Neorealism 3.7. The Chair and Ofenbauer in Regard to Nichols’ Modes 4. The Representation of Women in Observational Cinema: Richard Leacock and Joyce Chopra’s Happy Mother’s Day (Director’s Cut) and Jürgen Böttcher’s Stars, 1963 4.1. Women in DEFA 4.2. Women Editors of Documentary 4.3. Mode in 1963 4.4. Stars Motivation 4.5. Happy Mother’s Day 4.6. Women in Stars 4.7. Mode in Stars and Happy Mother’s Day 4.8. Female Content throughout the Filmmaker’s Career 5. Jürgen Böttcher and Frederick Wiseman: Institutions and Workplace in Observational Documentary Films in 1984 5.1. Modes 5.2. Böttcher’s Films 1963–1984 5.3. Rangierer (Shunters) 5.4. Wiseman Films, 1967–1984 5.5. Racetrack 5.6. 1984 5.7. Philosophy 5.8. Belonging to Cinéma Vérité or Direct Cinema 5.9. Institutions 5.10. Funding 5.11. Contemporaries and Perception as a Progressive Filmmaker 6. Jürgen Böttcher and Barbara Kopple and Reform in Participatory/Reflexive Documentary in 1990 6.1. Participatory Mode to Reflexive Mode in the 1970s and 1980s in Böttcher and His Contemporaries 6.2. American Dream 6.3. Die Mauer: Demontage Eines Alptraums (The Wall: Demolition of a Nightmare) 7. Conclusion: Documentary Contrasts in Structure, Subject, Place, and Change in Group Identity, and an Expanded Definition of Documentary Modes 7.1. Limitations 7.1.1. The Amount of Narration is an Inaccurate Way of Determining Mode 7.1.2. Misidentification by the Technology 7.1.3. “Hollywood Default” 7.1.4. Positivity Default 7.1.5. Modes, Typically Chronological, Do Not Work as Well for Someone Who Has a Varied and Vibrant Career, Such as Böttcher 7.2. Discussions for the Future 7.2.1. Greater Consideration for the Editors of Documentary Film as Co-Directors 7.2.2. Relationship between Director and Audience 7.3. Böttcher Beyond Region and Country, and into the Future Index