Visualizing Area Studies

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38. Visualizing Area Studies: Finding Resonance in Making a Documentary Film about Social Relations among HIV-positive People in Northern Thailand (in Japanese)

NAOI, Riyo.
Published in November 2019.
Kyoto University Press.

 

Description

In this book, with the case study of a documentary film produced by the author about the social relations of HIV-positive people in Northern Thailand, the author reflectively considers how documentary film captures social relations. In recent years, the field of anthropology has paid increasing attention to the possibility of films to capture and express what cannot be described verbally. It is generally believed that documentary films capture reality simply because they record what is happening objectively. This belief is problematic in that it assumes that reality can be re-presented, when it is, however, always in a process of construction. Reality continuously comes into existence, and is therefore something that is being crafted. This book delves into just how the filmmaker’s perspective influences the construction of reality.