An extraordinary wedding: some reflections on the ethics and aesthetics of authorial strategies in ethnographic filmmaking
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
In attempting to create visual narratives, ethnographic filmmakers often face intractable dilemmas of choice, both ethical and aesthetical, in what to sacrifice from many hours of footage of complex socio-cultural practices and performances. How do we author a narrative that can be understood and appreciated by a broader audience without diminishing the integrity of the lifeworld of the characters? How do we convey the intricacies of the social relationships at stake while, at the same time, leaving some space for experiential freedom in viewing the film? These are some of the questions that we have grappled with in the making of An Extraordinary Wedding, a film about contemporary marriage and brideprice exchanges in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In this piece we reflect upon the ethics and aesthetics of the authorial strategies we have employed in this work-in-progress.
Journal
Anthrovision
Publication Name
N/A
Volume
4
ISBN/ISSN
2198-6754
Edition
N/A
Issue
1
Pages Count
19
Location
N/A
Publisher
Virtual Anthropology Network of European Association od Social Anthropologists (VANEASA)
Publisher Url
N/A
Publisher Location
N/A
Publish Date
N/A
Url
N/A
Date
N/A
EISSN
N/A
DOI
10.4000/anthrovision.2237