No home movies: first person documentary

Abstract

The review of the history and practice of first-person filmmaking and autobiographical documentary, as well as common strategies of self-representation, applied by filmmakers, is accompanied by several case-studies, that give a deeper perspective on the nature of a self-portrait, diary film, a portrait of a mother, a family investigation and an essay on film. First-person documentary films by Agnès Varda, David Perlov, Chantal Akerman, Chris Marker, Catarina Mourão, Alain Berliner are discussed in the context of postmemory, representation of everyday and death, deconstruction of the archive, performative strategies, cinephilia. To conclude, the experience of creating an autobiographical documentary by the author is shared, placing some of the questions raised earlier in the practical field.