Avant-Doc is a collection of in-depth interviews with filmmakers who work in the territory between documentary and what is usually called avant-garde film, either within particular films or over the life of filmmaking careers. The volume is organized in a rough chronology beginning with a scholar (Annette Michelson) whose writing and editing have bridged the gap between documentary and avant-garde film, and several filmmakers (Robert Gardner, Ed Pincus, Alfred Guzzetti, Ross McElwee, Nina Davenport) whose work was formative in the development of particular kinds of documentary and “avant-doc.” ... More

Avant-Doc is a collection of in-depth interviews with filmmakers who work in the territory between documentary and what is usually called avant-garde film, either within particular films or over the life of filmmaking careers. The volume is organized in a rough chronology beginning with a scholar (Annette Michelson) whose writing and editing have bridged the gap between documentary and avant-garde film, and several filmmakers (Robert Gardner, Ed Pincus, Alfred Guzzetti, Ross McElwee, Nina Davenport) whose work was formative in the development of particular kinds of documentary and “avant-doc.” Several European filmmakers (Leonard Retel Helmrich, Michael Glawogger, Susana de Sousa Dias) provide a broader perspective on current avant-doc practice; then the volume pans across a wide range of recent accomplishments, including the work of filmmakers who have dealt with the personal in inventive ways: Jonathan Caouette, Paweł Wojtasik, Todd Haynes, Susana de Sousa Dias, Amie Siegel, Alex Olch, Jane Gillooly, Betzy Bromberg, and Godfrey Reggio. Avant-Doc concludes with a focus on Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL) and the remarkable avant-docs that have been produced under its auspices. The influence of MIT’s Film Section and Harvard’s Film Study Center and Carpenter Center for the Arts (and more recently, the SEL) is a major focus of the volume, though the filmmakers interviewed and the films they discuss raise a wide range of issues that are relevant to filmmakers around the world. The book as a whole and each interview is contextualized by an introduction. Filmographies and bibliographies are included.