This past week, Haokun (Hank) presented a great overview of animated documentaries. It was helpful reminder as to why I became interested in expanded animation since I was first introduced to animated documentaries back in 2019 when I audited Sheila Sofian’s class in the Spring.
Documentary film ethics were extensively discussed, especially when it came to the depiction of a person on the autism spectrum with “Snack and Drink” (1999).
There was also a good discussion about what does and doesn’t count as documentary after we watched '“Two Chips” (2013).
“Trust and Estates” (2013) was an absolutely horrifying display of misogyny and sexism and to be honest, I wasn’t super thrilled at the idea of it being framed as ‘comedy’.
I was really moved by the short film “Our Uniform” (2023) because of how it used various animation techniques to discuss a touchy topic within the Arabic world.
I also really enjoyed watching “Recycled” (2012) and “Reddish Brown and Blueish Green” (2011) to see the different animation mediums and narrative structures at play. It was interesting to see which films were actual documentaries versus reenactment.
“Recycled” (2012)