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Documenting Justice

“[Through documentary film] you're on a serendipitous journey, a journey which is much more akin to the life experience. When you see somebody on the screen in a documentary, you're really engaged with a person going through real life experiences. So for that period of time, as you watch the film, you are, in effect, in the shoes of another individual. What a privilege to have that experience.”

Albert Maysles, Documentary filmmaker

“Films are a powerful and evocative tool for fostering understanding and tolerance in the world.”

Nelson Mandela, Nobel Laureate for Peace

About Documenting Justice

Documenting Justice is a specialized interdisciplinary course in ethnographic filmmaking.  Harnessing a wide variety of perspectives from disciplines across the humanities, the aim of the class is to teach students how to use film to document and analyze the many dimensions of culture and social experience at issue when focusing on a story of justice-or injustice-in Alabama.

This course traces the ways in which documentary filmmakers have sought to represent culture, and the relationship between the individual and society.  Study of visual anthropology, ethnographic film, and the ethics of cinematic non-fiction will culminate in the creation of a seven-to-nine minute film.

The Fall semester of the course is dedicated to instruction, exercises, and readings which familiarize students with the fundamentals of video production and their application to ethnographic and documentary approaches.  Assignments undertaken in the Fall semester raise representational, methodological, and ethical issues in approaching and working through a documentary film project.  By the end of the first semester, students will be comfortable with the techniques and process of production, and will select a topic for their film.  Demonstrating a concern for justice in Alabama, such pieces may focus on an individual, a relationship, an occurrence, an institution, a sub-culture, or a worldview. 

During the Spring semester of the course, students focus primarily on creating and editing an ethnographic film on their chosen subject. Students will become well- acquainted with their subjects through extensive fieldwork and participant observation.  In producing the final film, students will have access to state-of-the-art digital video cameras and post-production facilities through the Telecommunication & Film department in the College of Communication and Information Studies.

An award-winning group of filmmakers collaborate as instructors in this team-taught course, and including:  Andy Grace, producer and director with the Center for Public Television; Rachel Morgan, adjunct instructor in telecommunication and film at UA and instructor of radio and TV at Lawson State Community College; Aaron Greer, assistant professor of telecommunication and film; and Michele Forman, independent filmmaker and professor for the Center for Urban Affairs at UAB.  The course also includes guest lectures from Dr. Marysia Galbraith, associate professor of anthropology and New College, as well as guest lectures from other professionals with expertise in documentary filmmaking.

You can view the Documenting Justice brochure as an Adobe PDF here (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to open this document).

2007-2008 class

Nineteen students enrolled in the second year of Documenting Justice, representing the departments of Economics, English, Law, New College, Law, Telecommunication and Film, International Studies, Psychology, Arabic, Social Work, and Spanish. In the fall of 2007, documenting Justice students participated in a conversation with Oscar-nominated and award-winning filmmaker Albert Maysles. Maysles discussed his five-decade career as a documentary filmmaker, including his work on films like Gimme Shelter about the Rolling Stones, and cinema verite classics Grey Gardens and Salesman.

The films produced by this class include:

• The Old Road: The story of Willie King, a seasoned blues musician, who uses his artistic talent and practical knowledge to help make the citizens of the small town of Aliceville self-sufficient. (Braxton Comer & Jesse Homan)

• Searching for a Sign: This look at one reputed "sundown town" explores impressions and actualities of race relations in the South, by examining widespread beliefs about a sign once present at the city's entrance. (Britany Binkowski  & Lindsey Mullen)

• Storybook: The film is about the challenges of parenting from prison and how one program - Storybook - attempts to ease that strain through storytelling. (Kristian Jordan Collins & Stephen Lovell)

• Fine Lines: A film about the history and effects of the Tuscaloosa City School  Board's decision to rezone local school districts. (Lucy Ricketts & Cory Pennington)

• Searching for Normal: One of the filmmakers, an Iraq Veteran, looks to make sense of his experiences both in combat and returning home.  Looking for answers, he talks with four veterans who discuss life after their tours in Iraq. (Elizabeth Jones and Dick Powers)

• Foundation for Success: How does a low-performing, high-poverty school become one of the most outstanding schools in Alabama …in just three years?  E.D. Nixon Elementary School in Montgomery demonstrates that with dedicated teachers, consistently high expectations, and constant assessment of student progress, every child can learn and achieve at high levels. (Sarah Louise Smith & Mitch De Anda)

2006-2007 class

The final film projects produced by the twelve students in the 2006-07 class of Documenting Justice were premiered at a public screening at the BAMA Theater in downtown Tuscaloosa at 7 p.m. on May 1, 2007.

The films produced by this class include:

• No Sympathy for the Debtor: the effects of sub-prime lending on people's lives (Maryella Froemelt & Lindsay Hobson)

• Very Source of Life: the growing sustainable & organic agriculture market and how it is promoting change in attitudes about food in Alabama (Sesie K. Bonsi & Elliot A. Knight)

• Thank You for Listening: a portrait of three Vietnam veterans and the effects of the Department of Veterans Affairs on their lives. (Will Alford & Andrea Mabry)

• Spanglish: a Hispanic family's experience in Tuscaloosa and their interactions with the world around them, focusing especially on the role children play as a bridge between cultures (Callie Corley & Sarah Kate Sullivan)

• Portraits In Restorative Justice: a Montgomery court brings victims and offenders together to talk about how the crime affected them, in order to bring about healing  (Edward Miller & Kristin Robinson)

• Speaking Without Speaking: a couple offering free classical dance classes in a rural Black Belt studio (Mallory Morgan & Colin Rafferty)

• Trained In: the story of Collegeville, a small neighborhood located in an industrial corner of north Birmingham, and the access and safety problems faced by residents due to the railroads that encircle the neighborhood  (Kevin Garrison & Allison Stagg)

For interested students

The year-long course is open to any student pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in any department or graduate school at The University of Alabama and requires no prior experience in filmmaking or production.  Because class size is limited to twelve students, the course is extremely selective and requires an application process which takes place in March.  Undergraduate (400-level) credit for the course is available through Telecommunication and Film, Anthropology, New College, and the Honor’s College, and 500-level credit is available through Telecommunication and Film and the Law School. 

2009-2010 Documenting Justice Application

Interested students should complete the short application, and return it to the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility, located on the first floor of Temple Tutwiler Hall.  Feel free to use additional pages if necessary. The priority deadline for application is Friday, March 6, 2009, but applications will be accepted after this date until all slots are filled. As applications are received, students will be contacted to schedule an interview with instructors. If you have further questions please contact CESR at 205-348-6495, or bourl002@aa.ua.edu.