The autobiographical and memory objects in research and creative activity

Abstract

We propose to address two questions: what should be understood by autobiographical cinema or autobiographies in cinema, and the desire for the autobiographical in cinema, as well as the practices of using archives—images, sounds, and other memory objects—in the construction of documentaries. We also ask ourselves what and how the practices developed by the aforementioned documentary filmmakers and their theoretical reflections can contribute to anthropology, visual anthropology, and cinema in anthropology, and how anthropology can or has contributed to these theoretical reflections and practices. The relevance of autobiography in research within anthropology, social sciences, humanities, and the arts has a long history and highly varied practices. This seems to be a vital energy for its implementation, its questioning, and a driving force for new creative and research practices. Equally relevant is the use of archives and memory objects in autobiographical research. What do they bring that is new to cinema and anthropology?