Some of the earliest documentary films, such as In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) and Nanook of the North (1922), explore the relationship between human beings and their natural environments. Both Head Hunters and Nanook are also (pseudo-)scientific films, (purported) ethnographic studies of "primitive" peoples. As such, they demonstrate the close interconnection between science and motion pictures--indeed, motion pictures became important tools of scientific observation and inquiry practically as soon as they were discovered.

In this seminar, we will explore ways in which documentary films frame (scientific) knowledge about nature, the environment, and humankind's varied relationships and entanglements with the natural world. In so doing, we will soon discover that films that seem to center on nature often say more about humans than the natural world they purport to represent.


Films likely to be discussed (selection):
Nanook of the North (1922)
The Living Desert (1953)
The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
Life on Earth (1979)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
Life (2009)
Racing Extinction (2015)
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2017)