POETIC DOCUMENTARY: THE RHYTHMS OF BALTIMORE
Ages 16-29
Summer 2022, Morgan State University
In the 1920s filmmakers in Europe and America began to produce experimental documentaries that broke from the traditional narrative structure and took a more avant-garde approach to cinema. The films emphasize the artist’s eye, a subjective rather than objective point of view, and through shot composition and rhythmic editing, evoke a feeling rather than tell a story. Theorist Bill Nichols has defined this cinema, which has evolved from first silent films to incorporate music and sound effects, as Poetic Documentary. Notable examples are Dziga Vertov’s 1929 Man with a Movie Camera (link) and Chris Marker’s 1982 Sans Soleil (link). In this workshop, student fellows will create their own poetic documentaries, reflecting on their Baltimore communities, using original images and sound to convey a mood and capture a specific location. They’ll combine video, photographs, sound effects, and royalty free music, ending with a personally expressive work with a distinct sense of place. Projects will be shared at a public exhibition and on the program website. Limited to 8 student fellows.
Poetic Documentary: The Rhythms of Baltimore is a co-production of Baltimore Youth Film Arts and Morgan State University.
David Lee Roberts Jr., an award-winning television producer and documentary filmmaker, is Adjunct Professor in the Screenwriting and Animation (SWAN) program at Morgan State University. Television credits include Metro Focus and Oh, Gospel; film credits include Credible Messenger, about juvenile justice reform, and Charm City, about Baltimore community reform and engagement.
Emmet Sheehan, a Baltimore City native, was part of the pilot program that launched the film department at Baltimore School for the Arts, and also trained at North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Intensive.
