Presented by: Dr Thierry Jutel

First-person documentaries especially when in the form of filmed autobiographical portraits, provide a mise-en-scène of the self in a moment of crisis often associated with illness and, in some instances, the possibility of death. There are expectations that the ill person should talk for themselves, perform the role of the sick person and the patient, at the very least in the context of the medical encounter. As Art Franks has discussed, the experience of ill health often gives rise to illness narratives which weave together the different functions and expectations to communicate and make sense of one’s predicament for oneself and for others.

This presentation focuses on first-person documentaries of filmmakers who have turned to the feature-length documentary form to transform their experience of illness into a narrative. In the examples I will discuss, the experience of illness and the creative process result a film which functions in a reflexive mode where making the film is indelibly linked to making and giving sense to the experience.

Biography:

Dr. Thierry Jutel is an Associate Professor in Film. He writes about the representation of illness, illness narrative and the diagnostic moments in fiction and documentary.