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Interrogating Power and Unsettling Relations to Place in Documentary

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In this chapter the authors discuss their creative inquiry into power, place, and narrative through two collaborative 360-degree documentary projects in the Everglades and in Saratoga Springs. They explore the ethics, aesthetics, and power dynamics of virtual reality and discuss their rationale for using polyvocal experimental approaches to foster new relationalities.

Keywords: Co-creation ; decolonization ; empathy ; environmental justice ; Everglades ; immersion ; immigration ; pedagogies of decolonization ; proximity ; Saratoga Springs ; swamp ; virtual reality

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Interrogating Power and Unsettling Relations to Place in Documentary
Intellect , 80 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781789387438_10
/content/books/9781789387438.c07
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References

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  2. Auguiste, R. ,, De Michiel, H. ,, Longfellow, B. ,, Naaman, D. ,, & Zimmerman, P. . ( 2020;). Co-creation in documentary: Toward multiscalar granular interventions beyond extraction. . Afterimage, 47 (1), 34–35.
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  3. Camoin Associates .. ( 2015). Economic and fiscal impact of the Saratoga race course: 2014 update. Prepared for Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency. https://www.saratogacountyida.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2015-Economic-Impact-Racecourse.pdf
  4. Childress, S. . ( 2017). Beyond empathy. In Medium: Firelight Media. https://firelightmedia.medium.com/beyond-empathy-ad6b5ad8a1d8
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  9. Griffiths, A. . ( 2022;). Virtual reality and the cartographic imagination. . JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 61(3), 167–175.
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  10. Kimmerer, R. W. . (Contributor). ( 2018). Robin Wall Kimmerer on Indigenous knowledge for earth healing. For the Wild [Audio Podcast]. https://forthewild.world/listen/robin-wall-kimmerer-on-indigenous-knowledge-for-earth-healing-35-encore
  11. McGregor, D. . ( 2010). Honouring our relations: An Anishinaabe perspective on environmental justice. . In A. Julian, C. Peter, H-D. Randolph, & O. Pat (Eds.), Speaking for ourselves: Environmental justice in Canada (pp. 27–41). UBC Press;.
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  17. Nash, K. . ( 2018;). Virtual reality witness: Exploring the ethics of mediated presence. . Studies in Documentary Film, 12 (2), 119–131.
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  18. Nowhitney Hernandez, K. . ( 2015). The oral histories of latino immigrant backstretch workers at Saratoga Race Course [Master's thesis, Skidmore College].
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  21. Rangan, P. . ( 2017). Immediations: The humanitarian impulse in documentary. Duke University Press;.
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  22. Rose, M. . ( 2018;). The immersive turn: Hype and hope in the emergence of virtual reality as a nonfiction platform. . Studies in Documentary Film, 12 (2), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/17503280.2018.1496055
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  23. Ross, M. . ( 2020). Fourth VR project maps projects produced by and with Indigenous creatives. Immerse. https://immerse.news/fourth-vr-project-maps-projects-produced-by-and-with-indigenous-creatives-75de9b6b9acb
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  25. Slocum, J. D. . ( 2000;). Film violence and the institutionalization of the cinema. . Social Research, 67 (3), 649–681.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Smith ,, Linda T. . ( 1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Zed Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Tallbear, K. . ( 2014;). Standing with and speaking as faith: A feminist-Indigenous approach to inquiry. . Journal of Research Practice, 10 (2), 1–7. http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/405/371
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Tuck, E. ,, & Yang, K. W. . ( 2012;). Decolonization is not a metaphor. . Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1 (1), 1–40.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Walia, H. . ( 2013). Undoing border imperialism. AK Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Yang, C. . ( 2019). Documentary power: A new manifesto. Documentary Magazine (Winter). https://www.documentary.org/feature/documentary-power-new-manifesto
  31. Zimmermann, P. . ( 2018;). Thirty speculations toward a polyphonic model for new media documentary.. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 15 (Summer), 9–15.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Zimanyi, E. ,, & Ben Ayoun, E. . ( 2019). On bodily absence in humanitarian multisensory VR. Intermediality: History and Theory of the Arts, Literature and Technologies, 34(Autumn), 1–28.

References

  1. Aston, J. ,, & Odorico, S. . ( 2018;). The poetics and politics of polyphony: Towards a research method for interactive documentary. . Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 15(Summer), 63–93.93
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Auguiste, R. ,, De Michiel, H. ,, Longfellow, B. ,, Naaman, D. ,, & Zimmerman, P. . ( 2020;). Co-creation in documentary: Toward multiscalar granular interventions beyond extraction. . Afterimage, 47 (1), 34–35.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Camoin Associates .. ( 2015). Economic and fiscal impact of the Saratoga race course: 2014 update. Prepared for Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency. https://www.saratogacountyida.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2015-Economic-Impact-Racecourse.pdf
  4. Childress, S. . ( 2017). Beyond empathy. In Medium: Firelight Media. https://firelightmedia.medium.com/beyond-empathy-ad6b5ad8a1d8
  5. Cruz Gomez, A. . ( 2021). How to tell a true immigrant story. [Presentation]. Skidmore College, Intro to Documentary Course. Instructor: Sarah Friedland.
  6. Freire, P. . ( 1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Godmilow, J. . ( 1999;). What's wrong with the liberal documentary. . Peace Review, 11 (1), 91–98. https://www3.nd.edu/∼jgodmilo/liberal.html
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Greenwood, D. A. . ( 2019;). Place, land, and the decolonization of the settler soul. . The Journal of Environmental Education, 50 (4–6), 358–377.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Griffiths, A. . ( 2022;). Virtual reality and the cartographic imagination. . JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 61(3), 167–175.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Kimmerer, R. W. . (Contributor). ( 2018). Robin Wall Kimmerer on Indigenous knowledge for earth healing. For the Wild [Audio Podcast]. https://forthewild.world/listen/robin-wall-kimmerer-on-indigenous-knowledge-for-earth-healing-35-encore
  11. McGregor, D. . ( 2010). Honouring our relations: An Anishinaabe perspective on environmental justice. . In A. Julian, C. Peter, H-D. Randolph, & O. Pat (Eds.), Speaking for ourselves: Environmental justice in Canada (pp. 27–41). UBC Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Milk, C. . ( 2015). The Ultimate Empathy Machine. TED Video, https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_milk_how_virtual_reality_can_create_the_ultimate_empathy_machine?language=en
  13. Miller, E. . ( 2018;). The shore line as polyphony in practice: A case study in Alphaville. . Journal of Film and Screen Media, 15(Summer), 113–123.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Minh-ha, T. . ( 1983;). Mechanical eye, electronic ear and the lure of authenticity. . In University of California Berkeley art museum & Pacific film archive (pp. 31–35). https://www.scribd.com/doc/99066439/Trinh-Minh-Ha-Mechanical-eye
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Morin, C. . ( 2019;). Screen sovereignty: Indigenous matriarch 4 articulating the future of Indigenous VR. . New Media Review, BC Studies, 201 (Spring), 141–146.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Nakamura, L. . ( 2020;). Feeling good about feeling bad: Virtuous virtual reality and the automation of racial empathy. . Journal of Visual Culture, 19 (1), 47–64.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Nash, K. . ( 2018;). Virtual reality witness: Exploring the ethics of mediated presence. . Studies in Documentary Film, 12 (2), 119–131.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Nowhitney Hernandez, K. . ( 2015). The oral histories of latino immigrant backstretch workers at Saratoga Race Course [Master's thesis, Skidmore College].
  19. Ogden, L. . ( 2008;). The Everglades ecosystem and the politics of nature. . American Anthropologist, 110 (1), 21–32.94
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Ogden, L. . ( 2011). Swamplife: People, gators, and mangroves entangled in the Everglades. University of North Minnesota Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Rangan, P. . ( 2017). Immediations: The humanitarian impulse in documentary. Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Rose, M. . ( 2018;). The immersive turn: Hype and hope in the emergence of virtual reality as a nonfiction platform. . Studies in Documentary Film, 12 (2), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/17503280.2018.1496055
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Ross, M. . ( 2020). Fourth VR project maps projects produced by and with Indigenous creatives. Immerse. https://immerse.news/fourth-vr-project-maps-projects-produced-by-and-with-indigenous-creatives-75de9b6b9acb
  24. Simpson, L. B. . ( 2014;). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. . Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3 , 1–25.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Slocum, J. D. . ( 2000;). Film violence and the institutionalization of the cinema. . Social Research, 67 (3), 649–681.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Smith ,, Linda T. . ( 1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Zed Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Tallbear, K. . ( 2014;). Standing with and speaking as faith: A feminist-Indigenous approach to inquiry. . Journal of Research Practice, 10 (2), 1–7. http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/405/371
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Tuck, E. ,, & Yang, K. W. . ( 2012;). Decolonization is not a metaphor. . Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1 (1), 1–40.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Walia, H. . ( 2013). Undoing border imperialism. AK Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Yang, C. . ( 2019). Documentary power: A new manifesto. Documentary Magazine (Winter). https://www.documentary.org/feature/documentary-power-new-manifesto
  31. Zimmermann, P. . ( 2018;). Thirty speculations toward a polyphonic model for new media documentary.. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 15 (Summer), 9–15.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Zimanyi, E. ,, & Ben Ayoun, E. . ( 2019). On bodily absence in humanitarian multisensory VR. Intermediality: History and Theory of the Arts, Literature and Technologies, 34(Autumn), 1–28.

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