COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND VIRGINIA TECH - METAPHOR: THE LANGUAGE OF FILMMAKERS (1.5 hour lecture)
I had the honor of guest lecturing at Columbia University and Virginia Tech as an invited guest of Linguistics Professor Kathryn O’Shields PhD. My lecture titled ‘Metaphor: The Language of Filmmakers’ describes how metaphor is used by film makers to communicate things that dialogue can’t. I also discuss the search for metaphor in documentary production, how it is usually a ‘happy accident’, and documentary filmmakers always have to be ready for metaphor to reveal itself. I talk about my own films (‘When I Rise’, ‘What Was Ours’ as well as documentaries ‘Rich Hill’ and ‘Grey Gardens’.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN- ETHICS IN INTERVIEWING FOR DOCUMENTARY (1 hour lecture)
For the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work, my guest lecture was for the class of Professor Suzanne Potts, called ‘Ethics in Interviewing for Documentary’. This lecture explores how to approach documentary subjects with dignity. Interviewing subjects for a documentary about personal stories - transparency, openness and honesty about your intentions are the keys to opening the windows to access and keeping them open.
