UE851 - Who exactly is watching? The author’s gaze and attitude in the science and cinema

Intervenant·e·s

• Ilshat Saetov [référent·e]   chercheur invité, EHESS / EHESS (EHESS)

In this seminar we will watch, read and ask questions about the author and his/her point of view in cinema and the social sciences/humanities. Who is watching, why s.he chooses this particular topic, through whose eyes we observe the reality / fiction, how objective can reality be with an observer? How do ‘objectiveness’ and public consensus relate? Why positioning in science becomes more and more welcomed? How can the methods of autoethnography or psychotherapy be used in making researches or writing/ shooting movies? How can understanding of your own text or image help you launch or close specific topic? How to choose a topic for research or filming? Why is everything boring and lifeless without dramaturgy? What can the words, visual images, montage and rhythm that author chooses tell us about the him/her? What do patriarchate, colonialism, and psychiatric unit have in common? Who exactly is sitting in the cinema theatre in our head and watching the outside world through our eyes? Is it possible to decolonize one's own feelings and thoughts from social patterns and begin to see through the different eyes? Whose opinion represents the artificial intelligence and will it need people in the future? We will look for answers to these and other questions regarding those who seem to mediate between observed and the audience. The purpose of this seminar is not to inform or disseminate established knowledge, it is an attempt to develop a different approach to the process of one's structured watching in rarely compared fields of the social sciences/humanities and cinema. Chronologically, we'll start with the advent of language in primates, continue with cave paintings, photography, Orientalism and end with post-documentary filmmaking, intersectional feminism and artificial intelligence. The speaker will share his experience of field researches, as well as preparing and shooting films and other videos. In addition, we’ll invite other specialists in the fields of auto-ethnography, postcolonial thought and cinematography, who will share their views on the problem. The seminar will be held in a mixed lecture-discussion format, with the opportunity to ask questions and challenge the speaker’s arguments during the lecture, within the agreed framework. At least 20% of the time will be devoted to watching video and photo materials, as well as reading texts together.