Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Vittorio De Seta’s Banditi a Orgosolo: An ethnographic film

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 7; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1386/sdf.7.1.61_1

1750-3299

Silvio Carta,

Anthropological Studies and Insights

ABSTRACTThis article explores to what extent Vittorio De Seta's Banditi a Orogosolo (1961), a film made by a film-maker lacking academic training in the discipline of anthropology, is an ethnographic film and what is meant by ethnographic in this regard. This article maintains that Banditi is a film that produces understandings emerging through the process of film-making rather than an illustrative device to popularize existing anthropological ideas. The film will be placed in the broad international cinematic context of ethnographic film-making, adding a different dimension to discussions of the film. The features of the film that make it especially unique in the Sardinian context will be given. The article suggests that any understanding of the distinctive qualities of film itself should take into account the ways in which this experimental artistic form produces knowledge in its own right, expanding the arena of postmodern anthropology.