Vivre ici, J. Murray Levine, Alison (department Of French, University Of Virginia)

Through a critical approach that integrates phenomenology, film theory, eco-criticism and cultural history, Levine investigates the notion of documentary as experience. She asks how and why, in the contemporary media landscape, these films seek to avoid argumentation and instead, give the viewer a
feeling of being there. As a diverse collection of filmmakers, both well-known and lesser-known, explore the limits and possibilities of these places, a collage-like, incomplete, and fragmented vision of France as seen and felt through documentary cameras comes into view. Venturing beyond film
analysis to examine the production climate for these films and their circulation in contemporary France, Levine explores the social and political consequences of these films that matter for the viewers who come into contact with them.