ABSTRACT

This chapter investigates how issues related to the filmic observation and representation of reality have been approached by feminist theorists so far. It delves into the feminist debates on documentary film by taking the work of postcolonial filmmaker and scholar Trinh T. Minh-ha as an entry point. Taking two of her early films — Reassemblage and Surname Viet Given Name Nam — as case studies, the chapter offers some tools with which to approach and analyse documentary films. It first introduces Trinh T. Minh-ha by giving some biographical background. Then, before analysing her films, it is necessary to theoretically ground a definition of the genre 'documentary'. Thereafter, the chapter uses the film Surname Viet Given Name Nam to start an elaboration on the feminist debates on documentary and realism. Finally, the documentary Reassemblage provides the case study for the question of observation and the politics of vision.