ABSTRACT
Ethnographic film, developed in the context of anthropology, is used in other social scientific disciplines and is applicable in exploring themes in a cross-disciplinary perspective. Theories and methods from different disciplines were required to fill in the many blanks in this field of knowledge. Cross-disciplinary research challenged existing research methods while helping to develop new ones. Two major aspects of women's studies became evident as part of this work. Firstly, the female scholars discovered that they lacked concepts with which to understand the lives of women. Secondly, their own interest in the situation of women was based on experiences with living in and accepting a male dominated world. The Varan concept of cinema direct consists of an intention to reclaim the voice of the subjects, a voice which is often muted in documentary film. The attention drawn by hermeneutics to the interpreting subject opens up for self-critical reflections, as is the case with ethnographic film.
