Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

infonnams: "My favourite Jewish movies? I don't know what Jewish-what are Jewish
movies?" (Janis. persooal interView, 9701). Even though Janis and I talked within the
context ofa Jewish film festival, she questioocd corx::eptuaIizing film as having an
ethn.icity, as evidenced by her emphasis ofme word "Jewish."
Fu:rther on Heider DOted,
In some sense we could say that all films are 'ethnographic': they are about
people.... There are many films which have little pretension to
ethnographicness but which are ofgreat interest to the ethnographer. I
personally feel that The Last Picture Show (1971], about the high school
class of 1952 in a small Texas town, is a statement which captW'eS the
culture of my own high school class of 1952 in Lawrence, Kansas.
Likewise, The Harder TMy Come [1973] (about Jamaica), Scenesfroma
Marriage [197]) (about middle-class Swedish marriage), or Tokyo Story
[1953] all prescnt imponant auths about culrural situations. As statements
(native statements., in fact) about culture, these films arc important, and
they could very easily be used as raw data or documents in ethnographic
rcscan::h. I am templed to callihem more than just 'raw data' and think of
them as 'naive ethnography' (Heider: S).
The issue of film as ethnography then has moved from whether or not the film was made
by an ethnographer made the film or with ethnographic consultation (cr. Shennan 1981.
1996 and 1998), to a l"C'Cognition that even within popular culture and mainstream
cinema. films have ethnographic value. In fairness to Heider. however. his book was
primarily concerned with Ihe ethnographic documentary film. not the fiction feature film.
For Heider. the fiction film may be infOlmed by ethnography. and may be ofinterest 10
ethnographers. but hc sces it as a lesser fOlm.
Since the bounded calegory oflhe "cthnographic film" was difficult to definc.
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