The Essay Film

Sometimes referred to as “filmed philosophy,” the essay film originated in the 1920s and has increasingly come to be recognized as a distinct branch of international cinema. Fusing fiction and documentary, it is a dynamic genre that continually transgresses disciplinary boundaries, a form, as Jean-Luc Godard once put it, “that thinks.” What then is the relationship of this form to knowledge? In what ways does the disciplinary resistance of the essay film enable its aesthetic resistance? Join renowned filmmaker, video artist, and author Hito Steyerl as she speaks with film critic Nora Alter about the history and possibilities of the essay film.