Documentary in the Age of COVID

«Documentary in the Age of COVID is a timely and astute volume that affirms and challenges our thinking about how the cultural and technological disruption brought by the pandemic response has upended documentary culture. It is a guiding light for documentary practitioners and scholars as they navigate the new terrain of a post-COVID world. » (Professor Belinda Smaill, Monash University) This collection responds to the unusual and disturbing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The volume surveys the immediate effects of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in documentary film cultures as well as providing a space for unpacking the recent past and future of documentary in the context of the pandemic’s possible effects. It is published as part of Peter Lang’s Documentary Film Cultures series and reflects the value of documentary as an enduring and influential channel of media discourse and community of practice. Media producers have been forced to both interrogate their chosen professions and innovate with limited resources. Already, we are seeing new distribution and production methods emerge to highlight the importance of media-makers as essential workers, as they are uniquely equipped with the ability to represent the various dialogues undertaken to respond to the cultural, social, economic and political challenges the pandemic has foisted on global society.