I have taught Social Issues in Contemporary Documentary Films for several years--primarily to a mix of undergraduates (some freshmen and sophomores, a few juniors and seniors). The course combines a survey of documentary history and an opportunity for students to create hands-on documentaries. I always use extensive summaries of each film (as a basis for note-taking, worksheets, and exercises) and share those summaries with students. Below is a listing of documentary film summaries as a listing of notes and exercises for those films (and selected other films). I hope some of these resources will be helpful for you in your film classes. If you have other resources to share on these and other films, please let me know. I also have a list of extensive resources on feature-length narrative films; see the link at the bottom of the page.

Documentary Film Summaries:

• American Dream, 1991, dir. Barbara Kopple
• Hoop Dreams, dir. Steve James, Fred Marx, & Peter Gilbert
• Law & Order, 1967, dir. Frederick Wiseman
• Listen to Britain: Film Summary, dir. Humphrey Jennings
• The Plow that Broke the Plains, 1936, dir. Pare Lorentz
• Roger and Me, 1990, dir. Michael Moore
• Salesman, 1969, dir. Albert and David Maysles, edited by Charlotte Zwerin
• Silverlake Life, the View from Here, 1993, dir. Tom Joslin and Peter Friedman
• The Thin Blue Line, 1988, dir. Errol Morris

Film Notes/Exercises:

• American Dream: Additional Notes, dir. Barbara Kopple
• American Dream: Key Scenes
• Central Park: Discussion Questions, dir. Frederick Wiseman
• Central Park: Characters & Their Roles
• Hoop Dreams: Comparison of Scenes by Characters
• Hoop Dreams: Discussion Questions & Key Scenes
• Law and Order: Discussion Questions, dir. Frederick Wiseman
• Nanook of the North: Notes, dir. Robert Flaherty
• Silverlake Life--The View from Here: Discussion Questions
• Streetwise: Discussion Questions
• Streetwise: Notes on the Film
• Wiseman (Frederick) Filmography

 

Resources for Teaching Film

Additional Resources (Summaries, Notes, Exercises) on Feature-length Narrative Films

Conditions for Use:

Robert E. Yahnke is the sole author of all of these written materials. Permission is given by the author for educational use only. Please insure that the following lines are added in any handout you use for teaching purposes:

Summary/Exercise/Notes written by Robert E. Yahnke
Professor, General College, Univ. of Minnesota
Copyright by Robert E. Yahnke, 2001

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.