Javier Campo University Of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
The prominent figure in Argentine ethnographic film has long
been Jorge Prelorán. He is the filmmaker who has perhaps
most thoroughly reflected on his practice. Prelorán defined
in his work and writings what he meant by ethnographic
film: neither ethnography nor cinema, but rather both at
once. Neither science nor art, but located in the middle of the
magnetic field that both areas radiate. He made about fifty
ethnographic documentaries in Argentina. Prelorán built his
career on the idea that all images that can be combined to
make a film are part of this infinite bank of things that can be
called “the universe.” If the world of film images is indepen
dent, to say they are “created” as a “representation” is im
pertinent. Under this conception, the subject is no longer the
center; therefore, he is not entirely in control of his creation.
Gilles Deleuze understood this quite well in his revolutioniz
ing contributions to film studies. Movement-image film is ac
tion and reaction, a constant updating of the operation of a
sensory-motor mechanism. In the development of these prob
lematic issues through the films of the Argentine filmmaker, I
will discuss principles that movie studios have considered as
revealed truths, including the concept of authorship.
Keywords
Argentine Ethnographic Film – Perception – Jorge Prelorán Anthropocentric – Heterodox
