1st Symposium 1999
Treasurers for an International Audience
Archive-based Documentaries on the Vietnam War
Leipzig, 28-29 January, 1999
30 years after the dramatic climax of the Vietnam-War, the Tet offensive, long hidden American and Vietnamese archives opened their doors. This allowed us to take a new perspective on this conflict, which still stirs the emotions of people all around the world.
Even nowadays the historical after-effects of the war are can be felt. A new ambitious documentary production of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR TV) with exclusive access to unpublished footage from Northern Vietnamese archives brought about this symposium. American and French experts presented their experiences with two big archive-based documentary productions on the Vietnam-War to the audience. The participants discussed concepts and narrative and aesthetic strategies used in different documentaries and their effect on the viewer. Besides we examined the authenticity of and the circumstances under which archival footage was filmed in the war zones. Filmscientists presented excerpts of the most important films on Vietnam and explained their reception in East and West during the Cold War. 80 international participants.
Dates & Programme
Thu, 28 Jan 1999 - Fri, 29 Jan 1999
Location
Leipzig
Germany
Experts
- John Alpert Co-Director and Founder, DCTV, New York City, NY, USA