Professor Vasuki Belavadi, faculty at Department of Communication, gave a lecture on ‘Reading the Documentary film’ at the School of Humanities on February 6, 2017 at the University of Hyderabad. The lecture emphasised on how a documentary should be viewed and what are the aspects that a viewer must focus on.
All documentaries have a purpose, when produced they are done with a purpose. Of late 99.9% of documentaries are subjective. They have started to present ‘a point’ of view because the maker thinks that a particular ‘point’ has to be highlighted. “We need to arrive at truth through facts by weighing the facts. One needs to be careful while watching a documentary taking into consideration the context, credibility and distribution”, Prof. Belavadi remarked.
He explained the reality, mediation and representation of documentary making. The lecture also served as an introduction to a series of film screenings about the holocaust during the Second World War.
Prof. Belavadi has worked in different media houses like The Indian Express, Deccan Herald, Eenadu television and others. He has authored a book called Video Production (II Edition) published by Oxford University press which is India’s first textbook on the subject. He is also a faculty fellow with the UNESCO chair on community media.
Prof. Belavadi can be reached on vb@uohyd.ac.in