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Project

Filming memory / Filming my family. Intergenerational trauma and prosthetic memory of WWII in post-Soviet society

This PhD research in the arts analyses the role of documentary cinema in the creation of 'prosthetic memories': the ways in which persons 'remember' events they have not personally experienced. My research focuses on prosthetic memories of WWII in Post-Soviet society through cinema and proposes a novel theoretical and practical framework for researching prosthetic memory through first- person documentaries (films in which the filmmaker's participation has a significant dramaturgical role).

The goals of this project are:
(1) To examine how (prosthetic) 'memories' can be or have been formed, transmitted and reflected in non-fiction cinema.
(2) To detect novel methodologies and practices which will be applied when making a first-person documentary on intergenerational trauma and prosthetic memory of WWII in contemporary society. The film will deal with the legacy of WWII and Stalinism on three consecutive generations of my family.
(3) To create a theoretical and practical framework for contemporary filmmakers working on intergenerational trauma and prosthetic memory of military conflicts and their aftermath.

The project will result in a feature-length documentary film and in various articles, to be published in international, peer-review journals. These articles will form the backbone of my thesis. The film and the thesis will form a unity, as required by the regulations for a PhD in the Arts, as stipulated by the host institution.

Date:1 Oct 2021 →  Today
Keywords:first-person cinema, post-memory
Disciplines:Documentary film
Project type:PhD project