Ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougal was interviewed by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv at the What is Documentary? conference held at the University of Oregon in Portland, April 24-16, 2014.

Ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougal was interviewed by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv at the What is Documentary? conference held at the University of Oregon in Portland, April 24-16, 2014.

He talks about his work filming children in three institutional settings in India. In 1997 he began conducting a study of The Doon School in Northern India. This resulted in five films: Doon School Chronicles (2000), With Morning Hearts (2001), Karam in Jaipur (2001), The New Boys (2003), and The Age of Reason (2004). Recent projects include filming at the Rishi Valley School, a progressive co-educational boarding school in South India based on the educational philosophy of Krishnamurti. His experimental film SchoolScapes (2007), made at Rishi Valley, won the Basil Wright Film Prize at the 2007 RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film. His latest film, Gandhi's Children (2008), concerns a shelter for homeless children in New Delhi. MacDougall is the author of Transcultural Cinema (Princeton University Press, 1998) and The Corporeal Image: Film, Ethnography, and the Senses (Princeton, 2006).

To order his book from Amazon click on the image or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

David was educated at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles and since 1975 has lived in Australia.  More complete bio here.

Taking you into the lives of four young Afghan children – Omid, Sanabar, Yasmina and Fayaz

Taking you into the lives of four young Afghan children – Omid, Sanabar, Yasmina and Fayaz – this short documentary provides first-hand accounts of a generation washing cars, picking garbage, selling food and hammering metal to earn money for their families. Devastated by war and economic difficulties, these children are the breadwinners of their families, creating an uncertain future for the country. DVD available here.

The mission of Skateistan is to use skateboarding as a tool for empowering youth, to create new opportunities and

The mission of Skateistan is to use skateboarding as a tool for empowering youth, to create new opportunities and the potential for change.  Full story here.

This is Grain Media's multi-award winning documentary film Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul. The film has received over a million hits online and has been the official selection at a number of top film festivals across the world including Sundance 2011, SXSW 2011, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2010, One World 2011 and Full Frame 2011. Uploaded on Oct 27, 2010

Diesel New Voices presents a short film on Skateistan
directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. Donations accepted here.

The neighborhood called Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, was neither the first nor the worst toxic waste dump, but it

The neighborhood called Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, was neither the first nor the worst toxic waste dump, but it became a national story in the late 1970s thanks to the organizing efforts of Lois Gibbs, who fought to protect Love Canal's children, including her own, from the 20,000 tons of toxic waste in the ground.

This is an excerpt from American Masters: Fierce Green Fire, airing April 22 at 9 pm on PBS. Learn more at www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters. Published on Apr 2, 2014

A 90-minute version of the film is currently available via Netflix and iTunes and on DVD from First Run Features.