A Common Gaze: Reflections on New Documentary Practices in Peru

Abstract

This chapter charts the emergence of new practices in Peruvian documentary that seek to fracture conventional narratives of realist representation prevalent in trends like the “social documentary” and “poverty porn.” The authors focus on two specific cases to flesh out the ways in which these practices are deployed: first, the Caravana Documentary Project, which organized documentary workshops in Peru’s peripheral areas; and second, the film Retrato peruano del Peru (Carlos Sanchez Giraldo and Sofia Velazquez, 2013), a feature that explores collective identity via the technique of illuminated photography. Using these two projects as examples, the authors signal a shift toward the reflexive that is occurring in a national cinema that has, until recently, largely adhered to realist representations.