LIDF

Worth Abbey from the BBC TV Series 'The Monastery'. Photo: worthabbey.net

Documentary as a genre has become a staple of television programming. Every evening, audiences can expect to see anything from the drinking habits of British teenagers to radicalisation in the Muslim community. Although varied in content, the form and presentation of these films has become convergent. It is not only the constraints of the slot, being a national broadcast and thus speaking to a general audience, but also the way they are constructed. There is a standardisation occurring in the narrative arc and the use of music. How can an audience engage with a topic if the frame is predictable and rigid? And is there room for authorship by the filmmaker given the constraints set by commissioning editors?

‘The Monastery’ is a BBC TWO programme produced by Tiger Aspect TV, broadcast as three one-hour episodes in May 2005. Two hundred and fifty people responded to advertisements inviting them to spend six weeks in a monastery, living alongside the monks. The five men who were chosen had little or no experience of Catholicism or monastic life.

Adam Kemp, long running commissioning Editor for the BBC will be joining us for the discussion.

Wednesday 25th November, 6.30pm, FREE

J Z Young LT, UCL, Anatomy Building, Gower Street, London