The visible presence of the camera in the Latin American documentary

Abstract

Starting with A Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929), the visible presence of the camera within the film, points to the self-reflexive irruption of the cinematographic device. In Vertov's film, this presence signals a reflection at the same time technical, aesthetic and political on the conditions of production in a post-revolutionary context. This article analyzes the presence of the camera in some Latin American documentaries in which the figuration of the filmic device becomes visible and where this presence fulfills a fundamental role at a formal and narrative level. Specifically, this article will refer to a newsreel, La batalla de Chile by Patricio Guzmán, Agarrando pueblo (1977) by Luis Ospina and Carlos Mayolo, Cabra marcado para morrer (1984) by Eduardo Coutinho and the series Como me la gana by Ignacio Agüero which has a version in 1985 and another one in 2016.