{"id":8654,"date":"2016-02-16T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uclm.es\/archivoartea\/?p=8654"},"modified":"2026-03-20T19:18:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:18:05","slug":"an-exploration-on-maya-derens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uclm.es\/archivoartea\/2016\/02\/16\/an-exploration-on-maya-derens\/","title":{"rendered":"An Exploration on Maya Deren\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Haitian Footage and Jean Rouch\u2019s Les ma\u00eetres fous<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Carolina Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2016<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Referencia bibliogr\u00e1fica<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

L’Atalante. Revista de Estudios Cinematogr\u00e1ficos. N\u00fam. 22, 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article explores the relationship between Jean Rouch\u2019s Les
ma\u00eetres fous (1955) and Maya Deren\u2019s Haitian film footage (1947-
54), two almost contemporaneous projects involving the filming of
possession dances \u2013 of the African Songhay in Rouch\u2019s case, and
of the Haitian Voudoun cult in the case of Deren. Both filmmakers
were pioneers who took an innovative approach in their filming
of these ceremonies, using lightweight technical equipment and
involving themselves directly in the ritual (each in a different
way), to produce a respectful and poetic representation that was
free of the prejudices and the colonial superiority prevalent among
Western filmmakers until that time. While Deren was unable
to give her material a final form due to a plethora of ethical and
cinematographic obstacles, Rouch would successfully bring
ethnography and cinema together in his work, thereby establishing
a new documentary sub-genre, known as ethnofiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n