@article{3f7d586bccc54615ab260e77787a33f6,
title = "Feminist Sensory Ethnography: Embodied Filmmaking as a Politic of Necessity",
abstract = "In this article, we call for a feminist sensory ethnography that centers relations of care, subjectivity, and power between filmmakers, film {"}subjects,{"} and audiences. Through in-depth discussion of two films, Smile4Kime (Guzman 2023) and Nobel Nok Dah (Hong, Lai, and Mihai 2015) we explore three techniques of feminist sensory ethnography—a multisensorial theory of the flesh, sensory accompaniment, and narrative intimacy—that draw on feminist and non-Western genealogies of sensory knowledge production. We see this move away from observational filmmaking as a “politic of necessity” (Moraga and Anzald{\'u}a 2015) through which the sensory is imbued with embodied knowledge.",
keywords = "collaboration, embodied knowledge, feminist ethnography, filmmaking, sensory ethnography",
author = "Guzman, \{Elena H.\} and Emily Hong",
note = "The making of a film is never a singular undertaking and we are grateful to our collaborators. Elena would like to thank Kimberly Edwards, Laura Menchaca Ruiz, Cybee Bloss, Malachi Lily, Alex Aldrich Barrett, Pace Fjord and Noure Zein for co-creating Smile4Kime and opening up a space to think through the possibilities of feminist sensory ethnography. Emily would like to thank fellow Nobel Nok Dah directors and cinematographers Miasarah Lai and Mariangela Mihai for all of the sweet joys and epic failures along the path of collaboration. Endless appreciation goes to participants Nobel Htoo, Nok Paw Bleh, and Dah Bu Poe for their patience with us and openness to collaborating on an experimental film (not the easiest of mediums!). We are indebted to Vicky Funari, Juli Grigsby, Zainab Saleh, Laura Menchaca Ruiz, Nat Nesvaderani, the anonymous reviewers, and VAR Editors Darcie DeAngelo and Lee Douglas, for providing critical and encouraging feedback at different stages that further strengthened this piece. Much gratitude to Erica Kaunang and Sophia Wan for their invaluable help with references. Last but not least we send love and appreciation to fellow members of Ethnocine Collective–Laura, Mariangela, Miasarah, and Nat, with whom we have been on a long journey of learning of what it means to be a feminist—namely making plenty of mistakes and learning from them along the way.",
year = "2022",
month = sep,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/var.12273",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "38",
pages = "184--210",
journal = "Visual Anthropology Review",
issn = "1058-7187",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "2",
}