AustLit

'When the call for articles for this special issue of Studies in Documentary Film went out last year, in addition to a large number of excellent submissions, I received one or two interesting e-mails from scholars and filmmakers regarding the ‘Documentary Films After 9/11’ focus. One of the more provocative commentaries on the topic indicated that to use the events of September 11, 2001 as some type of milestone for documentary film was to place the United States (yet again) at the centre of our understanding of popular culture and media in general, and documentary film specifically, and to ignore the myriad other social, economic and technological factors that have impacted the development and evolution of documentary film in recent years (such as the democratic possibilities provided by low-cost, high-quality digital cameras). Or, as the person summarized the issue: 9/11 is often used in our discussion of the development of documentary film because it is simply ‘the easiest binary indicator available’.' (Editorial introduction)