Na wschód od fabuły, na zachód od dokumentu, czyli Na północ od Kalabrii
East of fiction, west of documentary, or North of Calabria. Constructing the types of films by the viewers and the institutions.

Summary/Abstract: Marcin Sauter’s film - ‘North of Calabria’ - was shown in Panorama section of Gdynia Film Festival (festival of fiction films) and in a documentary competition at Cracow Film Festival. In the light of this fact we should consider what factors affect the classification of films into a particular type or genre. Mirosław Przylipiak’s definition lists the features a film should possess in order to qualify as a documentary. However, today there are many fiction films that use the poetics of documentary. Viewers find it more and more difficult to unambiguously assign a film to a particular type. Moreover, the viewer would have to have a complete knowledge about film production process in order to verify the definitional features of a particular type or genre. Thus, the viewers can subjectively and arbitrarily determine on their own the type of watched film or they have to trust institutions. These institutions give labels to films. Analyzing the case of the ‘North of Calabria’ I examine how both viewers and institutions construct the types of films.

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