A Historian's Perspective on Archives and the Documentary Process

The respective processes employed by film documentarians and print-based historians in presenting the past are in many ways distinct. Nevertheless, film makers and print-based historians are increasingly engaged in a dialogue with each other, a dialogue that involves archivists as well. While there exist problematic aspects of the use of archival materials in film, there are also documentarians who are appreciative of archives and sensitive to issues of historical context and specificity. The making of a recent film, The Uprising of '34, provides a model for the creative interaction between film makers and archival materials, and suggests ways to strengthen the relationship between film makers, print-based historians, and archivists.