Photo of Ernst Karel
Photo of Ernst Karel

Ernst Karel

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    LEVIATHAN

    VERENA PARAVEL, LUCIEN CASTAING-TAYLOR United Kingdom, 2012

    One of the first films to come out of the Sensory Ethnographic Lab and a sizeable influence on experimental nonfiction since, the shaky, murky Leviathan immerses us in marine labor and churns up the belly of the ocean. In cinema at least, the sea has rarely coruscated and clattered like this.

    PHASES OF MATTER

    DENIZ TORTUM Turkey, 2020

    Deniz Tortum’s acclaimed experimental feature is an uncanny record of a hospital’s daily life, with unmatched insight into the workings of the healthcare system. This evocative documentary is reminiscent of both the essayistic style of Frederick Wiseman and the morbid universe of Lars von Trier.

    SWEETGRASS

    ILISA BARBASH, LUCIEN CASTAING-TAYLOR United States, 2009

    This breathtaking view of the American West revealed the groundbreaking vision of Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Ilisa Barbash from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab (Leviathan) through its visual and aural pleasures. Newly restored, Sweetgrass is one of the defining documentaries of this century.

    MANAKAMANA

    STEPHANIE SPRAY, PACHO VELEZ Nepal, 2013

    This risk-taking, radically immersive documentary from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab strips cinema to its essentials, locking down the camera and letting us observe all kinds of people as they travel to a sacred temple. A serene project that experiments with form while staying powerfully humane.

    PEOPLE'S PARK

    LIBBIE D. COHN, J.P. SNIADECKI United States, 2012

    Shot entirely in one take, this experimental documentary from Harvard’s groundbreaking Sensory Ethnography Lab views a public park as a prismatic microcosm of self-expressions in contemporary China. More than an ethnographic snapshot, the film is a sensory exploration of cinematic time and space.

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