PhD Projects
BEYOND STORYTELLING - Hybrid Dramaturgy in Contemporary Cinema
BEYOND STORYTELLING is questioning the primacy of story as the driving force of cinema, as well as the idea of the director as storyteller. Through practice, the project explores how different time-based structures can be created and combined outside of, or in-between, conventional models.
The documented artistic research project examines questions of dramaturgy and the creation, and possible combination, of cinematic structures. It asks whether a narrative can be added onto a fragmentary cinematic structure without undermining the strengths of fragmentation, especially given the cultural and historical dominance of narrative storytelling and the audience expectations that follow from it.
Aim and research questions
The central research question is weather, and in what ways, two seemingly opposing structural techniques can be used simultaneously in the same cinematic structure, without one subsuming the other, keeping in mind our fostered expectation for the conventional story? Could the respective strengths of these traditions be used in a mutually reinforcing manner? The quest for answers to this central question gives rise to sub questions, including how multiple temporal dimensions can be merged within a single cinematic image, and how fictional and magical elements in the image might affect the perceived authenticity created by a documentary method.
Research implementation and anticipated impact
The questions are primarily explored through the creation of a hybrid film titled A Dreamplay, inspired by the 1901 Swedish theatre play A Dreamplay by August Strindberg. In the film a set of fragmented documentary scenes are combined with a plot-driven narrative, led by a fictional main character. By exploring ways of structuring time beyond or between conventional models, the project seeks to open a discussion about how we structure and define cinematic works.
Collaboration
The Film project A Dreamplay is developed in cooperation with production company Vilda Bomben Film with support from The Swedish Film Institute.
Research funding
KK Foundation
Principal Supervisor
Erik Gandini
Supervisor
Petra Bauer
Schedule
September 2025 – May 2030
Links
https://www.vildabomben.com/
https://www.filminstitutet.se/
https://www.kks.se/
