Content area
Full Text
Linefork, an ethnographic film produced by Jeff Daniel Silva and Vic Rawlings, does not offer the life history of old time banjoist Lee Sexton, or the history of Linefork, Kentucky—the location that provided the documentary's evocative title. Rather, the film plays with the viewer's sense of time. A self-described meditation, Linefork offers the viewer glimpses of a specific place and two individuals—a “visual ethnography” capturing footage of Lee and Opal Sexton of Linefork, Kentucky. Moreover, it is a study in framing, viewing, and tourism.
Available for purchase through the film's website (http://linefork.com/) the film is easily accessible, with multiple public viewings currently scheduled. The film provides a wealth of entryways for complex classroom discussions regarding ethical research and representation. It would be a particularly rich discussion to compare Linefork with the widely applauded documentary Stranger with a Camera (2000), filmed just down the road in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Stranger with a Camera engaged with the viewer through heavy self-representation, reflexively questioning the power of documentation and representation. Linefork, by contrast, is void of narration, quietly moving through the space, collecting moments to present to the viewer. At times, it was unclear what assumptions were being made about viewers’ knowledge. It was also unclear if the filmmakers had reckoned with their own implicit bias, considering the multiple...