New Voices in the Latin American Documentary through the Essay Cinema as a Tool for Social Change

Abstract

This article summarizes the results of an investigation about the new languages associated with audiovisual essays. This audiovisual format is framed within contemporary documentary cinema in Latin America. There is a change in the point of view through the evolution of the construction of discourse. A change of role in the spectator is also observed. The viewer finds a place for critical reflection on concrete issues of social relevance in the Latin American context. We apply a methodology of qualitative analysis –which includes the filmic analysis, the historical, formal and contextual analysis–. Results. We can affirm that the narrative structure and structure are currently evolving with intensity in the Latin American documentary cinema. It is documentary cinema in América Latina a production sector that advances in a heterogeneous plane. In addition, documentary cinema is constituted as a space for formal and discursive experimentation that brings interesting novelties at a global level.