French Ethnographer Jean Rouch and Senegalese Filmmaker Safi Faye

Next week we'll study the work of two ethnographic filmmakers: French ethnographer Jean Rouch (1917 - 2004) and Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye (1943 - 2023).
"Cinema verité" is a movement in cinema that Rouch created with his collaborator, Edgar Morin, in the 1960s. Although it is often confused with "direct cinema" (Wiseman, Maysles, et. al.), cinema verité involves a different approach: the filmmakers are always present in the film, and the making of the film becomes the subject of the film. In this sense it is self-reflexive, and the filmmakers believe that the "truth" of a film is the event of its making. Safi Faye initially worked as a subject and crew member for Jean Rouch, before becoming one of the first woman documentary filmmakers in Africa. In contrast to Rouch's work in Africa, she made what we can call "auto-ethnography" - films about her own culture. She sadly died earlier this year.
For homework, watch Rouch's The Human Pyramid.To make the film, he collaborated with a group of white and black students at a high school in Côte d'Ivoire (on the Western coast of Africa). The students play themselves in this "metafictional" film, a film about the process of its creation, and about the truths that can emerge from fiction and narrative. Rouch was influenced by both Vertov and Flaherty. In your response, think about the connections to their films, and your impression of Rouch's methods as an ethnographer, and his position as a white European filmmaker in Africa.
Reading:
An introduction the work of Jean Rouch
Brief introduction to Safi Faye (we will watch her work in class)
Please remember to write minimum 200 words!