ELO Film School Helsinki (Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Film, Television and Scenography) hosts a symposium on the relationship between theory and practice in documentary film. The objective of the symposium is to build bridges between the practice and theory. The symposium seeks to find ways to “theorize within” film instead of “theorizing about” it. Theory is understood as an active tool in catalyzing the new politics and poetics in the practice of documentary filmmaking.

The main objective of the symposium is to further promote dialogue between the new and emerging field of practice-based research and the traditional academic film studies on documentary film. The symposium will provide a forum for discussions on the possibilities and approaches related to practice-based research and the theorizing that stems from artistic work. The event will create important opportunities for networking for all interested in conceptual approaches in documentary film.