Eco-critical and documentary cinema: Nature and human representation

This study discussed how nature is represented in documentary cinema, how the relationship between humans who are a part of nature and nonhuman beings such as animals, plants and trees is defined, as well as the role of documentary cinema in handling nature as a form of art. In order to examine how nature is represented, the eco-critical method was used. The eco-critical method is considered a noteworthy approach/viewpoint in terms of revealing whether nature is handled human-centered or eco-centered in social sciences and different areas of art. Studying the eco-critical method in documentary cinema reveals another method for knowing how to produce documentaries in ecological documentary cinema through an eco-centered point of view. Documentary cinema displays a significant stance against the exploitation of humans for benefit which is caused by culture-nature dualism in the enhancement of nature as a subject. The study focused on how nature is handled and depicted in association with what themes and what concepts. In order to make this tangible, the films Ever Slow Green (Daima Yavaş Yeşil 2020), Before The Flood (Tufandan Önce 2016) and Anima (2021) were chosen in the study. It was aimed to reach a multiple and integrated point of view on the basis of these different films which were chosen via the multiple sampling method. On the basis of these films, what kind of structure ecological documentary cinema has in terms of content and style was discussed. Certain inferences were made regarding ecological documentary cinema through the films which were read with an eco-critical attitude via the content and descriptive analysis methods.