Nontraditional black women filmmakers share with the broader community

Nontraditional black women filmmakers share with
the broader community of radical filmmakers a
problematic relation to mainstream, realist cinematic
practice. Realist filmmakers manipulate the use of the
(5) camera and techniques of editing and lighting in ways
that create the illusion that cinema is like life, that it
may indeed be the same as life. In contrast, avant-garde
and many minority and feminist filmmakers who seek
to tell new stories resist the conventions of cinematic
(10) realism precisely because these practices conceal the
artificiality of the filmmaking process, thereby
implying that narrative structures, and thus social
relations, are inevitable, and that circumstances are as
they should be. For example, precisely because one
(15) might expect that a scene depicting a family dinner
would entail a continuous view of several people
seated together eating and conversing, an avant-garde
filmmaker might intersperse images of the dining
family with a seemingly arbitrary image-people
(20) standing in a breadline during the Depression of the
1930s, for example. The outcome, according to many
film theorists, is that our notion of reality is violated:
the images do not make immediate sense, and we are
therefore forced to question our convictions about the
(25) "reality" to which we are committed. The very
techniques that create the illusion of visual continuity,
some theorists say, smooth over contradictions and
incoherences that might reflect a reality that
Hollywood-and the majority culture that is its
(30) audience-does not want to admit or know.

The ideological content of these conservative
cinematic techniques notwithstanding, some
nontraditional black women filmmakers do tend to
explore the formal possibilities of realism in
(35) documentaries instead of experimenting with more
daring modes. They may choose to work within the
realist form because it is more accessible to a broad
audience, or because of the financial constraints under
which they labor. It is important to emphasize,
(40) however, that the prevailing notion that such
filmmakers cannot be called experimental, because
only technical experimentation counts as
"experimental," places an undue emphasis on form at
the expense of content. A realist work that centers on a
(45) nontraditional subject might rightfully be called
experimental in its own way.

For example, Fannie's Film (1981) by Fronza
Woods provides the opportunity for a working woman
to tell her own story. This film belongs to a group of
(50) films that, by presenting the stories of "ordinary"
women whose experiences have usually been
trivialized or ignored by mainstream media, expose the
thematic assumptions and stylistic conventions of
realistic filmmaking. Documentaries have also
(55) attracted these directors because documentaries
provide opportunities for revising the list of traditionally
acknowledged prominent figures by creating more
accounts of black public figures. Films like Michelle
Parkerson's ... But Then, She's Betty Carter (1980),
(60) by examining and preserving the lives and works of
the visual and performing artists who are their subjects,
urge their audiences to question their own expectations
about who gains public recognition and why.

1. Which one of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

(A) Nontraditional black women filmmakers share with the broader community of radical filmmakers a problematic relation to conservative techniques of editing and lighting.
(B) Some nontraditional black women filmmakers successfully use what are commonly regarded as mainstream cinematic techniques to make experimental films.
(C) Experimental filmmakers manipulate techniques of editing and lighting in order to dispel the illusion that cinema is like life.
(D) Mainstream and experimental filmmakers have not acknowledged the impact of black women filmmakers on cinematic practice.
(E) Mainstream filmmakers prefer to avoid dealing with controversial topics in their films.

2. It can be inferred that the author of the passage believes which one of the following about the "prevailing notion" (line 40) of what constitutes an experimental film?

(A) The notion mistakenly relies upon a narrow definition of technical experimentation espoused by mainstream filmmakers.
(8) The notion fails to acknowledge the unique potential of conservative cinematic techniques for expressing radical ideas.
(C) The notion pays insufficient attention to the way nontraditional black women filmmakers exploit experimental cinematic techniques in their films.
(D) The notiop ignores the fact that the content of a cinematic work may be as crucial to the work's experimental character as is the work's form.
(E) The notion ignores the fact that the form of a cinematic work may not be as important to the work's mainstream character as is the work's content.

3. Each of the following is accomplished by one of the documentary films described by the author of the passage EXCEPT:

(A) calling the thematic assumptions of realistic filmmaking into question
(B) examining the lives of black public figures who have not received substantial public recognition
(C) examining the lives of women neglected by mainstream media
(D) influencing how women are portrayed in mainstream media
(E) moving audiences to question their assumptions about why certain people are denied public recognition

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the theorists referred to in line 27 would most probably agree with which one of the following statements about mainstream filmmakers?

(A) Most of them cater to audiences who are not sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to appreciate films that employ experimental techniques.
(B) Some of them seek to combat majority culture ignorance about minority cultures.
(C) Many of them make films whose techniques conceal from audiences what those audiences would prefer not to know.
(D) They usually do not exploit the documentary form because this form relies less on techniques that create illusions of visual continuity.
(E) They do not make many experimental films because they are not knowledgeable about the techniques of experimental filmmaking.

5. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) contrast and assess some of the works of nontraditional black women filmmakers
(B) critique the subjects and techniques of realist filmmaking
(C) define which black women filmmakers can be considered experimental
(D) examine the relationship of nontraditional black women filmmakers to realist cinematic practice
(E) contextualize and categorize the works of avantgarde and feminist filmmakers