Mockumentary and the Truth Behind Documentary?
A Zoom Conversation with Eduardo Sánchez on The Blair Witch Project
(11/21 at 6pm CST!)
Sponsored by the Film & Media Studies Program of the Department of English
With 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sánchez and his co-director Daniel Myrick revolutionized the film industry. Sold as “real” footage of missing persons that get lost in the woods only to encounter a horrifying figure, the mockumentary film popularized the found footage horror genre. Thanks to its formal innovativeness and its uniquely terrifying and authentic atmosphere, amplified by convincing marketing materials that included an early viral website, the micro-budgeted production went on to be one of the most profitable independent films in history, grossing over $248 million.
On November 21st, Sánchez comes to Texas Tech to speak with students of ENGL 2388 and the university community about his horror phenomenon.
Dr. Fareed Ben-Youssef will moderate a Q&A with Sánchez exploring The Blair Witch Project’s production, its legacy, and just what the mockumentary genre reveals about the truth behind documentary—its underlying artifice. Is the “truth” in documentary just as hard to find as witches in the woods?
Link to register for the Zoom conversation:
Upon registration, attendees will receive a Zoom link for the Q&A.
The Blair Witch Project can be rented on various major streaming sites including on Amazon:
Trailer:
Speaker Bios:
Eduardo Sánchez has directed and written numerous found footage horror films, including The Blair Witch Project (1999), Exists (2014), as well as a vignette in the anthology, V/H/S/2 (2013). He has also worked frequently directed television series across genres including episodes of Supernatural, CSI: Vegas, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Fareed Ben-Youssef is Assistant Professor in Film & Media Studies in the Department of English at Texas Tech University. He has frequently published on genre film including in his book, No Jurisdiction: Legal, Political, and Aesthetic Disorder in Post-9/11 Genre Cinema (SUNY Press, 2022). He is also the Film Review Editor of Surveillance & Society.
