Orna Raviv
Who is the Cinematic Other?
My paper offers an interface between ethics and cinematic experience in the digital age. I am especially interested in this question as it applies to non-fiction cinema, where the challenge posed by the loss of indexicality, characteristic of the digital age, seems crucial to understanding the ethical implications of the viewing experience. I intend to concentrate on the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas, and to examine how his discussion of Otherness can be linked to key questions regarding non-fiction films in the digital age.
My motivation for research into the ethics of non-fiction film viewing in the digital age is directly connected with my artistic activity. My current project: »Reframing Palestine«, tells the story of the American Colony’s archive of photographs taken in Palestine between 1898-1933. In recent years, a huge part of the archive was digitized and became accessible to audiences around the world resulting in growing interest in the photographs. This project has motivated me to further explore philosophically the ethical side of our ability to look digitally at the past.
Concurring with the stance that sees this age as an opportunity to further reveal our modes of engaging with the world, and to release ourselves from a certain perspective and perception of space-time, I would like to investigate how questions relating to temporality, intentionality and point of view can make room for new insights relating to ethical concepts such as Otherness, responsibility, and transcendence.
Dr. Orna Raviv is a director and producer of fictional and documentary films. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Cinema (1987), a MA degree cum laude in Philosophy (2007) and a PHD in Philosophy, from Tel Aviv University (2015). Her dissertation: »Beyond the Screen: The Ethical Dimension of the Cinematic Experience« deals with the interface between cinematic theory and ethics. She teaches philosophy at the Cultural Studies Program, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design. She is the co-founder and organizer of the international conference on Israeli documentary cinema in Jerusalem: »A Look from the Inside, a Look from the Outside«.