Professor Streible's "The Nontheatricality of Nontheatrical Films" I
am intrigued by the few paragraphs dedicated to the term "useful
cinema." I am curious if "useful cinema" is essentially nontheatrical
in essence, but garners its name from archival old actuality footage
today repurposed for a look back into the past, or to illustrate
specific instances in history.
In this way it seems very useful, but as Professor Streible points out
it it then loses its historical importance as nontheatrical, that as
Rick Altman remarked in his essay began simply as a backdrop for art,
lecture and show.
Aaron Howell