Paul Arthur

I learn from the New York Times today the sad news that film scholar Paul Arthur has died. I have no personal connection to Arthur - in fact, he's one of the many scholars whose work I admire but whom I've never seen in person. His essay "Jargons of Authenticity" is one of the smartest things I've read on documentary, valuable equally for the side detours through art, politics, and ideological formations as it is for its core argument. I've just dipped my toe into waters of his most recent book A Line of Sight, but found it equally rewarding.