"American Ethnographic Film and Personal Documentary: The Cambridge Turn," a book written by Visiting Professor of Art History Scott MacDonald, was ranked #2 in a Slant Magazine article titled “The 10 Best Film-Studies Books of 2013.”
The magazine warned readers, “Don't let the rather bland title fool you,” and article continued by describing the book as an “essential and expansive examination of Boston as an unheralded locus for documentary filmmaking [that] not only provides in-depth discussions on the entire oeuvre of over half a dozen filmmakers, but positions them historically and in relation to once another, explaining the films of Robert Gardner with inextricable relation to Lorna and John Marshall. Even more surprising (and ultimately worthwhile) is MacDonald's omission of Fredrick Wiseman and Errol Morris from expansive discussion, even though both filmmakers reside in Cambridge. True to his aims, MacDonald's endeavor to detail the ethnographic filmmakers of the Boston area is the sort of inestimable addition to the film-studies canon, revealing the mesmerizing work of several filmmakers who have remained at the periphery of study and significance for far too long.”
According to its website, Slant Magazine has become one of the web's most popular film and music review sites, with over 500,000 unique visitors and 1.5 million page views per month. The New York Times cited Slant as "a repository of passionate and often prickly pop-cultural analysis.”
