The documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams: activities in the formation of physics teachers

Abstract

In this study we developed a set of activities with four undergraduates of a physics course using the documentary Cave of forgotten dreams, produced and directed in 2010 by Werner Herzog. In these activities we discussed why the use of carbon-14 dating in the cave paintings depicted in this documentary has impacted the archaeological field. In addition, we problematize some elements of the reading of images and the narrative of this documentary. The information was collected through video recordings and the written production of the undergraduates. The analysis was based on the notions and principles of Discourse Analysis through texts of Eni Orlandi published in Brazil. We noted that, in the student’s view, the use of documentaries in the classroom is associated with the idea of visualization, reinforcement, and illustration. However, during the activities, we highlighted their intention of critically reading the moving images and the narrative contained in the documentary.