John M. Bishop

In The Wilderness Of A Troubled Genre is a conversation over time and space with ethnographic and actuality filmmakers recorded 2000-2012. The film considers the ethos, practicalities, practices, and ethics of making films about real people across cultures. It includes pioneers in the field like Robert Gardner, John Marshall, David MacDougall, and Richard Leacock; established filmmaker anthropologists such as Paul Henley, Sarah Elder, Rolf Husmann, Metje Postma, and Michael Yorke; as well as emerging filmmakers. Shot and edited by John Bishop, this is a spirited engagement with a film-making practice that continues evolving and challenging filmmakers today.

Documentary about Edmund Carpenter's work on media ecology and anthropology. Named for a title of his most famous work.

A documentary about Jewish-American identity.

An exploration of the musical and social origins of the blues, shot on location in Mississippi in 1978 by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long in association with the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television and broadcast on PBS in 1980. This re-release in 2009 includes two hours of additional music.

An exploration of the musical and social origins of the blues, shot on location in Mississippi in 1978 by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long in association with the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television and broadcast on PBS in 1980. This re-release in 2009 includes two hours of additional music.