This Topic concerns D.

A. Pennebaker’s documentary film Don’t Look Back, an observational or cinéma vérité portrait of Bob Dylan filmed during his 1965 British tour. It includes critical discussion of the film’s filmmaking method, its treatment of unscripted encounters and performance, and its portrayal of Dylan as an artist navigating the transition from celebrated musician to public icon. Relevant dimensions include the film’s London and wider England settings, performances and songs associated with the documentary—including “Subterranean Homesick Blues”—and its place in documentary and Dylan criticism. The Topic is centered on Pennebaker’s film itself, rather than Martin Scorsese’s Dylan documentaries, later fictional or biographical films about Dylan, or Dylan’s career in general.