This article examines observational filmmaking methods, which have been influential in shaping ethnographic cinema. It offers a theoretical discussion of the techniques of observational filmmaking and their exploratory function, providing an analysis of the general features of observational films. The paper examines observational cinema with respect to the degree of control exerted over the filmmaking process, camera style and editing, the role of subjectivity and the interaction of words and images. The article concludes with an analysis of the contribution of observational cinema in the creation of corporeal and experiential forms of knowledge foregrounded in postmodern anthropology.