This brief discussion, led by the recent publication of Caroline Zéau's Le Cinéma direct: un art de la mise en scène, argues that generalists approaching early film history, especially in a classroom environment, have much to gain by considering a more "parallel" approach to concepts such as "early cinema." Much the same can be said, Zéau helps us to see, of the evolution of Direct Cinema. Key examples are the work of Mitchell and Kenyon and the ethnographic footage shot by Zora Neale Hurston.