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Documentary Films

    Documentary Films Editor's Picks

    • What Does a Documentary Producer Do?

      Often accountable for both writing and producing an independent documentary film, the documentary producer is the person in charge of everything from hiring the crew to managing the budget. Ultimately, the documentary producer is responsible for the success or failure of the production. more »

    • How to Enter a Film at Sundance

      Entering a film in the Sundance Film Festival is a heady experience, headier still if your film is chosen to be aired and it wins an award. Filmmakers from around the world are able to enter films in various categories. The following steps will show you how you can submit your work. more »

    • Black History Month Middle School Lessons

      The month of February is black history month, which is a time to learn about and reflect on the history and struggles of African Americans. Middle school lessons for black history month are best kept focused around major themes and events of black history. more »

    • How to Sell a Film to Distributors

      So now that you've made a film, it's time to sell it to a distributor. There are some basic steps to get this done, and the rules differ depending on whether your film is a feature or a documentary. But once you learn what do, you'll be able to sell the film and see it get the attention it deserves. more »

    • How to Decide On a Documentary Subject

      You’ve decided that you want to make a documentary, and you’ve gathered your camera and sound recorder. But you still haven’t decided what subject you’d like to tackle. Here's a short list of suggestions to help you narrow the possibilities. more »

    Documentary Films Articles

    Wikipedia

    Documentary film

    Documentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a television series. Documentary, as it applies here, works to identify a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.Nichols, Bill. Foreword, in Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski (eds.) Documenting The Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997

    Defining documentary
    The word documentary was first applied to films of this nature in a review of Robert Flahertys film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926 and written by "The Moviegoer", a pen name for documentarian John Grierson.

    In the 1930s, Grierson further argues in his essay First Principles of Documentary that Moana had "documentary value." Griersons principles of documentary were that cinemas potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Griersons views align with Vertovs contempt for dramatic fiction as "bourgeois excess", though with considerably more subtlety. Griersons definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, though it presents philosophical questions about documentaries containing stagings and reenactments.

    Flahertys contribution to the advent of the Documentary is itself to be scrutinised closely in a new documentary in post-production at University of Lincoln UK, whic read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary+film

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