Research: Documentary Films

Monisha Chowdhury

definition: a film that presents a version of events that viewers are intended to take not as a work of imagination but primarily as a fact. Material techniques can be very varied - documentaries may or may not involve a narrative and may or may not present an argument explicitly (e.g. with a voice over). Materials may comprise newsreel, historic footage, interviews with witness or other 'authoritative' figures, or even dramatised re-enactments. Documentary is often presented or seen opposite of fiction.

This definition tells us that documentaries can be produced to convey pretty much any ideas, theories or visions.