What is Cinémavérité?

Cinémavérité (or the closely related direct cinema) was dependent on some technical advances in order to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound. Cinémavérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in a broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints.

In the 1960's and 1970's, documentary film was often conceived as a political weapon against neo-colonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America. La Hora de los hornos (The Hour of the Furnaces, from 1968), directed by Octavio Getino and Fernando E. Solanas, influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. 

Historical documentaries, such as the landmark 14-hour Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1986) by Henry Hampton, Four Little Girls (1997) by Spike Lee, and The Civil War by Ken Burns, UNESCO awarded independent film on slavery 500 Years Later, expressed not only a distinctive voice but also a perspective and point of views.

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What is Documentary Filmmaking?

Documentary Film

Documentary film, also known as cinema verite, is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt to “document” reality. The filmmaker John Grierson used the term documentary in 1926 to refer to any nonfiction film medium, including travelogues and instructional films. The earliest “moving pictures” were, by definition, documentaries.

Propaganda films made by countries during the World War II and during the Cold War era were important phases in documentary film production. In the 1960,s and 1970,s, documentary film was often conceived as a political weapon against neo colonialism and capitalism in general, especially in Latin America, and other Third World countries.

Box office analysts have noted that this film genre has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Super Size Me, Earth (2009 film), March of the Penguins, and An Inconvenient Truth among the most prominent examples.

Docufiction

Docufiction is a hybrid genre from two basic ones, fiction film and documentary, practiced since the first documentary films were made.

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