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What makes documentary films different from the live-action fictional films? Is it the narrator, aka “voice of God” (corny, I know)? Is it the film stock they use? Is it the testimonials? Is it the recreations they have in between?

What is a documentary film? Ross McElwee in his 1997 documentary “Six O’Clock News” states, “Documentaries, which are more or less films about reality, are actually not considered by most people to be real films, but Hollywood films, which usually have an extremely high fantasy quotient, are considered to be real.”

Documentaries (sometimes referred to as non-fiction films) and Narratives (fictional films) both use the same techniques. Its just that a documentary can be defined as a “creative interpretation of reality.” Documentaries are made for many reasons, but the four frequent ones are:

• to inform
• to entertain
• to criticize
• to celebrate

One thing to keep in mind is that documentaries are always meant to entertain. Filmmakers know that if they want to hold their viewer’s attention they will need to entertain.

Another question comes to mind. Are documentaries biased?

Olympia (1938)

A documentary film by Leni Riefenstahl about the 1936 Summer Olympics. Leni was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to document they Olympics so that they may promote Nazi philosophy. Only problem they had was that the all American Jesse Owens was beating them all.

This documentary was ground breaking in that is was able to capture footage, and movement of people like never before. Something that is evident throughout the film is the use of montage editing. The film was captured in such a way that the different contenders seemed almost superhuman.

High School (1968)

During this time period, technological improvements in film equipment helped push the industry further. Development of lightweight camera equipment allowed the filmmakers to throw themselves into an experience. Direct Cinema came about. There was no manipulation or structuring during filming like that of traditional documentaries.

Frederick Wiseman made a documentary about Northeast High School titled “High School”. In this film he used no narration or music like you would expect in a regular documentary.

After having seen this documentary immediately Iraq in Fragments by James Longly came to mind. It was done in the same style. Without specific narration or music, and was put together with what was caught on camera.

Are documentaries biased? Of course they are. They are reflecting the viewpoint of the filmmaker. Can they still inform, entertain, criticize, and/or celebrate something, someone, or an idea? For sure!