This page is dedicated to the memory of Cornell University Professor Don Fredericksen b. 1946- d. 2015. Classes he taught in the early 1990’s influenced the creation of this website.
“Documentary is a clumsy description, but let it stand.” (John Grierson, 1932).
The seeds of reality-based film were sown in the late 1890’s and during the first quarter of the 1900’s. By the 1920’s, John Grierson, a British man who would later come to be known as one of documentary’s chief theoreticians, coined the term and defined documentary to be: “the creative treatment of actuality.” Like most of the definitions which followed even to this day, Grierson’s definition was unable to fully capture all of the characteristics of what was then a relatively new art form.
More than 100 years after the first moving pictures, the definition of documentary is still evolving. What follows are quotes from many different sources that, together, attempt to continue from where John Grierson’s definition left off. Together, these definitions will help to approach what each fails to achieve alone.
DEFINITIONS CONCERNED WITH THE FILMMAKER
“The documentary filmmaker is interested in telling us a certain truth- not the truth or the eternal message, but rather a very personal statement that says, “This film arises out of my background, feelings, and integrity, and on the basis of what I show and how I show it, you can take it or leave it for what it’s worth.” (Rosenthal)
“The documentary filmmaker is one who says: “This is our world. See its joys and be happy. But see its sorrow and learn from it… and don’t say that no one ever told you what the world was like.” (Rosenthal)
“The true documentarist has a passion for what he finds in images and sounds- which always seems to him more meaningful than anything he can invent.” (Barnouw)
“I go on a journey. What I like to do is take viewers by the hand- come with me to this place, I’ll show you what I learn.” (Bikel)
“[The documentary filmmaker’s role is] to capture… feelings, sounds and speech… and to present this… to others for serious and intelligent evaluation (McCarty)
DEFINITIONS CONCERNED WITH THE FILMMAKER / SUBJECT RELATIONSHIP
“A documentary is the sum of relationships during a period of shared action and living, a composition made from the sparks generated during a meeting of hearts and minds.” (Rabiger)
DEFINITIONS CONCERNED WITH THE FILMED MATERIAL
“[A] distinguishing feature [of documentary is] the previous existence of the material… the absence of staging.” (Wood)
DEFINITIONS CONCERNED WITH TREATMENT OF THE FILMED MATERIAL
“A newspaper article is to straightforward news reporting what an imaginative passage of prose or poetry is to documentary.” (Reisz)
“Documentary is the creative treatment of actuality.” (Grierson)
“Documentary is the poetry of reality.”
DEFINITIONS CONCERNED WITH SOCIAL CHANGE
“My feeling is that if the films do anything, they may contribute information that people might not otherwise have, and may suggest things that some people may otherwise not think about. The premise is the simple one that the more information you have the more informed decision you can make.” (Wiseman)
“I confine myself to pointing out existing problems without proposing any solutions. I think it is equally important to point them out as it is to propose solutions.” (Antonioni)
“I think that our ability to change the world is exceedingly limited, although I think it’s a good thing to feel that we can or that we should.” (Anderson)
“For me, working in documentary implies a commitment that one wants to change the world for the better. That says it all.” (Rosenthal)
“MOST DOCUMENTARIES SUCK” AND WHY THIS IS THE CASE
It is ironic that the best documentaries are often the ones that DO NOT reach wide audiences. Consider the following:
“To qualify for TV, it’s got to fascinate thirty million people… so it becomes terribly easy… to use the same techniques to reinforce preconceived notions… We’ve got to do something. There’s got to be some sort of revolution. There’s got to be some way where we can be satisfied by small audiences, with less gigantic sums, with more communication.” (Leacock)
“I would never compromise any of my films just so that they could be on the networks and reach eighty million people. I make films primarily to please myself. I’d like them to be seen by as many people as possible, but I will not water them down, dilute them or change them in order to accomplish that.” (Wiseman)
“Because much that gets shown as documentary is either second rate or not really documentary at all, the form has acquired…[an] unfortunate image.” (Rabiger)
“One of the things that has fouled up the discussion of documentaries, I think, in recent years, has been the identification of documentary with ‘information’ or even ‘instruction.’” (Anderson)
“Documentary’s requirement that the filmmaker be both artist and citizen may be one reason why, out of the thousands upon thousands of documentaries that have been made since the invention of cinema, only a very few have been memorable, worth seeing more than once, if at all.” (Jones)
“The most familiar, but most abused and misunderstood term in the film lexicon, documentary, has been applied to everything from newsreels to instructional films to travelogues and television specials… Documentary is a term which signifies only one approach to the making of nonfiction film… All documentaries are nonfiction films, but not all nonfiction films are documentaries.” (Barsam)
“So the president of ABC saw a program on CBS about Africa that got a lot of praise. And I got a phone call saying, ‘Bob, we want to make a one-hour special on South America.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t make films about continents. I find stories and I tell stories.” (Drew)
“This complaint of a slow, dragging film is, unfortunately, too often made about documentaries, particularly documentaries that are determined to give you every detail of a process, every fact about a person, whether interesting or not.” (Rosenthal)
“Don’t treat generalized subjects; you can write an article about the mail service, but you must make a film about one single letter.” (Cavalcanti)
“I think this objective-subjective stuff is a lot of bullshit. I don’t see how a film can be anything but subjective.” (Wiseman)
“People frequently assume all documentaries are ‘objective’ because factual television so often presents opposing points of view [or so we are led to believe]… This emphasis [on equality]… is a strategy originally devised by journalists as safe passage through a minefield of dangers and responsibilities. [Documentary filmmakers are not ‘journalists’ – they are a different type of artist].” (Rabiger)
“Look, as far as I’m concerned, if I make a film, it’s an expression of my personal opinion. For Christ’s sake, why should I make a film that isn’t an expression of what I feel?” (Wright)
“The difference between documentary and [TV News] is roughly the difference between the editorial and the news pages of the daily newspaper… The editorial page is labeled as such, and the reader generally knows that he is reading opinions based, hopefully, on facts.” (Barsam)
“Characteristics [of the “objective” documentary] include: authoritarian structure, narration by an omniscient narrator, pretended objectivity (dissents stated but paired with official refutation), and non-controversial topics. In such films, an audience remains passive. Documentaries should instead nurture an active role on behalf of the participating viewer.” (Barnouw)
The following are some of the many other reasons why most documentaries are poorly made: topic is not appropriate for the filmmaker; lack of or poor pre-production; failure to creatively treat actuality; overabundance of “facts”; too many “talking head” interviews; dependence upon a narrator.
The challenge faced by a documentary enthusiast is to distinguish between those elements which help to create an understanding of documentary and those which tend to perpetuate the myths about documentary. The best way to understand documentary is to experience this art form directly.
And so, years after the above quotes were spoken… the internet was invented.
Eventually, years after that, this website was created… to be a focal point for “The best of the best” of what this art form has to offer.
I hope you enjoy the films referred to within this website.
Documentary Discussions 