Documentary Movies
Documentary movies are the non-fiction branch of the movies industry that are usually narrative-based that present a side of life that mainstream audiences may or may not be familiar with. Documentary movies are a vehicle for directors or the lead character to highlight an aspect of society or perhaps an individual’s story for the purpose of bringing an issue to the forefront.
Topics that documentary movies can cover can be as diverse as the topic can get with well known topics ranging from biographical (Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time, 1992) to entertainment milestones (Woodstock, 1970, Madonna: Truth or Dare 1991) to social expose and commentaries (Michael Moore films) to environmental examinations (An Inconvenient Truth, David Attenborough documentaries).
There are some documentary movies that provide do not deal with whole issues but rather one person’s person struggle or dilemma, with this then used to comment on a greater issue.
Perhaps one of the most infamous documentarians is Michael Moore, an independent filmmaker that focuses on the biggest flaws and issues facing both corporate and consumer America with some of his most notable films being Bowling for Columbine (2002) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004). These films looked into the American gun culture and the Bush administration, with Fahrenheit 9/11 now recorded as the highest-grossing documentary of all time.
Documentary movies can be used to represent the opinion and cause for one person or a whole country, with the documentarian acting as the audience filter.
Examples of Documentry movies are Food, Inc and Tyson:
Other documentary forms
Compilation films
Compilation films were pioneered in 1927 by Esfir Schub with The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. More recent examples include Point of Order (1964), directed by Emile de Antonio about the McCarthy hearings and The Atomic Cafe which is made entirely out of found footage that various agencies of the U.S. government made about the safety of nuclear radiation (e.g., telling troops at one point that it's safe to be irradiated as long as they keep their eyes and mouths shut). Similarly, The Last Cigarette combines the testimony of various tobacco company executives before the U.S. Congress with archival propaganda extolling the virtues of smoking.
Copyright: This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Documentary film".
Documentary News
Movie review of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.
Movie review of Which Way Home, a documentary by filmmaker Rebecca Cammisa, who follows Latin American children who leave their homes and families to hop on freight trains and travel hundreds of miles to try to enter the U.S. illegally in hope of finding new and better life.
Food Inc investigates the industrial production and distribution of food in the United States by large multinational corporations such as Monsanto and Tyson, to the detriment of small independent farmers and to the overall quality of nutrition.
A guide to the Academy Awards and Documentary Film, covering the current and past years' films nominated for Best Documentary Feature, with background information about how nominees are selected and who votes for the winners, plus lists of winners in previous years.
Fifteen documentaries have been short listed for the five nomination slots for Academy Awards 2010 Best Documentary.
Filmmaker Louis Psihoyos follows animal rights activist Richard O'Barry in this shocker of a documentary that effectively exposes the annual secret slaughter of thousands of dolphins by a greedy community of Japanese fishermen, supported by a complicit Japanese government and international whaling commission.
These inspiring documentaries show how personal commitment to a project or giving your all to a cause can make a difference.
The list of films that won awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010.
Academy Awards Qualifying Requirements for Documentary Films
The Iraq War has become a primary subject for documentary films in which filmmakers show its effects on the people who live and fight in that beleaguered country. Documentary films about Iraq deliver information and impressions often neglected by mainstream news media covering the war.