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Docufiction
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Docufiction (or docu-fiction, often confused with docudrama) is a neologism which refers to the

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cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction.[1] More precisely, it is a documentary

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contaminated with fictional elements, [2] in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which

Current events

someone - the character - plays his own role in real life. Concerning a film genre [3] in expansion, the

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new term[4] appeared at the beginning of the 21st century. It is now commonly used in several
languages and widely accepted for classification by international film
festivals. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
In contrast, docudrama is usually a fictional and dramatized recreation[14] of factual events in form of
a documentary, at a time subsequent to the "real" events it portrays. A docudrama is often confused
with docufiction, when drama is considered interchangeable with fiction. Typically however,
"docudrama" refers specifically to telefilms or other television media recreations that dramatize certain
events often with actors.

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A mockumentary (etymology: mock documentary [15] ) is also a film or television show in which
fictitious events are presented in documentary format, sometimes a recreation of factual events after

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they took place or a comment on current events, typically satirical or comedic [16][17] (see genres:

Languages
Deutsch
Franais
Italiano
Portugus

drama versus comedy and tragedy) or dramatic[18] in nature. Portraying events at an ulterior time
and basically using fictional narrative such as docudrama, it should not be confused with docufiction
as well.
The word docufiction is also sometimes used to refer to literary journalism (creative nonfiction). Either
in cinema or television, docufiction is, anyway, a film genre in full development during the first decade
of this century.
Contents [hide]
1 Origins
2 First docufictions by country
3 Other well-known docufictions
4 See also
5 References
6 Sources and bibliography
7 External links

Origins

[edit]

The term involves a way of making films already practiced by such authors as Robert Flaherty, one of
the fathers of documentary,[19][20] and Jean Rouch, later in the 20th century.
It also implicates the concept that fiction and documentary are basic genres, due to the ontological
status[21] of the filmed image as photography: the double (the image of the subject) is shown as
being the same, as real image, as representation and reality in documentary,[22] but as simple
representation in fiction: in fiction, an actor stands for [23][24] another person. Being both,[25]
docufiction is a hybrid genre,[26] arising ethical problems [27][28][29][30][31][32][33] concerning truth.
In the domain of visual anthropology, the innovating role of Jean Rouch [34] allows one to consider

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Docufiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

him as the father of a subgenre called ethnofiction.[35] This term means: ethnographic documentary
film with natives who play fictional roles. Making them play a role about themselves will help portray
reality. [36] It will be reinforced with imagery. A non ethnographic documentary with fictional elements
uses the same method and, for the same reasons, may be called docufiction.

First docufictions by country

[edit]

1926: Moana by Robert Flaherty, United States

1930: Maria do Mar (see IMdb

) by Leito de Barros, Portugal

1932: L'or des mers (see IMdb

) by Jean Epstein, France

1948: La Terra Trema by Luchino Visconti, Italy

1963: Pour la suite du monde (Of Whales, the Moon and Men) by Pierre Perrault and Michel
Brault, Canada
1988: Mortu Nega by Flora Gomes, Guin-Bissau
1990: Close-up (film) by Abbas Kiarostami, Iran
1991: The Gost Train (see review NYT

) by Mika Kaurismki, Finland

2005: Underexposure by Oday Rasheed, Iraq

Other well-known docufictions

[edit]

1931: Tabu (film) by Robert Flaherty and F.W. Murnau

1934: Man of Aran by Robert Flaherty
1945: Ala-Arriba! (film) by Leito de Barros
1948: Louisiana Story by Robert Flaherty
1958: La pyramide humaine (The Human Pyramid
1958/59 Indie Matra Bhumi (The Motherland)

) by Jean Rouch

by Roberto Rossellini, released

2007

1959: Shadows (film) by John Cassavetes

1960: Moi, un noir, by Jean Rouch
1967: David Holzman's Diary by Jim McBride
1972: Trevico-Torino (viaggio nel Fiat-Nam) (see IMdb

), by Ettore Scola

1974: Orderers, by Michel Brault

2000: Supervolcano (TV movie), by Tony Mitchell

See also

[edit]

Docudrama
Mockumentary
Ethnofiction

References

[edit]

1. ^ Reality and documentary at Six Types Of Documentary, article by Girish Shambu (blog)
2. ^ Il difficile rapporto tra fiction e non fiction che si concretizza nella docu-fiction (The difficult
relationship between fiction and non-fiction patent in docufiction ) - thesis in Italian by Laura Marchesi,
Faculty of Communication Sciences (Universit degli Studi di Pavia) at Tesionline , 2005/06
3. ^ An Introduction to Genre Theory by Daniel Chandler at Aberystwyth University
4. ^ What is docufiction? See Section II, pages 37 to 75 (four chapters)
of the thesis by Prof. Theo
Musli
5. ^ Indie Matra Bhumi (The Motherland) Cannes Film Festival
6. ^ Ablel Ferraras docufiction Venice Film Festival
7. ^ The Savage Eye: White Docu-Fiction & Black Reality at Tribeca Film Festival
8. ^ Brian De Palma's On His Iraq Docu-Fiction Comeback at The Huffington Post Toronto Film
Festival and Venice Film Festival

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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.

^ Darius Mehrjuis film Diamond 33 Venice Film Festival

^ New Film Events London Short Film Festival
^ Oscilloscope 'Howl' for Off Beat Docu-Fiction Sundance Selection at Ion Cinema
^ Docufiction at several film festivals
^ See: Hybrids (fiction/nonfiction films) at External links
^ See Docudrama: the real (his)tory Confusion of genres Page 2 on the thesis by iek Cokun
(New York University School of Education)
^ From "mock + documentary" - definition at The Free Dictionary
^ What is mockumentary? at Ranker
^ A television programme or film which takes the form of a serious documentary in order to satirize its
subject. - definition at The Free Dictionary and Dictionary.com
^ Definition at Merrian-Webster dictionary: greatly affecting people's emotions
^ Definition of documentary New Frontiers in American documentary (American Studies at The
University of Virginia)
^ The Impulse of Documentary-Fiction - Paper at Transart Institute
^ The Gap: Documentary Truth between Reality and Perception article by Randolph Jordan referring
the increasing lack of distinction between documentary and fiction film at Hors Champ
^ Open-ended Realities - article by Luciana Lang at Latineos
^ Semiotics at Book Regs
^ Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler at Aberystwyth University
^ (NON)FICTION AND THE VIEWER: RE-INTERPRETING THE DOCUMENTARY FILM Paper by
Tammy Stone, Avila University
^ See hybrid genre
page 50, thesis on docufiction by Prof. Theo Musli
^ Open-ended Realities - article by Luciana Lang at Latineos
^ The appeal of hybrid documentary forms in West Africa
at Project Muse
^ Ethics and Documentary Filmmaking Article by Marty Lucas at Center for Social Media
(American University in Washington, D.C)
Article by Garnet C. Butchart at Cultural
^ On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual Truth
Studies Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, published University of South
Florida
^ What to Do About Documentary Distortion? Toward a Code of Ethics Article by Bill Nichols at
Documentary.org
^ Documentary Film Prompts-Ethics in Documentary/Fiction vs. Documentary Paper by Ardavon
Naimi at University of Texas at Dallas
^ Ethics and Filmmaking in Developing Countries at Unite For Sight
^ READING THE IMAGE: Visual Literacy And The Films Of Jean Rouch
article by Rayma
Watkinson at Inter-disciplanary Net
^ Jean Rouch and the Genesis of Ethnofiction, thesis by Brian Quist, Long Island University
^ "Ethnofiction: drama as a creative research practice in ethnographic film." Journal of Media Practice 9,
no. 3(2008), eScholarID:1b5648, article by Johannes Sjberg

Sources and bibliography

[edit]

(English) Docu-fiction - Convergence and contamination between documentary representation

and fictional simulation

, thesis by Prof. Theo Musli - Science of Communication Faculty,
University of Lugano (Italy) - 1999/2000
(English) Table of contents for Docufictions: essays on the intersection of documentary and

fictional filmmaking
(English) Paget, Derek (1998). No Other Way to Tell It. Dramadoc/docudrama on television.

Manchester University Press. ISBN9780719045332.

(English) Rosenthal, Alan (199). Why Docudrama?: Fact-Fiction on Film and TV. Carbondale &
Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press. ISBN9780809321865.
(English) Lipkin, Steven N., ed. (2002). Real Emotional Logic. Film and Television Docudrama As

Persuasive Practice. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Press. ISBN9780809324095.

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Docufiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(English) Docudrama: the real (his)tory

thesis by iek Cokun (New York University School of

Education)
(Italian) Un genere cinematografico: la docu-fiction. Il caso di 150 ore a Pavia

by Laura

Marchesi (thesis abstract)

(French) Le documentaire historique au pril du docufiction

thesis by Franois Garon

(abstract in English and French)

(French) 3 questions Isabelle Veyrat-Masson
(French) Peter Watkins, un cinaste maudit

interview (Le Journal du CNRS)

article at Critikat

External links

[edit]

New Media Documentary

Paper by Gunthar Hartwig

Issues in contemporary documentary

by Jane Chapman at Google Books (pages 1 to 34)

Shaping the Real: Directorial imagination and the visualisation of evidence in the hybrid
documentary Article by Janet Merewether at Scan journal
Panel: At The Edge of Truth: Hybrid Documentaries
Docufiction: Where Art and Life Merge and Diverge
2.0

at Vox Talk

magazine

Article by Julie Drizin at Makers Quest

Hybrids (fiction/nonfiction films)

Mists Movie reviews
In Vanda's Room

, March, 2011

Article by Cyril Neyrat at Film Society

Its Actual Life. No, Its Drama. No, Its Both

August 20, 2010

Article by Dennis Lim at The New York Times,

Table of contents for Docufictions: essays on the intersection of documentary and fictional
filmmaking
Categories: Film genres

This page was last modified on 1 February 2012 at 15:48.

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