Docufiction
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Docufiction (often understood as docudrama) is a neologism which refers to a cinematographic work in a genre mixing fiction and documentary. This term appeared at the beginning of the 20th century and is commonly used in several languages. Docudrama is wrongly used as a synonym of docufiction, confusing drama with fiction. The use of docufiction is common in television, consisting in illustrating facts or events with actors. The term docudrama is apter in this sense. The term docufiction is sometimes used to refer to literary journalism (creative nonfiction).
The term involves a way of making films already practised by such authors as Robert Flaherty, one of the fathers of documentary, and Jean Rouch, in the 20th century.
It also implicates the concept that fiction and documentary are basic genres, due to the ontological status of the filmed image as photography: the double is shown as being the same, as representation and reality. Being both, docufiction is a hybrid genre, arising ethical problems concerning truth.
In the domain of visual anthropology, the innovating role of Jean Rouch allows one to consider him as the father of a subgenre called ethnofiction (Jean Rouch and the Genesis of Ethnofiction – thesis by Brian Quist, Long Island University).
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[edit] First docufictions by country
- 1926 – Moana by Robert Flaherty, USA
- 1930 – Maria do Mar by Leitão de Barros, Portugal
- 1932 – L'or des mers 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, Guiné-Bissau
- 1990 – Close-up (film) by Abbas Kiarostami, Iran
- 2002 – City of God (film) by Fernando Meirelles, Brazil (?)
[edit] Other well-known docufictions
- 1931 : Tabu (film) by Robert Flaherty and F.W. Murnau
- 1934 : Man of Aran by Robert Flaherty
- 1945 : Ala-Arriba! (film) by Leitão de Barros
- 1948 : Louisiana Story by Robert Flaherty
- 1958 : La pyramide humaine by Jean Rouch
- 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), by Ettore Scola
- 1974 : Orderers, by Michel Brault
[edit] See also
- Pierre Perrault’s Île-aux-Coudres trilogy
- Docudrama
- Docudrama in MBC (The Museum of Broadcast Communication)
- Peter Watkins, a pioneer of docudrama
[edit] Common definitions for docudrama
- Compact Oxford English Dictionary: «a dramatized film based on real events and incorporating documentary features».
- Cambridge Dictionary of American English: «a television program whose story is based on an event or situation that really happened, although it is not accurate in every detail»
- Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: «a television programme whose story is based on an event or situation that really happened although it is not intended to be accurate in every detail»
- Wiktionary: «A type of drama (a film, a television show, or a play) that combines elements of documentary and drama, to some extent showing real events and to some extent using actors performing recreations of documented events».
- American Heritage: «A television or movie dramatization of events based on fact».
- Rhymezone: «a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event»
[edit] Related articles
[edit] Bibliography
- Docufictions : essays on the intersection of documentary and fictional filmmaking, edited by Gary D. Rhodes and John Parris Springer (see table of contents) - Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Co, 2006
- No Other Way to Tell It. Dramadoc/docudrama on television, by Derek Paget, Manchester 1998
- Why Docudrama? : Fact-Fiction on Film and TV, by Alan Rosenthal, Carbondale & Edwardsville 1999
- Real Emotional Logic. Film and Television Docudrama, Ed. Steven N.Lipkin, Carbondale 2002
