Documentary and Ethnographic Film

Abstract

The definition of documentary film has to take into account its difference from other genres of nonfiction film on the one hand and from fiction film on the other. John Grierson first employed the term to define documentary as ‘a creative treatment of actuality.’ Ethnographic film forms a part of the discipline of anthropology, which traditionally involved the scientific observation and recording of the cultures of communities in distant lands. One way of classifying the documentary film is in terms of four distinct modes, viz. the expository, the observational, also referred to as Direct Cinema, the interactive, which includes cinema verité, and the reflexive mode. This article presents a brief history of documentary and ethnographic film with authorial positions as the organizing principle. Debates related to documentary and ethnographic film have revolved around various sets of relationships: between the author and the narrative (the question of realism), between the author and the subjects filmed (the question of the ethics and politics of representation), and between the narrative and audiences (the question of effects and audience reception).