Approaching the Truth (original) (raw)

THE DOCUMENTARY FILM GENRE: ISSUES OF TRUTH AND PROPAGANDA

LOCATING TRANSNATIONAL SPACES, CULTURE, THEATRE AND CINEMA

Abstract The documentary film genre has established itself as a credible cinematic form over the years. It has grown to become a useful tool for driving social change, engaging people, mobilising groups as well as pushing for institutional transformations. Even though the documentary film is regarded as a presentation of truth in real life situations and circumstances, the influence of a director, cinematic techniques and technology, have been implicated as agents that may affect the concept of truth in documentaries. If a filmmaker has the liberty to apply creativity in the treatment of real-life conflicts in the documentary film process, the question to answer therefore is, to what extent does the creativity of the director and other influences allow the truth to remain untouched in the documentary film? This article adds to the debate on the issue of fact in documentary films as an art form. It attempts an assessment of some positions for and against the place of truth in the documentary film. It concludes that the documentary film, even though engineered initially to project the fact equally, has become a tool that could be used for purposes that may compromise truth. Key Words: Documentary Film, Truth, Ethics

Introduction: unruly documentary artivism

Documentary filmmakers behaving in an unruly manner are nothing new. Since the earliest examples of nonfiction cinema, filmmakers have been accused of violating or misrepresenting their subjects, and the credibility of their films has often been called into question. In 1922, Robert J. Flaherty's iconic silent film Nanook of the North purported to capture the everyday life of an Inuk man, Nanook, and his family; however, as it has been well documented, Nanook's real name was Allakariallak and the woman, portrayed as his wife, was not his actual wife. Furthermore, Nanook was encouraged to use a harpoon, a by-then-abandoned weapon, instead of rifles for a dramatic scene, which was staged by Flaherty to create an 'authentic' record of the vanishing tradition of walrus hunting and which put Allakariallak's life at risk. Another questionable scene depicted Nanook acting as if he was unfamiliar with modern technology such as gramophones, following the instructions of the filmmaker. While these were done in the name of salvage ethnography and its quest for authenticity, they also led to the misrepresentation of the documentary subjects and the Inuit culture of the day.

Documentary Media: History, Theory, Practice, by Broderick Fox

Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media

This is a "how-to" book with a difference. When the first edition was published in 2010, author Broderick Fox, a professor in the Media Arts and Culture Department at Occidental College in Los Angeles, was also an experienced practitioner who had made a number of films in various genres ("Selected Works"). Now, as this second edition is published, Fox is widely recognised as an award-winning director and producer. His two major feature-length documentary films both explore controversial and challenging themes, and their intensely personal topics, their experimentation and their exploration of the documentary form illuminate the approach of this book. In the autobiographical, self-revelatory The Skin I'm In (2012), Fox faces the traumas of his young adulthood as he comes out as gay and recovers from alcoholism and an attempted suicide. Zen & the Art of Dying (2015) follows the Australian activist Zenith Virago as she engages with a "celebratory" approach to death. Although these two films are not discussed directly in this book, their embrace of expressivity, art, spirituality and creativity are clearly reflected in its approach.

Documentary Film Classics

1997

Rothman, William. Documentary film classics / William Rothman. p. cm.-(Cambridge studies in film) ISBN 0-521-45067-5 (hbk) ISBN 0-521-45681-9 (pbk) I. Documentary films-History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series PN 1995.9D6R69 1997 070.1'8-dc20 96-14029 CIP A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-521-45067-5 hardback 0-521-45681-9 paperback CHAPTER IV

Mainstream Documentary Film since 1999

This paper discusses how, in the first decade of the 21st century, documentary film rose to unprecedented significance in American media, succeeding not only in establishing a commercially viable niche in the filmic landscape but also having discernable impacts on public opinion, public actions and even public policy.This decade was one of unprecedented burgeoning of documentary production and consumption that entailed a great increase in output and some qualitative advances. While televisual documentary came to be associated with certain factory values that reflected the TV industry’s vast need for programming, theatrical documentary came in this period to be seen as a much more individually crafted, courageous, human-scale response against social injustice and the abuse of power. Hence, the era also raised questions about the social role of documentary, including the responsibility of filmmakers to serve the public's informational needs and to honor traditional journalistic goals, such as accuracy.