from The Telegraph.

The phrase was coined in the early 1960s to describe a form of “fly-on-the-wall” film making, shorn of interviews, lights and preachy voice-over, that seemed to promise a true record of events. Leacock was one of a team of film-makers (including DA Pennebaker and Albert Maysles) who, in the early 1960s, devised the portable, hand-held cameras and synchronous sound equipment that formed the basis for the movement. It was as much ideological as technological, championing non-judgmental observation as the purest form of documentation.

Read the rest of this article from The Telegraph.

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by Reed Johnson.

An unusual number of this year’s Oscar contenders for best picture are based on true events: “The Social Network,” “The Fighter,” “The King’s Speech” and “127 Hours.” At least one other nominee, “Winter’s Bone,” although fictional, conveys such a wealth of sociological detail about its rural Missouri setting that it could be used to flesh out a PBS “Frontline” segment on, say, crystal meth’s ravages or squirrel-skinning.

But there’s a parallel trend in documentary filmmaking. With new camera and editing technology allowing documentarians to construct ever-more complex, nonlinear narratives — and filmmakers increasingly employing reenactments, animated sequences, finely drawn characters, humorous or ironic voice-overs and unreliable narrators to get at what they see as “truth” — some documentaries are playing more and more like fictional films.

Read the rest of this article from LA Times.

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This article was written for Nigerian Music Nigeria.

“U.S Filmmakers Bart Weiss and Kim Snyder were recently in Nigeria to attend an American Documentary Showcase organised by the public affairs section of the US Consulate in Lagos and the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers.

In his opening remarks, Bart Weiss, an award winning independent film producer and founder of the Dallas Video Festival, introduced the audience to various techniques of making a documentary, with emphasis on cinéma vérité. Defining the term as ‘a film of truth’, Weiss said, “It involves a camera man following his subject in real life rather than constructing images. The crew follows things as they evolve. It helps you experience the emotion because everything is not based on the imagination of the director”.

Read the rest of this article from Nigerian Music Movement.

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This article was written by Amy R. Handler.

“When Sean Dunne uploaded his short documentary The Archive to Vimeo, he had no idea he’d become an overnight cult sensation. Still it happened, a mind-blowing, life changing explosion—proving once again, that dreams really can come true in the 21st century.

In the following interview, the 29-year-old filmmaker shares his unbelievable journey from obscurity to fame. The fact that Dunne still reels from the shock of it all, and remains as modest and hardworking as ever, makes this story all the sweeter.”

Read the rest of this article from Film Threat.

This article was written for Power to the People.

“I’d like to talk about such a promising home amusement as documentary films. In fact it’s rather a specific kind of entertainment. It’s known that documentaries are considered to be somewhat “serious” entertainment so some people even refuse to associate documentaries with entertainment at all. But as for me I watch documentaries exactly for the sake of my entertainment.”

Read the rest of this article from Power to the People.

This article was written by Edward J Delaney.

When Ester Brym decided to make her first documentary, she decided to do it on the subject of YouTube, and when she finished it, she decided to distribute it on YouTube – but not for free.

“Butterflies,” which focuses on some YouTube stars who have built fame and some fortune on the free video-distribution site is now the first feature film to actually be for rental under YouTube’s new pay option.

Charging $4.99 for 24 hours’ access to the 70-minute film, “Butterflies” has gotten (as of April 12) 3,091 views. Under the YouTube arrangement, the filmmaker receives half of that payment.”

Read the rest of this article from Documentary Tech.

“For renowned movie director and critic Thom Anderson, documentary films are the most powerful medium revealing the lives and cultures of other people.

Anderson, the head judge of the EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF), says he enjoys watching and making documentaries because of their very nature.

There was a certain period when people didn’t like the word documentary. They thought it was limiting, but I was always proud to be a documentary filmmaker,” he said in an interview at the EBS headquarters in southern Seoul, Monday.

“For me, cinema is a way of revealing life, showing people how others live and also different cultures. When filmmakers can say `none of this is made up and they all come directly from life,’ that connection is particularly strong, and this (connection) can be found in documentary films,” he said.”

Read this article from Korea Times.

“A new report issued by American University’s Center for Social Media finds that documentary filmmakers routinely grapple with ethics challenges, yet the craft lacks any sort of broad standards in ethics practices. The Center for Social Media is noted for its codes of best practices in fair use, the most longstanding of which is the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use.

“Documentary filmmakers claim to tell important truths, but they lack standards that help them do that job with the greatest integrity—particularly in difficult economic conditions,” said Patricia Aufderheide, director of American University’s Center for Social Media and one of the report’s three authors.”

Read this article from Media-Newswire.

“Celebrated Singaporean filmmaker Siok Siok Tan began work several months ago on a “Twittamentary” about the popular micro-blogging service, Twitter and the idea is soon to come to life. Twittamentary is live now. If you wonder what it is all about, it is about how Twitter has changed someone’s life. If you have a story to contribute, you can become part of this Twittamentary film.”

Read this article from Techielobang.

“Documentary films, the traditional kind that the average person simply ignores, have long since given way to the popular faux documentary. These films, unlike their parent genre, have been and continue to be wildly successful. In fact, they are now so tightly woven into our culture that we truly forget what they are.

Christopher Guest’s films Best in Show, For Your Consideration, and A Mighty Wind were all based on a fake, typically unseen camera crew following a group during or to an event. Sacha Baron Cohen also took this approach, with an obviously irreverent tone, with Da Ali G Show and the films Borat and Bruno.”

Read this article from Starpulse Entertainment News.