- Docufiction
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Docufiction (or docu-fiction, often confused with docudrama) is a neologism which refers to the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction.[1] More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements,[2] in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone - the character - plays his own role in real life. Concerning a film genre[3] in expansion, the 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.
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 they took place or a comment on current events, typically satirical or comedic[16][17] (see genres: 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
Origins
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 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
- 1926: Moana by Robert Flaherty, United States
- 1930: Maria do Mar (see IMdb) by Leitão 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, Guiné-Bissau
- 1990: Close-up (film) by Abbas Kiarostami, Iran
- 1991: The Gost Train (see review NYT) by Mika Kaurismäki, Finland
- 2005: Underexposure by Oday Rasheed, Iraq
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 (The Human Pyramid) by Jean Rouch
- 1958/59 Indie Matra Bhumi (The Motherland) 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
References
- ^ Reality and documentary – at Six Types Of Documentary, article by Girish Shambu (blog)
- ^ 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 (Università degli Studi di Pavia) at Tesionline, 2005/06
- ^ An Introduction to Genre Theory by Daniel Chandler at Aberystwyth University
- ^ What is docufiction? – See Section II, pages 37 to 75 (four chapters) of the thesis by Prof. Theo Mäusli
- ^ Indie Matra Bhumi (The Motherland) – Cannes Film Festival
- ^ Ablel Ferrara’s docufiction – Venice Film Festival
- ^ The Savage Eye: White Docu-Fiction & Black Reality at Tribeca Film Festival
- ^ Brian De Palma's On His Iraq Docu-Fiction Comeback at The Huffington Post – Toronto Film Festival and Venice Film Festival
- ^ Darius Mehrjui’s 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 Çiçek Coşkun (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 Mäusli
- ^ 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)
- ^ On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual Truth – Article by Garnet C. Butchart at Cultural 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 Sjöberg
Sources and bibliography
- (English) Docu-fiction - Convergence and contamination between documentary representation and fictional simulation , thesis by Prof. Theo Mäusli - 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. ISBN 9780719045332.
- (English) Rosenthal, Alan (199). Why Docudrama? : Fact-Fiction on Film and TV. Carbondale & Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press. ISBN 9780809321865.
- (English) Lipkin, Steven N., ed (2002). Real Emotional Logic. Film and Television Docudrama As Persuasive Practice. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Press. ISBN 9780809324095.
- (English) Docudrama: the real (his)tory thesis by Çiçek Coşkun (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 péril du « docufiction – thesis by François Garçon (abstract in English and French)
- (French) 3 questions à…Isabelle Veyrat-Masson – interview (Le Journal du CNRS)
- (French) Peter Watkins, un cinéaste maudit article at Critikat
External links
- 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 at Vox Talk magazine
- Docufiction: Where Art and Life Merge and Diverge– Article by Julie Drizin at Makers Quest 2.0
- Hybrids (fiction/nonfiction films)
- Mists – Movie reviews, March, 2011
- In Vanda's Room – Article by Cyril Neyrat at Film Society
- It’s Actual Life. No, It’s Drama. No, It’s Both – Article by Dennis Lim at The New York Times, August 20, 2010
Categories:- Film genres
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