1. Documentary Filmmaking
History, Genre & Subgenres

2. Purpose of This Lesson
• Explore the early history of the documentary
film.
• Explore the genres, subgenres, and modes of
documentary films.

3. Essential Questions
• What is the early history of the documentary?
• What is genre?
• What are the sub-genres within documentary
film?
• Why is it sometimes difficult to place a film in a
genre or subgenre?
• What are the modes of the documentary?

4. The First “Documentaries”
Early French film pioneers
Auguste (left) and Louis
(right) Lumière dubbed
their films “actualités”.
These short films were
single scene
documentaries and
mostly consisted of
scenes of of everyday
life.
http://www.institut-lumiere.org

5. The Movies Begin
Louis and Auguste Lumière
projected 10 short films to
a paying audience on
December 28, 1895 at the
Grand Cafe in Paris .
http://www.institut-lumiere.org

6. The First Movie Projected to the Public
La Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon (1895) “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”

7. The First Feature Length Documentary
Nanook of the North (1922)
Directed by Robert J.
Flaherty, this film
chronicles one year in the
life of an Inuit and his
By Robert J. Flaherty [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

8. Term Documentary
In his 1926 review of Robert J. Flaherty’s Moana,
John Grierson, (under the pseudonym The
Moviegoer) refers to the the film having
“documentary” value and has been credited with
coining the term.

9. Term Documentary
In his 1926 review of Robert J. Flaherty’s Moana,
John Grierson, (under the pseudonym The
Moviegoer) refers to the the film having
“documentary” value and has been credited with
coining the term.

10. Genre
Originating from French, genre simply means kind
or type. In regards to film it refers to how the
film is categorized, i.e. drama, comedy,
documentary, etc.

11. Subgenres
The genre of documentary can be further broken
into subgenres.

12. Sub-genres of Documentary Film
• Historical - event centered
• Biographic & Autobiographic - person centered
• Nature & Science - observation centered
• Ethnographic - people centered
• Advocacy - issue centered

13. The Non-Documentary
Mockumentary is a movie that mimics documentary
style for comedic or satirical purposes. Examples
include:
• Zelig (1983)
• This is Spinal Tap (1984)
• Forgotten Silver (1995)
• Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

14. Difficulties with Genre & Subgenre
• Can you think of other genres & subgenres of
films?
• Where do you think “propaganda” films fit?
• Why are films often difficult to categorize?