Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and which simultaneously introduces unreal elements or fictional situations in narrative in order to strengthen the representation of reality using some kind of

artistic expression Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what ...

. More precisely, it is a documentary mixed with fictional elements, in

real time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

, filmed when the events take place, and in which the main

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

or characters—often portrayed by non-professional or amateur actors—are essentially playing themselves, or slightly fictionalized versions of themselves, in a fictionalized scenario. In this sense, docufiction may overlap to an extent with some aspects of the mockumentary format, but the terms are not synonymous. A film genre in expansion, it is adopted by a number of experimental filmmakers. The neologism docufiction 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. Portrait of Robert J

Origins

The term involves a way of making films already practiced by such authors as

Robert Flaherty Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, ''Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputatio ...

, one of the fathers of documentary, and Jean Rouch, later in the 20th century. Being both

and documentary, docufiction is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

genre, raising ethical problemsOpen-ended Realities
– article by Luciana Lang a
Latineos
/ref> concerning truth, since reality may be manipulated and confused with fiction (see Ethics at creative non-fiction). In the domain of visual anthropology, the innovating role of Jean Rouch allows one to consider him as the father of a subgenre called ethnofiction. This term means: ethnographic documentary film with natives who play fictional roles. Making them play a role about themselves will help portray reality, which will be reinforced with

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

. A non-ethnographic documentary with fictional elements uses the same method and, for the same reasons, may be called docufiction.

Docudrama and mockumentary

In contrast,

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

is usually a dramatized recreation of factual events in form of a documentary, at a time subsequent to the "real" events it portrays. While ''docudrama'' can be confused with ''docufiction,'' "docudrama" refers specifically to film or other television recreations that dramatize certain events, often with actors. A mockumentary 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 News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...

, typically satirical, comedic or even dramatic. Whereas mockumentaries are usually fully scripted comedies or dramas that merely adopt some aspects of documentary format as a framing device, docufictions are usually not scripted, instead placing the participants in a fictionalized scenario while portraying their own genuine reactions and their own

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

al dialogue and character development.

First docufictions by country

* 1926: United States – '' Moana'' by

* 1930: Portugal – '' Maria do Mar'' by

Leitão de Barros A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk (i.e., a piglet which is still a "suckling"). In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in ...

* 1932: France – '' L'or des mers'' by

Jean Epstein Jean Epstein (; 25 March 1897 – 2 April 1953) was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', he directe ...

* 1948: Italy – '' La Terra Trema'' by Luchino Visconti * 1952:

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

– '' Children of Hiroshima'' by Kaneto Shindo * 1963: Canada – '' Pour la suite du monde'' (''Of Whales, the Moon and Men'') by Pierre Perrault and Michel Brault * 1981: Morocco – ''

Trances ''Trances'' is the second album by the American ambient musician Robert Rich. Like his first album '' Sunyata'', this album consists of slow, textural drone music. In 1994 this album was bound with Rich's third album, '' Drones'', on the two-di ...

'' by Ahmed El Maânouni * 1988:

Guiné-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

– ''

Mortu Nega ''Mortu Nega'' (English: ''Death Denied'' or ''Those Whom Death Refused'') is a 1988 historic film by Flora Gomes, a director from Guinea-Bissau. ''Mortu Nega'' was Gomes' first feature-length film and the first film produced in independent Guine ...

'' (Death denied) by Flora Gomes * 1990: Iran – ''

Close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...

'' by

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...

* 1991: Finland – ''

Zombie and the Ghost Train ''Zombie and the Ghost Train'' ( fi, Zombie ja Kummitusjuna) is a 1991 Finnish film directed by Mika Kaurismäki. It focuses on Antti (aka Zombie), a loner who loves performing music but leads a miserable life otherwise. Cast * Silu Seppälä as ...

'' by Mika Kaurismäki * 2002: Brazil – '' City of God'' by

Fernando Meirelles Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film '' City of God'', released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films, which ...

and

Kátia Lund Kátia Lund (born March 13, 1966) is a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. Her most notable work was as co-director of the film '' City of God''. Early life Lund was born in São Paulo, to American parents who emigrated to Brazil before sh ...

* 2005: Iraq – ''

Underexposure In photography, exposure is the amount of light per unit area (the image plane's illuminance times the exposure time) reaching a frame of photographic film or the surface of an electronic image sensor, as determined by shutter speed, lens F-n ...

'' by Oday Rasheed

Other notable examples

* 1927: '' Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness'' by

Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker and Academy Award winner, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force. In film, he is credited a ...

and

Ernest B. Schoedsack Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack (June 8, 1893 – December 23, 1979) was an American motion picture cinematographer, producer, and director. Schoedsack worked as a cameraman in World War I, where he served in the Signal Corps. At the conclusion of ...

(US) * 1931: ''

Tabu Tabu may refer to: Cultural and legal concepts *Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society *Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...

'' by

and

F.W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...

(US) * 1934: ''

Man of Aran ''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary (ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, d ...

'' by Robert Flaherty (US) * 1942: '' Ala-Arriba!'' by

(Portugal) * 1948: ''

Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...

'' by Robert Flaherty (US) * 1956: '' On the Bowery'' by Lionel Rogosin (US) * 1958: '' Walt Disney's White Wilderness by James Algar (US) * 1958: ''

Moi, un noir ''Moi, un noir'' (, "Me, a Black erson; also released as ''I, a Negro'') is a 1958 French ethnofiction film directed by Jean Rouch. The film is set in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Synopsis The film depicts young Nigerien immigrants who left their c ...

'' (Me, A Black Man) by Jean Rouch (France) * 1959 '' India Matri Bhumi'' (The Motherland) by Roberto Rossellini, released 2007 (Italy) * 1959: '' Come Back, Africa'' by Lionel Rogosin (US) * 1961: '' La pyramide humaine'' by Jean Rouch (The Human Pyramid) (France) * 1962: ''

Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...

'' by

Manoel de Oliveira Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wo ...

(Portugal) * 1964: '' Belarmino'' by Fernando Lopes (Portugal) * 1967: ''

David Holzman's Diary ''David Holzman's Diary'' is a 1967 American mockumentary, or work of metacinema, directed by James McBride and starring L. M. Kit Carson. A feature-length film made on a tiny budget over several days, it is a work of experimental fiction present ...

'' by Jim McBride (US) * 1970: '' The Clowns'' by

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

(Italy) * 1973: ''

Trevico-Torino (viaggio nel Fiat-Nam) ''Trevico-Turin: Voyage in Fiatnam'' ( it, Trevico-Torino - Viaggio nel Fiat-Nam) is a 1973 Italian drama film, a docufiction written and directed by Ettore Scola. It is a realistic description of the difficult living conditions in which there wer ...

'' by

Ettore Scola Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...

(Italy) * 1974: ''

Orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(Les Ordres)'', by Michel Brault (Canada) * 1974: '' Montreal Main'', by

Frank Vitale Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

(Canada) * 1976: ''

People from Praia da Vieira A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...

'' by

António Campos António Campos (29 May 1922 – 8 March 1999) was one of the pioneer filmmakers of visual anthropology in Portugal. Mainly using pure documentary techniques, he shot ethnographic films and tried docufiction. As well as in fictional films, he u ...

(Portugal) * 1976: ''

Trás-os-Montes Trás-os-Montes () is a geographical, historical and cultural region of Portugal. Portuguese for "behind the mountains", Trás-os-Montes is located northeast of the country in an upland area, landlocked by the Douro and Tâmega rivers to south a ...

'' (Portugal) * 1982: '' Ana'' by

António Reis António Ferreira Gonçalves dos Reis, known as António Reis (27 August 1927 – 10 September 1991), was a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. He was married to Margarida Cordeiro, co-director of ...

and Margarida Cordeiro (Portugal) * 1982: ''

After the Axe ''After the Axe'' is a 1982 Canadian drama film about executive firings directed by Sturla Gunnarsson. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film explores the experiences of managers getting fired and the emer ...

'', by

Sturla Gunnarsson Sturla Gunnarsson (born August 30, 1951) is an Icelandic-Canadian film and television director and producer. Gunnarsson was born in Reykjavík in 1951. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his parents when he was seven years old. As he ...

(Canada) * 1984: ''

The Masculine Mystique ''The Masculine Mystique'' is a Canadian docufiction film directed by Giles Walker and John N. Smith and released in 1984. The film centres on Alex ( Sam Grana), Blue ( Stefan Wodoslawsky), Mort (Mort Ransen) and Ashley (Ashley Murray), four men ...

'' by

Giles Walker Giles Walker (January 17, 1946 - March 23, 2020) was a Scottish-born Canadian film director. Biography Giles Walker, born in 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, received a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick and an M.A. from Stanford University ...

and

John N. Smith John N. Smith OC (born July 31, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Career Smith graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1964. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1 ...

(Canada) * 1985: ''

90 Days ''90 Days'' is a video news magazine produced by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, MO and distributed at the end of every business quarter (hence the show's title) through the mail to employees and shareholders of the company in VHS format. From it ...

'' by Giles Walker (Canada) * 1986: '' Sitting in Limbo'' by John N. Smith (Canada) * 1987: ''

The Last Straw ''The last straw'' is an idiom referring to the Straw that broke the camel's back The idiom "the straw that broke the camel's back" describes the minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, because of the cumu ...

'' by Giles Walker (Canada) * 1987: ''

Train of Dreams ''Train of Dreams'' is a 1987 Canadian film directed by John N. Smith and starring Jason St. Amour, Christopher Neil and Frederick Eugene Ward as a popular teacher. In this documentary-style drama, a delinquent teenager tries to put his life on ...

'' by John N. Smith (Canada) * 1989: ''

Welcome to Canada ''Welcome to Canada'' is a Canadian docufiction film directed by John N. Smith and released in 1989. Loosely based on a real-life incident, the film depicts the interactions of a small community in Newfoundland with a group of Sri Lankan Tamil ...

'' by John N. Smith (Canada) * 1990: ''

The Company of Strangers ''The Company of Strangers'' (US release title: ''Strangers in Good Company''; French title: ''Le Fabuleux gang des sept'') is a Canadian film, released in 1990. It was directed by Cynthia Scott and was written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wil ...

'' by Cynthia Scott (Canada) * 1991: ''

And Life Goes On ''And Life Goes On'' ( fa, زندگی و دیگر هیچ ''Zendegi va digar hich''; also called ''Life, and Nothing More...'') is a 1992 Iranian film directed by Abbas Kiarostami. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cann ...

'' by

(Iran) * 2000: ''

In Vanda's Room ''In Vanda's Room'' (Portuguese: ''No Quarto da Vanda'', 2000) is a docufiction (a subgenre of cinéma vérité) film by Portuguese director Pedro Costa. This is the second film in his Fontainhas trilogy. Overview The film follows the daily life ...

'' by Pedro Costa (Portugal) * 2002: ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

'' by

(Iran) * 2006: '' Colossal Youth'' by Pedro Costa (Portugal) * 2007: ''

Criminals Gone Wild ''Criminals Gone Wild'' is a documentary film directed and produced by Ousala Aleem through his Brooklyn-based media studio FD Entertainment. Content The film chronicled the lives of several alleged criminals on rampages of crime sprees of ro ...

'' by Ousala Aleem (US) * 2008: ''

Our Beloved Month of August ''Our Beloved Month of August'' ( pt, Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto) is a 2008 Portuguese film directed by Miguel Gomes. Reception As of 31 October 2008, the film has grossed more than €89,000. It won the Critics Award at the 2008 São Paulo I ...

'' by Miguel Gomes (Portugal) * 2009: '' Carcasses'' by Denis Côté (Canada)"A meditation on what it means to be marginal". '' Montreal Gazette'', May 29, 2009. * 2009: '' The Mouth of the Wolf'' by Pietro Marcello (Italy) * 2013: ''

Closed Curtain ''Closed Curtain'' ( fa, پرده, italics=yes, ''Pardeh'') is a 2013 Iranian docufiction film by Jafar Panahi and Kambuzia Partovi. It premiered at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 2013 where Panahi won the Silver Bear f ...

'' by

Jafar Panahi Jafar Panâhi ( fa, جعفر پناهی, ; born 11 July 1960) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an ass ...

and

Kambuzia Partovi Kambuzia Partovi (also spelt Kambozia Partovi, fa, کامبوزیا پرتوی; 11 November 1955 – 24 November 2020) was an Iranian film director and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Rasht, Iran, on the Caspian Sea. After studying theate ...

(Iran) * 2015: '' Taxi'' by

(Iran) * 2016: ''

Tuktuq ''Tuktuq'' is a Canadian docufiction film from Quebec, directed by Robin Aubert and released in 2016. The film stars Aubert as Martin Brodeur, a cameraman who is sent to a small Inuit village in the Nunavik region of Quebec as part of a government ...

'' by Robin Aubert (Canada) * 2018: '' Mad Dog Labine'' by

Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr Jonathan may refer to: * Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

and

Renaud Lessard Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

(Canada)"«Mad Dog Labine»: irrésistiblement «rough»"
'' Le Devoir'', April 6, 2019 * 2019: '' Rolling Thunder Revue'' by Martin Scorsese (US)

References

Sources and bibliography

THESES online *
Docufiction in the Digital Age
– thesis by Tay Huizhen, National University of Singapore *
The Zulu Mask: The Role of Creative Imagination in Documentary Film
– thesis by Clifford Derrick, Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg *
Docudrama: the real (his)tory
thesis by Çiçek Coşkun (New York University School of Education) *
Issues in contemporary documentary
by

Jane Chapman Jane Chapman is a British academic, professor of communications at the University of Lincoln, a research associate and a former fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge and the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge. She is the author of twelve bo ...

at Google Books (pages 1 to 34) ARTICLES and ESSAYS *
Shaping the Real: Directorial imagination and the visualisation of evidence in the hybrid documentary
– article b

a

Media Department at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, Sydney *
Docufiction: Where Art and Life Merge and Diverge
�� Article by Julie Drizin a
Makers Quest 2.0
*
New Media Documentary
– Paper by Gunthar Hartwig *
Docudrama: the real (his)tory
*
Panel: At The Edge of Truth: Hybrid Documentaries
a
Vox Talk
magazine *
The dual phase oscillation hypothesis and the neuropsychology of docu-fiction film
– article b
Dyutiman Mukhopadhyay
Consciousness, Literature and the Arts, vol. 16, no. 1, April 2015 *
A creative treatment of actuality
– paper b
Peter Biesterfeld
a
Videomaker
August 7, 2015 *
The art paradox
– article b
Bert Oliver
a
Thought Leader
September 17, 2012 ---- *

– thesis by François Garçon (abstract in English and French) *

– interview (Le Journal du CNRS) *
Peter Watkins, un cinéaste maudit
article at Critikat ---- *
Un genere cinematografico: la docu-fiction. Il caso di 150 ore a Pavia
by Laura Marchesi (thesis – abstract) CITATIONS * * * {{Film genres Neologisms Film genres Cinematic techniques Drama genres Documentary film genres Fiction by genre Fiction forms Television genres

Origins

Docudrama and mockumentary

First docufictions by country

Other notable examples

See also

References

Sources and bibliography