Feature film

A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature) is, broadly, a film (motion picture, "movie" or simply "picture") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment theatrical program. More strictly, "feature film" in the film industry refers to a feature-length fictional work of entertainment, comparable to a novel, its parts enacted by actors on sets under the guidance of a director, as opposed to a documentary film, which treats real events factually. Feature films generally employ a storyline, a characteristic frequently shared by documentaries. With the rise of major OTT services, feature films are also premiering on streaming platforms instead of movie theaters.

The term feature film originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinée programs, especially in the United States and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on weekends.

The first narrative feature film was the 70-minute The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Other early feature films include Defence of Sevastopol (1911),From the Manger to the Cross (1912), Raja Harishchandra (1913), Quo Vadis? (1913), Cabiria (1914) and The Birth of a Nation (1915).