Documentary film

A documentary film, sometimes known simply as a documentary, is a kind of motion picture that is non-fictional and is meant to "capture reality, generally for the goals of training, education, or keeping a historical record." In his analysis of the documentary, Bill Nichols refers to it as "a filmmaking activity, a cinematic tradition, and method of audience reception a process without defined bounds."

The duration of the first documentaries, which were initially referred to as "actuality films," was less than one minute. Over the course of their history, documentaries have developed into larger works that include a growing number of subject areas. Docufiction, documentary, and instructional observational writing are a few examples. Documentaries are an excellent source of information and are often used as teaching tools in a variety of subject areas within educational institutions. Documentary filmmakers have a duty to be honest to their own perspective of the world and to avoid deliberately distorting the subject matter of their films.

The documentary film genre has flourished thanks, in part, to the opportunities presented by social-media platforms such as YouTube. These platforms have enlarged the distribution area and made it easier to access, which has resulted in an improved capacity to teach a greater number of viewers and an expansion of the range of individuals who are able to get their hands on that knowledge.