Definitions

From Encarta:

doc·u·men·ta·ry

noun (plural doc·u·men·ta·ries)

factual movie or TV program: a movie or TV program presenting facts and information, especially about a political, historical, or social issue

adjective

1. consisting of documents: in the form of documents, or collected from documents

2. giving facts: giving facts and information rather than telling a fictional story

From Dictionary.com:

doc·u·men·ta·ry

adj.
Consisting of, concerning, or based on documents.
Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film.

n. pl. doc·u·men·ta·ries
A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration.

(emphasis mine)

From Merriam-Webster:

1 doc·u·men·ta·ry

Function: adjective
1 : being or consisting of documents : contained or certified in writing (documentary evidence)

2 : of, relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art; broadly : FACTUAL, OBJECTIVE (a documentary film of the war)

(emphasis mine)

From The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

I. DEFINITION

1. An eligible documentary film is defined as a theatrically released non-fiction motion picture dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects. It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial re-enactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.

(emphasis mine)

Based on the wording of that last part, it would appear the Academy's rules allow it to be forgiving of creativity in "documentary" film-making.

Posted by Jennifer at June 28, 2004 02:55 PM