documentary
Real-life footage
A documentary is a nonfiction film or program that presents factual material about real events, people, or subjects.
Unlike fictional narratives, documentaries aim to inform, persuade, or explore actual phenomena: a documentary about climate change, a true-crime documentary.
As an adjective, documentary means consisting of or based on documents or factual records: documentary evidence, documentary proof.
Recorded video material
- cinematographyMotion picture visual craft
- filmmakerOne who makes movies
- directorOne who leads
- montageAssembled sequence of images
voiceover · narration · interviews · archive · screening · premiere · biopic · docuseries
Investigative journalism piece
- investigationFormal examination of facts
- reportageFactual news writing
- correspondentJournalist covering distant events
- photojournalismVisual news reporting
newsreel · reporter · testimony · whistleblower · undercover · broadcast · coverage · interview
Stored historical records
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- timelineOrdered display of events
- eraDistinct historical period
artifact · testament · genealogy · oral-history · retrospective · footage · preservation · commemoration
Providing useful knowledge
- expositoryServing to explain
- enlighteningProviding new understanding
- instructionalIntended to educate
- in-depthThoroughly and comprehensively detailed
comprehensive · revelatory · explanatory · edifying · factual · insight · analysis · awareness
Quality of being genuine
- actualityState of existing fact
- verisimilitudeAppearance of being factual
- truthfulnessHabit of not lying
- objectivityFreedom from personal bias
accuracy · unvarnished · candid · unscripted · naturalistic · raw · firsthand · unfiltered
footage
Recorded video material
- cinematographyMotion picture visual craft
- filmmakerOne who makes movies
- directorOne who leads
montage · voiceover · narration · interviews · archive · screening · premiere · biopic · docuseries · fly-on-the-wall
exposé
Investigative journalism piece
- investigationFormal examination of facts
- reportageFactual news writing
- correspondentJournalist covering distant events
photojournalism · newsreel · reporter · testimony · whistleblower · undercover · broadcast · coverage · interview · source
archive
Stored historical records
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- timelineOrdered display of events
era · artifact · testament · genealogy · oral-history · retrospective · footage · preservation · commemoration · eyewitness
informative
Providing useful knowledge
- expositoryServing to explain
- enlighteningProviding new understanding
- instructionalIntended to educate
in-depth · comprehensive · revelatory · explanatory · edifying · factual · insight · analysis · awareness · advocacy
authenticity
Quality of being genuine
- actualityState of existing fact
- verisimilitudeAppearance of being factual
- truthfulnessHabit of not lying
objectivity · accuracy · unvarnished · candid · unscripted · naturalistic · raw · firsthand · unfiltered · genuine
- cinemafilm, films, film studios, movies, movie
- filmmovies, film, filmmaking, cinematography, film editing
- genresaction, comedy, detective fiction, fantasy, horror
- mediatelevision, mass media, news, broadcasting, video
- moviesblockbuster, film, Titanic, films, Jurassic Park
- nonfictionbiography, autobiography, biographies, history, memoir
documentaryfiction
Imagined narrative work
fictional · fictitious · made-up · invented · imaginary
documentarydrama
Theatrical art or turmoil
feature film · blockbuster · soap opera · sitcom · melodrama
documentaryparol
Verbal, in legal usage
undocumented · oral · unverified · testimonial · hearsay
- nature documentariesFilms about the natural world
- nature documentaryFilm about wild environments
- documentary seriesNonfiction show with episodes
- documentary proofRecords verifying a claim
- wildlife documentariesFilms about wild animals
- documentary filmsNonfiction cinema works
documentation, documentaries, documentarian, documentable, documentarians