Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction. It documents (creates a record of) a true story. A documentary may be a video or audio recording, such as a movie or radio program.
The purpose of a documentary is to tell the story behind the news. News programs tell what has happened, documentaries explain why and how something happened. Compare, for example, the difference between the result of an election (news) with an analysis of how and why that election was won and lost. Or, between the result of a sporting event and a discussion of how and why the result happened.
Documentary Media
The cover of Bolesław Matuszewski's 1898 book Une nouvelle source de l'histoire (A New Source of History), the first publication about documentary function of cinematography
Geoffrey Malins with an aeroscope camera during World War I
Nanook of the North poster
In this shot from Man with a Movie Camera, Mikhail Kaufman acts as a cameraman risking his life in search of the best shot.
Conference of "World Union of documentary films" in 1948 Warsaw featured famous directors of the era: Basil Wright (on the left), Elmar Klos, Joris Ivens (2nd from the right), and Jerzy Toeplitz.
Lennart Meri (1929–2006), the second President of the Republic of Estonia, directed documentaries several years before his presidency. His film The Winds of the Milky Way won a silver medal at the New York Film Festival in 1977.
Film team at Port of Dar es Salaam with two ferries