Framing the real: taking stock of developments in documentary

Abstract

Many Media and Communication Studies courses now include documentary on their teaching syllabus. In the more practically oriented courses students will often acquire important first-hand knowledge of documentary through hands-on experience (arguably one of the best forms of learning). Elsewhere, in courses more weighted towards theoretical exploration and textual analysis, documentary is introduced as part of genre study, especially when the aim is to illustrate the increasingly blurred boundaries between factual and fictional genre categories. Taking as his starting point a recent international conference, Richard Kilborn explores some of the key issues relating to the study of documentary.

Keywords:

• television
• documentary
• broadcasting history
• factual television