Have you ever found yourself spell-bound by a documentary film, perhaps about some exotic place or fascinating person you’ve just learned about? You probably didn’t think twice about accepting everything presented as research-based and therefore true.
But did you know that a hybrid genre exists in film that combines nonfiction with fictional elements in a seamless way? This is what we call docufiction.
What Is Docufiction?
Docufiction cinematographically combines documentary and fiction. What does this mean? In film, this genre captures reality in a documentary way, but also adds fictional elements to add artistic expression to the portrayal of reality.
For example, it might include modern day actors portraying a scenario to show how things were during a time in distant history. Sometimes, these actors may play themselves, or a slightly fictionalized version of themselves.
Examples of Docufiction
Here are some of the best examples of docufiction to help you better understand the genre:
1. Tarnation
Tarnation is a biographical film famously produced for just $218. It combines documentary with several pieces of fictional narrative that form a crucial part of its structure.
The film tells about the life of Jonathan Caouette, the celebrity, writer, and director, his past with his mother, and the effects of drug abuse and mental health issues.
2. Empathy
Empathy starts off as a documentary interview of psychologists and therapists about their experience. Then it goes into the life of a woman—but we must clarify it is the fictional life of that woman, and her own experiences with psychoanalysis.
This is one of the challenges in watching docufiction, because you need to be able to separate fact from fiction. Still, this is an interesting film to watch thanks to its powerful storytelling combining fact and fiction.
3. Mad Dog Labine
This inventive film is a docufiction work about two marginal teenagers who live in an underserved and remote village in Canada.
It has won the award for Best Narrative Feature and Best Performance for the Tacoma Film Festival in 2019.
4. The Confederate States of America
This can technically be considered a mockumentary, showing an alternate history if the South won the Civil War.
Part satire, the film draws on true historical events and issues in 20th century politics and then combines them with fiction.
5. Closed Curtain
This film opens with a screenwriter hiding in a secluded home by the sea, his only companion being his dog.
What happens when a young woman arrives in the middle of the night as she flees from the authorities and refuses to leave?
6. Flee
Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, Best International Feature, and Best Animated Feature, this film tells about a man who flees to Denmark from his home in Afghanistan.
The catch is that it’s told through a pen name and uses animation, featuring flashbacks of his past before he leaves his home.
7. 15
This dark coming-of-age film about Singapore’s youth gangs is not a strict documentary, but it does try to stay away from scripts to give us an authentic look at how the boys would react to certain situations.
It contains fictional elements and also has a basic storyline mapped out, but the mostly non-professional actors have freedom to create their own dialogues within the framework.
8. In Vanda’s Room by Pedro Costa
Learn about the life of a heroin addict through this work of docufiction that follows the life of Vanda Duarte, who lives in Lisbon.
The creative way that the fictional narrative brings scenes to life will surely etch the struggles of a drug addict in your memory.
History of Docufiction
Robert Flaherty, who brought us the docufiction film Moana in 1926, is considered one of the fathers of documentary.
Later in the twentieth century, we also saw the likes of Jean Rouch, whose innovations in visual anthropology have made him known as the father of ethnofiction, a subgenre of the documentary. The genre includes the filming of natives who play fictional roles, reinforced by imagery.
Because docufiction mixes both documentary and fiction, it’s considered a hybrid genre and raises ethical questions. How much fiction is acceptable? How do we know if we’re manipulating reality and confusing our audience with what isn’t true?
Is Docufiction the Same as Docudrama?
The term docudrama is often used interchangeably with docufiction, but they are not exact substitutes. Docudrama usually refers to actors dramatizing real events, with a script, in documentary form.
In contrast, a docufiction is essentially a documentary that contains dramatized elements. For docufiction, these fictionalized scenarios are usually not scripted and let us see the genuine reactions of the participants.
Another close cousin is the mockumentary, but it’s the total opposite: instead of portraying reality, a mockumentary shows fictitious events in documentary form. This usually includes commentaries on current events, such as satirical or comedic portrayals. These tend to be fully scripted and use the documentary format as the frame.
Watching Docufiction
Watching docufiction can sometimes be more entertaining than watching a traditional documentary, as the fictional narratives can bring entire scenes to life and make them more memorable—or perhaps, more impactful—for viewers.
If you’ve never tried watching docufiction before, give some of these examples a shot, and let us know what you think!
Have you ever watched docufiction? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
