Documentary Guide is a relatively new (less than a year old) online index to a wide range of documentary films. The search interface is simple and accurate, and a Define your Search link allows the user to limit his/her search by social theme, genre, region of the world, and country. Search History is also available. A separate search for Festivals and Schools enables a user to do a keyword search for documentary film festivals or film schools. (Another search link for Organizations was not functioning at the time of this review.) There is a Scratchlist box which functions as a “basket”, where users can drag and drop films that are of interest.
According to the person at contact@documentaryguide.com (who did not identify him/herself) films are submitted by a “community of thousands of film makers from around the world” who “submit, curate and watch/vet all the films”. The Documentary Guide then links out to the films, many of which are available in their entirety on other documentary websites. Films that have appeared on networks such as HBO and PBS are indexed here as well. (Note: not all of the films that appeared in test searches were actual documentaries.)
The website is owned by Fuse Global, an organization whose stated purpose is to fund and incubate documentary films. Fuse Global also has interests in “studios, television, films, satellite, theatrical ventures, internet properties and social innovation platforms”. The following questions were submitted to Fuse Global in the process of writing this review:
Can anyone submit a film?
How many films are currently indexed?
How many films are available in their entirety, as opposed to trailers only?
There are some films that are not documentaries; why is this?
Unfortunately, Fuse Global did not respond. From www.documentaryguide.com, it appears that anyone can “suggest” a film for inclusion in the Documentary Guide, but it is not clear if the film is automatically included, or if it is vetted in any way.
The Documentary Guide is a useful website for discovering documentary films, and documentarians or other film experts might find the site useful as a resource for researching films. Most educators, however, would want to verify the authority and factuality of a film from this website before using it for educational purposes.
In short, the Documentary Guide is a new addition to the long list of websites offering searching and links to documentary films, many in their entirety. Documentary Guide's interface is lean and uncluttered, and very easy to use; there are no advertisements, as is the case with many other documentary websites. However, there is no discernible value added by the Documentary Guide; no expert reviews or background information is available, other than that offered by the filmmakers themselves. In addition, it is impossible to know any details about who owns this website; Fuse Global did not respond to questions and their website states that they “aspire to be un‐google'able” (sic). For these reasons, the Documentary Guide is recommended only for faculty and upper‐level film studies students.
