Documentary Filmmakers Handbook

In 1895, when two French brothers produced a 46‐second film entitled Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon, they created not only the first motion picture but also the first documentary. Since 1922, when Nanook of the North, Robert Flaherty's now classic full‐length feature detailing the lives of Canadian Arctic Inuits was released, the documentary as a film genre has developed into a popular and commercially successful form of human expression.

As a technique and style of non‐fiction narrative that records reality in sound and images, documentary film production requires both creative and technical skills. This introductory handbook,...