John Grierson coined the term "documentary" in 1928 to describe non-fiction films that documented real people and events. Documentaries use actual footage or reconstructions to tell a story, and may include narration or rely on participants to provide context. While documenting facts, documentaries can make socially critical arguments by focusing on people and events to prompt audiences to draw their own conclusions about important social issues.

1. Genre Analysis and
Themes.

2. Who?
 John Grierson-
Came up with the
term ‘Documentary’
-1928.

3.  The purpose of documentaries is to
document something that actually
happened. It can be shown using real
footage or a reconstruction. It can use a
narrators voice over to anchor the
meaning or rely on the participants
themselves with perhaps an occasional
interjection by the narrator.

4.  Documentaries are not just about facts
instead facts can be used to create
socially critical arguements, inviting the
audience to draw their own conclusions.

5.  Central to documentaries are that they
focus on and question actual people and
events often in a social context placing
the audience in a position to form an
opinion about who or what we are seeing.