The history of documentaries can be broken into several eras: - Pre-1900s featured "actuality films" that captured single moments on film like trains arriving or workers leaving factories. - 1900-1920 saw the rise in popularity of travelogue films and the first feature-length documentary, South, was released in 1919. - The 1920s brought several traditions to documentaries including romanticism films, city symphonies focusing on urban environments, and newsreels which sometimes included staged reenactments. Techniques like fluid camera work and montage were also used.