Documentary Genre Quotes

Film can do lots of things: It can produce alternative ideas, ask questions, just record the reality of what's happening, it can analyze what's happening. Of course, most commercial films are controlled by big corporations who have an interest in not doing those films.

Critics can say what they like about the films, but very often, there's a certain expectation of documentaries that they're supposed to be like PowerPoint presentations. I see documentaries as movies. So when I see some critics writing that we could have done without the recreations altogether - well, perhaps.

My heart is in independent film-making. For me, it's where the fun, gritty storytelling is being told.

I love documentary because it's alive.

Of course no documentary is completely 'objective.' Every decision you make - who to interview, how to edit, where to hold the camera - imposes a point of view on the film.

I don't know if I'd mastered that documentary format, but I wanted to move on from it.

As much as I disagreed with every second of 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' the fact that it is out made me jump for joy.

Documentaries sometimes can be shot over 10 years. You plan to stop in two, but you still gotta catch more.

I like documentaries because there's nothing to nitpick or criticize about scenes if they aren't just right. It's about honesty and real-life circumstances coming out. Granted it can be swayed by how people tell that story, but overall, I like it because it is true.

I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they'd just be amazing documentarians.

Reality television hasn't killed documentaries, because there are so many great documentaries still being made, but it certainly has changed the landscape. There is this breed of gimmicky documentary that is basically a reality show.

I'm a documentary filmmaker by training. You got to start with the real people and the real place.

I really liked that documentary, 'Room 237.'

There's a wide range today of documentaries on politics. The central mass of it is made by networks, and nothing's changed.

Music documentaries are tricky because of 'Spinal Tap.' That movie has stood the test of time.

I think documentaries are the greatest way to educate an entire generation that doesn't often look back to learn anything about the history that provided a safe haven for so many of us today.

The Highlander was a documentary, and events happened in real time.

Do not tell somebody how to vote, just go up to them and tell them what Fahrenheit 9/11 meant to you. Fahrenheit will probably not win an Academy Award, but if you put it first on your list, it will become a nominee.

With documentaries, what's beautiful about them is that you capture something unique in a shot, something that will never repeat itself.

I've always been interested in how to present something that relates to our reality - which is not really... I don't even know if documentary itself does as good a job. It has its own problems in trying to get at the reality of the situation.

What's great about documentary, it seems to me, is that it can be experimental filmmaking. You have a license to do a lot of diverse things under the umbrella of 'documentary.'

When I'm filming a documentary, I feel like I should be the straight man, watching with a raised eyebrow.

I did documentary film for a long time, and I spent a lot of time behind the camera, fervently wishing that the reality I was filming would conform to my narrative propriety. But you can't control it.

I'm not trying to acquire a reputation as serious documentary maker for its own sake.

You should bear in mind that almost all my documentaries are feature films in disguise.