Docufiction

Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film.

It is a film genre[1] which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and which simultaneously introduces unreal elements or fictional situations in narrative in order to strengthen the representation of reality using some kind of artistic expression.

[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The term involves a way of making films already practiced by such authors as Robert J. Flaherty, one of the fathers of documentary,[14][15] and Jean Rouch, later in the 20th century.

In the domain of visual anthropology, the innovating role of Jean Rouch[25] allows one to consider him as the father of a subgenre called ethnofiction.

[30] Whereas mockumentaries are usually fully scripted comedies or dramas that merely adopt some aspects of documentary format as a framing device, docufictions are usually not scripted, instead placing the participants in a fictionalized scenario while portraying their own genuine reactions and their own improvisational dialogue and character development.