Nonfiction Film: A Critical History

by Richard Barsam

"Richard Barsam has given us as comprehensive a study of the origins and development of the nonfiction mode in motion pictures as we are ever likely to have in one volume. He draws on all the major written sources and many which are little known, and he shares with us many eloquent descriptions of the films themselves, giving us a valuable textbook." --Richard Dyer MacCann

..". superb work... " --Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

332 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 1973

Reviews

[Catnaitab]

Quite a lot of detail put into most of the reviews of the films. It is the history of nonfiction film between the 30s and 70s (mostly in America and England) and although it gives an insight to the production of a lot of films, it lacks a deeper analysis of what nonfiction nonfiction is. The author tends to analyse films that don't seem to be nonfiction and he doesn't address this issue at all.

[Lena Nechet]

Descriptive; 1920-70 only, might be a bit opinionated about films' ideas and purposes.