Editing Documentary film (section)

=== 1950s–1970s ===
[[File:Lennart Meri kodus oma töökabinetis 02.jpg|thumb|[[Lennart Meri]] (1929–2006), the second [[President of the Republic of Estonia]], directed documentaries several years before his presidency. His film ''[[The Winds of the Milky Way]]'' won a silver medal at the [[New York Film Festival]] in 1977.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/07/world/estonia-s-president-un-soviet-and-unconventional.html| title = Estonia's President: Un-Soviet and Unconventional – The New York Times | newspaper = The New York Times| date = 7 April 2001| last1 = McNeil | first1 = Donald G. Jr.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://news.err.ee/117821/ten-years-since-the-passing-of-estonia-s-second-president-lennart-meri | title = Ten years since the passing of Estonia's second president, Lennart Meri – ERR| date = 14 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/14876/| title = 'True European' Lennart Meri passes away |work = The Baltic Times|date = 15 March 2006}}</ref>]]

==== Cinéma-vérité ====
[[Cinéma vérité]] (or the closely related [[Direct Cinema|direct cinema]]) was dependent on some technical advances to exist: light, quiet and reliable cameras, and portable sync sound.

Cinéma vérité and similar documentary traditions can thus be seen, in a broader perspective, as a reaction against studio-based film production constraints. Shooting on location, with smaller crews, would also happen in the [[French New Wave]], the filmmakers taking advantage of advances in technology allowing smaller, handheld cameras and synchronized sound to film events on location as they unfolded.

Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences between cinéma vérité ([[Jean Rouch]]) and the North American "[[Direct Cinema|direct cinema]]", pioneered by, among others, Canadians [[Michel Brault]], [[Pierre Perrault]] and [[Allan King]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pevere |first=Geoff |date=27 April 2007 |title=Celebrating Allan King's video-era vérité |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/04/27/celebrating_allan_kings_videoera_veacuteriteacute.html |access-date=21 February 2022 |work=The Toronto Star |language=en-CA |issn=0319-0781}}</ref> and Americans [[Robert Drew]], [[Richard Leacock]], [[Frederick Wiseman]] and [[Albert and David Maysles]].

The directors of the movement take different viewpoints on their degree of involvement with their subjects. Kopple and Pennebaker, for instance, choose non-involvement (or at least no overt involvement), and Perrault, Rouch, Koenig, and Kroitor favor direct involvement or even provocation when they deem it necessary.

The films ''[[Chronicle of a Summer]]'' ([[Jean Rouch]]), ''[[Dont Look Back]]'' ([[D. A. Pennebaker]]), ''[[Grey Gardens]]'' ([[Albert and David Maysles]]), ''[[Titicut Follies]]'' ([[Frederick Wiseman]]), ''[[Primary (film)|Primary]]'' and ''[[Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment]]'' (both produced by [[Robert Drew]]), ''[[Harlan County, USA]]'' (directed by [[Barbara Kopple]]), ''[[Lonely Boy (film)|Lonely Boy]]'' ([[Wolf Koenig]] and [[Roman Kroitor]]) are all frequently deemed [[cinéma vérité]] films.

The fundamentals of the style include following a person during a crisis with a moving, often handheld, camera to capture more personal reactions. There are no sit-down interviews, and the [[shooting ratio]] (the amount of film shot to the finished product) is very high, often reaching 80 to one. From there, editors find and sculpt the work into a film. The editors of the movement{{snd}}such as [[Werner Nold]], [[Charlotte Zwerin]], [[Muffie Meyer]], [[Susan Froemke]], and [[Ellen Hovde]]{{snd}}are often overlooked, but their input to the films was so vital that they were often given co-director credits.

Famous cinéma vérité/direct cinema films include ''[[Les Raquetteurs]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url = http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=54008 |title = Les raquetteurs |website =National Film Board of Canada|date = 15 August 2017}}</ref> ''Showman'', ''[[Salesman (1969 film)|Salesman]]'', ''Near Death'', and ''The Children Were Watching''.

==== Political weapons ====
In the 1960s and 1970s, documentary film was often regarded as a political weapon against [[neocolonialism]] and [[capitalism]] in general, especially in Latin America, but also in a changing society. {{Lang|es|La Hora de los hornos}} (''[[The Hour of the Furnaces]]'', from 1968), directed by [[Octavio Getino]] and [[Fernando Solanas]], influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. Among the many political documentaries produced in the early 1970s was "Chile: A Special Report", public television's first in-depth expository look at the September 1973 overthrow of the [[Salvador Allende]] government in Chile by military leaders under [[Augusto Pinochet]], produced by documentarians Ari Martinez and José Garcia.

A June 2020 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' reviewed the political documentary ''And She Could Be Next'', directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia. The ''Times'' described the documentary not only as focusing on women in politics, but more specifically on women of color, their communities, and the significant changes they have wrought upon America.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/arts/television/and-she-could-be-next-pbs.html|title=In 'And She Could Be Next,' Women of Color Take on Politics|access-date=28 June 2020|website=The New York Times|date=28 June 2020|last1=Phillips|first1=Maya}}</ref>