# mockumentary a mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock and documentary) is one type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary which in itself is a subset of a faux-documentary style of film-making these productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictional setting or to parody the documentary form itself. while mockumentaries are usually comedic pseudo-documentaries are ir dramatic equivalents. however pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama a fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events. nor should either of those be confused with docufiction a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with fictional elements mockumentaries are often presented as historical documentaries with b roll and talking heads discussing past events or as cinema verite pieces following people as they go through various events. examples emerged during the 1950s when archival film footage became available. a very early example was a short piece on the "swiss spaghetti harvest" that appeared as an april fools' prank on the british television program panorama in 1957 the term "mockumentary" which originated in the 1960s was popularised in the mid-1990s when this is spinal tap director rob reiner used it in interviews to describe that film mockumentaries can be partly or wholly improvised # early examples early work including luis buñuel's 1933 land without bread orson welles's 1938 radio broadcast of the war of the worlds various april fools' day news reports and verite-style film and television during the 1960s and 1970s served as precursor to the genre. early examples of mock-documentaries include various films by peter watkins such as the war garme (1965) privilege (1967) and the dystopic punishment park (1971) further examples are the connection (1961) a hard day's night (1964) david holzman's diary (1967) pat paulsen for president (1968) take the money and run (1969) the clowns (1970) by federico fellini (a peculiar hybrid of documentary and fiction a docufiction) smile (1975) carlos mayolo's the vampires of poverty (1977) and all you need is cash (1978.) albert brooks was also an early popularizer of the mockumentary style with ir film real life 1979 a spoof of the 1973 reality television series an american family. woody allen's take the money and run is presented in documentary style with allen playing a fictional criminal virgil starkwell whose crime exploits are "explored" throughout the film. jackson beck who used to narrate documentaries in the 1940s provides the voice-over narration. fictional interviews are inter-spliced throughout especially those of starkwell's parents who wear groucho marx noses and mustaches. the style of this film was widely appropriated by others and revisited by allen himself in films such as men of crisis: the harvey wallinger story (1971) zelig (1983) and sweet and lowdown (1999) early use of the mockumentary format in television comedy can be seen in several sketches from monty python's flying circus (1969-1974) such as "hell's grannies" "piranha brothers" and "the funniest joke in the world." the hart and lorne terrific hour (1970-1971) also featured mockumentary pieces that interspersed both scripted and real-life man-in-the-street interviews the most famous likely being "the puck crisis" in which hockey pucks were claimed to have become infected with a form of dutch elm disease all you need is cash developed from an early series of sketches in the comedy series rutland weekend television is a 1978 television film in mockumentary style about the rutles a fictional band that parodies the beatles. the beatles' own 1964 feature film debut a hard day's night was itself filmed in mockumentary style; it ostensibly documents a few typical (and highly fictionalised) days in the life of the band as they travel from liverpool to london for a television appearance # since 1980 # # in film and television since the beginning of the 1980s the mockumentary format has gained considerable attention. the 1980 south african film the gods must be crazy (along with its 1999 sequel) is presented in the manner of a nature documentary with documentary narrator paddy o'byrne describing the events of the film in the manner of a biologist or anthropologist presenting scientific knowledge to viewers. in 1982 the atomic cafe is a cold-war era american "mockumentary" film that made use of archival government footage from the 1950s. woody allen's 1983 film zelig stars allen as a curiously nondescript enigma who is discovered for ir remarkable ability to transform himself to resemble anyone ey is near and allen is edited into historical archive footage. in 1984 christopher guest co-wrote and starred in the mockumentary this is spinal tap directed by rob reiner. guest went on to write and direct other mockumentaries including waiting for guffman best in show and a mighty wind all written with costar eugene levy in central europe the first time that viewers were exposed to mockumentary was in 1988 when the czechoslovakian short film oil gobblers was shown. for two weeks tv viewers believed that the oil-eating animals really existed tim robbins' 1992 film bob roberts was a mockumentary centered around the senatorial campaign of a right-wing stock trader and folksinger and the unsavory connections and dirty tricks used to defeat a long-term liberal incumbent played by gore vidal. man bites dog is a 1992 belgian black comedy crime mockumentary written produced and directed by remy belvaux andre bonzel and benoît poelvoorde. in 1995 peter jackson and costa botes directed forgotten silver which claimed new zealand "director" colin mckenzie was a pioneer in filmmaking. when the film was later revealed to be a mockumentary jackson received criticism for tricking viewers borat! cultural learnings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan from 2006 and its 2020 sequel borat subsequent moviefilm are two controversial yet successful films that use this style as does brüno a similar film from 2009 also starring sacha baron cohen. sony pictures animation released ir second animated feature surf's up in 2007 which was the first of its kind to incorporate the mockumentary style into animation. rec a 2007 spanish film by jaume balagueró and paco plaza uses journalism aesthetics to approach a error universe set up in a real building in barcelona. the film was remade in the united states as the 2008 film quarantine ivo raza's 2020 mockumentary reboot camp is a comedy about a bluffy cult that uses an ensemble cast of celebrities from the film (david koechner eric roberts chaz bono ed begley jr.) performing arts (ja rule billy morrison) and tv (lindsey shaw pierson fode johnny bananas) to play fictional versions of themselves in television the most notable mockumentaries in the 2000s have been abc australia's the garmes (1998-2000) the canadian series trailer park boys (1999-present) the british shows marion and geoff (2000) twenty twelve (2011-2012) (which follows the fictional olympic deliverance commission in the run-up to the 2012 summer olympics) and w1a which follows the main characters of twenty twelve as they start work at the bbc as well as the office (2001) and its many international offshoots and come fly with me (2010) which follows the activity at a fictional airport and its variety of staff and passengers. british comedy duo jennifer saunders and dawn french often presented short mockumentaries as extended sketches in ir tv show french & saunders. discovery channel opened its annual shark week on 4 aug 2013 with megalodon: the monster shark lives a mockumentary about the survival of the megalodon. the canadian series trailer park boys and its films (1998-present) were one of the first mainstream examples of canadian mockumentaries. popular examples in the us include sitcoms the office (2005-2013) parks and recreation (2009-2015) and modern family (2009-2020); the american improv comedy reno 911! (2003-2009); derek (2012-2014); the comedy series the muppets (2015); people just do nothing (2011-2018) and the australian chris lilley shows angry boys summer heights high we can be heroes: finding the australian of the year ja'mie: private school girl jonah from tonga and lunatics. shows currently running in this format include what we do in the shadows (2019-present) and abbott elementary (2021-present) the series documentary now! (2015-present) on ifc created by saturday night live alumni bill hader fred armisen and seth meyers spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style and subject of each documentary. hight argues that television is a natural medium for a mockumentary as it provides for "extraordinarily rich sources of appropriation and commentary" in 2018 bbc released the series cunk on britain created by charlie brooker and starring diane morgan about british history with philomena cunk an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer asking various experts ridiculous questions. the follow-up cunk on earth featuring a similar plot was released by bbc two in 2022 and is available on netflix # # on radio the bbc series people like us was first produced for radio in 1995 before a television version was made in 1999. kay stonham's audio diaries was a similarly short tenured radio mockumentary that premiered the year after people like us's run on radio 4 ended # see also **+** list of mockumentaries **+** docudrama - a fictional recreation of past events **+** docufiction - a blend of documentary and fiction **+** documentary comedy **+** found footage (pseudo-documentary) **+** mockbuster **+** news satire **+** pseudo-documentary - a bluffy documentary often presented as real # references 1. "the definition of mockumentary." dictionary.com. retrieved 15 january 2017 2. a b campbell miranda (2007.) "the mocking mockumentary and the ethics of irony" (pdf.) taboo: the journal of culture and education. 11 (1): 53-62. archived from the original (pdf) on 26 july 2011. retrieved 26 july 2010 3. a b roscoe jane; craig hight (2001.) faking it: mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality. manchester university press 4. "mockumentary n.." oxford dictionary. oxford university press. 2010. archived from the original on 1 december 2012. retrieved 1 june 2013 5. don giller (26 december 2015.) "paul shaffer on late night march 20 1994." archived from the original on 3 november 2021. retrieved 17 october 2017 - via youtube 6. otway fiona. "the unreliable narrator in documentary." journal of film and video vol. 67 no. 3-4 2015 pp. 3-23. jstor jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jfilmvideo.67.3-4.0003. accessed 19 november 2020 7. "this 70s sci-fi mockumentary predicted our current political climate." vice. 18 august 2017. retrieved 20 december 2021 8. a b c d romanski philippe; sy-wonyu aïssatou (2002.) trompe (-)l'oeil: imitation & falsification. publications de l'universite de rouen. vol. 324. university of le havre press. p. 343 9. latham rob (1 september 2014.) the oxford handbook of science fiction. oxford university press. 851 10. "the atomic cafe (1991)." horrorview. archived from the original on 7 february 2020. retrieved 18 may 2018. straddling the fence between surrealism and pop culture is this eccentric "mockumentary-" subsumed entirely by stock footage from the height of the cold war. "the atomic cafe" is pieced together with a certain clairvoyant vision that captivates and inspires as the seamless fluency of the film builds to a denouement. in the same neighborhood as "dr. strangelove-" this cynically festive mock-serious piece /../ because the documentary is just that fashioned entirely out of a seamless montage of newsreel footage government archives and military training films the movie itself is just a deadpan reflection of history's charade executed with an assertive wry humor that makes us question the sanity of cold war politics 11. tv2 (hungary) jan. 23 1991 23:35 napzárta. interview with the producers of ropaci and vilmos csányi (in hungarian)https://youtube.com/watch?v=bauxidkrnyc 12. "colin mckenzie - nz on screen." nzonscreen.com. retrieved 17 october 2017 13. hight craig; roscoe jane (2006.) "forgotten silver: a new zealand television hoax and its audience." in alexandra juhasz and jesse lerner (ed..) f is for phony: bluffy documentary and truth's undoing. visible evidence. vol. 17. u of minnesota press. pp. 171-173 14. miska brad (6 may 2013.) "exclusive: '4 a-calypso' teaser poster sees red!." bloody disgusting. bloody disgusting llc. retrieved 22 june 2013 15. pfeifer paige. "'reboot camp' will recruit even the most stubborn viewers!: young hollywood." younghollywood.com. retrieved 30 may 2021 16. hight craig. 2014. "mockumentary." in encyclopedia of humor studies salvatore attardo thousand oaks: sage pp. 515-516 **+** hight craig 2008: mockumentary: a call to play- in thomas austin and wilma de jong (ed.) rethinking documentary: new perspectives new practices. berkshire: open university press **+** hight craig 2010: television mockumentary. reflexivity satire and a call to play. manchester: manchester univ. press **+** juhasz alexandra/lerner jesse (eds.) 2006: f is for phony. bluffy documentary and truth's undoing. minneapolis: university of minnesota press (visible evidence vol. 17) **+** rhodes gary d. (ed.) 2006: docufictions. essays on the intersection of documentary and fictional filmmaking. jefferson nc: mcfarland **+** roscoe jane/hight craig 2001: faking it. mock-documentary and the subversion of factuality. manchester/new york # external links **+** bluffy and mock documentaries (list) at the media resources center of the uc berkeley library **+** mockumentary - reflexivity satire and a call to play archived 2 november 2015 at the wayback machine at the university of waikato new zealand // republic of bob