pseudodocumentary

English

Etymology

From pseudo- +‎ documentary.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

pseudodocumentary (plural pseudodocumentaries)

1. A film that mimics the style of a documentary but is not actually produced by filming real events
   • 1988 May 20, Lawrence Bommer, “Cardiff Giant's Comedy Sideshow”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     A sort of pseudodocumentary, "Kaleidoscope" takes a generic event--here, "Sally gets a second cat"--and describes it through rapid-fire testimony from "witnesses" (their roles are given them by the audience)--Sally, the second cat, a neighbor's dog, etc.

   • 2008 October 5, Dennis Lim, “Young and Out to Redefine What’s Real”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     In 2004, while he was a film student at New York University, he made a pair of shorts — both called “Buy It Now,” one narrative, the other pseudodocumentary — about a 15-year-old girl who sells her virginity on eBay. Mr. Campos posted an actual auction on the site, eliciting nearly 4,000 responses that bid the price up to $2,000 before the ad was removed.

See also

• mockumentary