The Fact/Fiction Divide: Drama-Documentary and Documentary Drama

Abstract

Television schedules reflect the increasing prominence of productions which meld the conventions of drama and documentary. Historical dramas, ‘biopics’ (filmed accounts of the lives of famous and infamous people), dramas constructed around incidents from news headlines, dramatic plays which replicate the visual styles of documentary and journalistic inquiries which include dramatic re-enactments, are all a part of this popular global televisual practice. The film industry also continues to produce work in this field, most notably filmed biographies and historical dramas including JFK (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Braveheart (1995), Michael Collins (1996), Hurricane (1999), Pearl Harbor (2000), Iris (2001), Ali (2001) and Pollock (2002). Works of this type raise a number of questions regarding the documentary form, and the legitimacy of its relationship to dramatic treatment of historical events. Depending on which interpreters are read, the meeting of fact and fiction results in either the subversion of documentary claims to authenticity and veracity, or, innovative and productive approaches to documentary representation.