Mockumentary

Study is devoted to mockumentaries – films which, by their look and narration style, raise documentary expectations, while providing fictional stories. I show that this form can be used for very different purposes and that the viewers can find in them various layers of meaning. I focus on mockumentary as parody, pastiche, imitation, comedy and satire. Through mockumentary prism I rethink fundamental dilemmas of representation. I attempt to go beyond the two extremes in addressing those issues: the belief that the truth of the film can be ensured by its image and the opposing belief that denies the very possibility of film having any representative power. I show both extremes have common point: the preposition that the truth of the film depends on the techniques used. Mockumentaries prove that so called documentary or fictional techniques are not the transmitters of truth but also not its omitters. They are just empty shells and they are effectively exposed as such by mockumentaries.

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