The Historical Documentary Versus “Docufiction”

Résumé 0

Whereas the historical documentary used to be shunted onto the cable or satellite theme channels or scheduled between midnight and 5 a.m. on the big hertzian channels, it has made a spectacular return to prime time under the name “docudrama” or “docufiction”, according to the media. This type seems new in France although it has been used for many years in Great Britain and in the United States. Public and not private agency established the “docudrama” which is very successful today in France. A question that can be asked is what remains of the documentary in these films. Aren’t they simply fiction films? The extremely high cost of the product and the search for maximum audience lead to scripts that pose serious problems for the historian.