We Are There: The Power of Documentary

We Are There: The Power of Documentary presents the range, scope, and richness of non-fiction film as seen through the works of 50 past and current documentarians—showcasing films from the influential Man with a Movie Camera (1929) to the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth (2006). Directed by Kate Amend and Mark Jonathan Harris and narrated by LisaGay Hamilton, this piece illustrates the complexity and transformational power of this constantly evolving cinematic form. Whether striving to correct injustice, documenting war and revolution, or celebrating life, documentaries bear witness to our triumphs and failures. They demonstrate the humanity that connects us all.

In 1926, Scottish filmmaker and critic John Grierson first used the term “documentary” to describe a movie in his review of Moana. The work, released that same year, was directed by Robert J. Flaherty, who is widely credited with making the first documentary features. Grierson later described a documentary as “the creative treatment of actuality.” American director Pare Lorentz called this journalistic style of moviemaking “a factual film that’s dramatic,” while his Russian counterpart Dziga Vertov preferred the term “life caught unawares.”