Watching documentaries is a great way to learn new things. These are films that shape and interpret facts for education and entertainment of their viewers. It has several social functions, which are to record, preserve, and reveal, and persuade. This form of motion films also aims to entertain and educate.
If you are struggling to write a good documentary essay, our experts have combined some helpful tips for you here. So, no need to worry.
First and foremost, you should find a topic. Focus on something you are genuinely passionate about. Think about the cause that matters to you: maybe it’s climate change, slavery, environmental cause, ocean pollution, or perhaps it’s something else. It is essential to find something that speaks to you. This way, you won’t struggle with composing your paper.
You can also find a list of essay topics for your documentary research below, checking our samples. Yet, to pick the right idea, we first need to understand what film types are available.
There are several genres of documentaries:
Expository documentaries. Such films present objective information with a ubiquitous presence. The filmmaker usually does not appear on the screen.
Poetic documentaries. They rely heavily on images and music rather than narration. That is to say, there is little verbal communication with the audience.
Essayistic documentaries. These movies feature an essay-like narration. The filmmaker relies both on speech and on the images to make their point.
Observational documentaries. They try to demonstrate an objective record of some activity. It almost does not have music and narration and tries to present the event as-it-is.
Participatory documentaries. The films are the complete opposite of observational ones. The filmmaker is an active participant in the movie. They appear on the screen and communicate the subject.
Performance documentaries. These movies feature a dramatic performance. It can be a concert, a play, or another performance event recorded in the form of a documentary.
Interview films. These are the records of a conversation between two or more people. It relies on communication on-screen to deliver the message rather than on images and music.
Dramatization. This type recreates an event using actors to bring the viewer to the event. Some argue that it is not a form of documentary.
Mixed documentaries. The films use different modes and techniques. It can combine poetic, expository, interview modes at the same time.
Animation films. Such movies are standard, too, and their most distinctive feature is the use of animation to present the material.
As for your documentary essay assignment, you can be asked to work with any documentary. Let’s figure out what tasks you will need to fulfill beforehand.
Documentary Review vs. Analysis
Not everyone understands the difference between a movie review and a movie analysis when watching movies and writing essays about the material. Sometimes these two terms are used interchangeably. Nevertheless, when it comes to grading and evaluating the paper, this difference is essential.
A film review essay is a “consumer-oriented” judgment that aims to recommend (or not) a movie. One can find documentary review essay examples in the newspapers, websites, or online databases.
An analysis of the film usually offers an interpretation and an evaluation of the movie. Some film theory is generally used as a framework to analyze and interpret the feature.
You can center your documentary essay assignment around not only a specific film but an entire genre of documentaries. You might be asked to write about a specific topic or an aspect of one movie in depth. Let’s try to see how it works!
How to Write a Documentary Essay
When you are asked to write an essay about a documentary, there are expectations. You will need to analyze specific elements in one film or a few.
No matter what your assignment is, we are here to help you nail it! Here is a short guide on how to write a documentary essay:
Watch the documentary (and take notes). We highly recommended watching the film several times before you start writing anything. Throughout this process, you should take notes to recall essential elements later on. Schematically express your ideas and arguments.
Choose your perspective. You need to understand the approach you will be using. However, your position should be supported by the examples and ideas from the film. Search for what others think and say on a similar issue and compare it to your thoughts.
Pick what to discuss. After that, you need to start collecting the examples and ideas from the movie that support your viewpoint. All these elements should eventually connect to the main focus of your paper. You can try to do some additional research but do not forget to return to the movie continually.
Outline your essay. The outline will help you stay within the word limit. This way, you’ll structure your thoughts and ideas on the paper before you start your essay. Plus, you will remain close to the intended format while writing.
Write it! Start with a brief introduction about the documentary and your thesis statement at the end of it. Then, evaluate the film, developing your arguments logically. In your conclusion, restate your position on the matter and list the critical points discussed.
Thank you for reading this article till the very end! We hope you found it helpful. Share this page with those who need our help. For your inspiration, you can check the list of documentary essay examples below.
🏆 Top 10 Documentary Essay Topics
The roles of documentaries in culture
The history of documentary film
Documentary and propaganda
Documentaries with and without words: compare and contrast
The documentary begins with an intriguing synopsis of the recent culmination of corporate scandals, and then it proceeds to ridicule the overriding media's analysis of this scandal "crisis" as the consequence of many "bad apples" [...]
The instances of silence between the music are as imperative as the music itself. The film director seizes this opportunity to propose the theme of the film through as simple and a plain cut.
He is interviewed on his way to the station by Astra Taylor who is the director of the film. He is intriguing in his thoughts about philosophy and life.
The story of Jason Short demonstrates autonomy characterized by his independence and self-confidence, as he works alone and manages to help the members of his community without any support from other healthcare professionals.
This part concentrates on the changes the newly elected President Roosevelt was making to lead America out of the economic crisis, the alternatives to democracy that were being sought around the world, and Bernays' later [...]
The main task of this paper is to analyze the methods of testing provided by the Battle of the Brains: The Case for Multiple Intelligences and decide which participant can be considered as the smartest [...]
The patients featured in the film present the excruciating pains and frustrations the patients without insurance covers face in American public hospitals.
The film delves into their lifestyles, values, and experiences, as well as examples of how social class influences hobbies, preferences, tastes, and overall life opportunities."The People Like Us" provides an insightful examination of America's social [...]
I think that the development of Scientific Racism and further Eugenics became the result of people's attempts to justify their unethical behavior toward other individuals and to support their material goals to develop slavery, and [...]
The crash and the subsequent dismissal from the company catch the main character as well as thousands of others off-guard, completely breaking the rose-tinted lenses and awakening them to the reality of working in Enron.
Commanding Heights: The Battle for the world Economy is a three-episode documentary from PBS alleging to inform viewers on the world economic history of the 20th century.
"Clive Wearing Living Without Memory" is a documentary that explains Clive's life and his struggle with a memory that cannot last for more than a few seconds.
Instead, they are interesting in hopes for the future, hobbies, and activities that do not represent traditional gender bias. The effects of being raised with attention to gender bias are evident in their values and [...]
After the Mayflower: We Shall Remain is a documentary that reveals the population's life with the colonists. It was important for the culture to get in contact with the colonizers so that they could help [...]
When he is working on his graduate studies, he is so concentrated on proposing a unique concept that he does not have a moment for anything else, and it rewards off in the end.
The Machine That Made Us tells the story of the technology of the printing press that influenced the increasing availability of writing to the world's population-the film's focus is based on the revolutionary changes that [...]
On the one hand, it seems that the author rejects the notion of formal independence as he sees no sense in the so-called peaceful means; on the other hand, his assumption that intimidation and extreme [...]
In the film American Factory, Bognar and Reichert delve deep into the livelihoods of the American workers in Ohio and the problematic transition experienced by Chinese managers to American work culture and way of life.
Using the documentary "Inside Job", the paper presented below asserts that the malpractices of different banking experts, the ethical dilemma revolving around ratings agencies' actions, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Glass-Steagall Acts influenced the nature [...]
The introduction of personal computers to the market revolutionized almost every aspect of human life today."Triumph of the Nerds" is a 1996 documentary about the history of personal computing since the creation of the first [...]
Undeniably, The Abortion Divide film adequately shows the gradual growth in differences between the pro-choice and pro-life supporters but fails to bring a solution to the moral problem of abortion.
The documentary Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti by the National Labor Committee explores this subject and reveals the unethical working conditions of the Walt Disney Company's garment factories in Haiti.
One of the things that attracted my attention is that women have to ensure the wellbeing of children almost independently, while their spouses do not have to take many responsibilities. This is one of the [...]
The issue of racism is introduced by the film's director right from the beginning. Therefore, by the end of the video the issue of race is already embedded in the mind of the viewer.
He believes that the turmoil in that landscape was synonymous with the turmoil in the lead character's soul. The author wanted to contrast the illusions that were perceived by Treadwell and the reality that existed [...]
Thus, the firm depicted two realities: in the first, Elizabeth Holmes tried to save the world and reform the medical field, and in the second, lab employees misrepresented the blood tests and worked unethically.
The documentary displays how excessive drinking can shadow one's perception of life, and how the addiction can hinder people's strive to act upon their need to better themselves.
Shot in Lagos, Nigeria, at the peak of Kuti's career, the film contains a series of heartfelt, sincere, and courageous interviews with the pioneer of the Afrobeat genre.
The documentary supports the argument that the interaction that introduced Japan to the rest of the world was critical in ensuring human rights and freedom of the most vulnerable classes in the society.
Thus, to overcome the catastrophic events and to predict the worsening of the situation, it is important to answer questions about the causes of the processes and the ways to cope with the ecological crisis.
Basically, it compares universal health care system in other countries to that of United States. This reached its peak during the warm up to 2008 elections in which major components of health care reforms were [...]
It was interesting to learn about the effects of population growth on the environment and global poverty and the potential solutions to managing population growth.
The intention involves showcasing life in the prisons as a deterrent to ensure the juveniles do not commit further crimes. The juveniles, such as Ben, admit that life in prison is scary and would have [...]
At the beginning of the film, different definitions of the corporation are provided, describing what contributed to their emergence, what made corporations powerful, what device they have, and their impact on people's lives.
A particularly important point in the film is the last section, which discusses the involvement of the state and its representatives in the activities of corporations.
The 2014 film Meet the Patels centers on the topic of intergenerational cultural dissonance in immigrant families, characterized by the conflict of cultural values between parents and children. Thus, Ravi's use of avoiding conflict style [...]
The documentary represents a detailed analysis of cases of Jacob, DJ, and Jessica intended to highlight the key dangers of prescribing powerful medication to children when treating psychiatric disorders.
Title of the film: Born into Brothels: Calcutta Red Light Kids Date released: January 17, 2004 Producers: Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman I selected this movie due to the controversies that surround it.
To assure the existence of the social and historical support, the movie is presented in the form of the documentary and can be viewed by an extended audience to spread awareness about the drawbacks of [...]
The title of the film "God Grew Tired of Us" is rather succinctly used by the film maker in order to help audiences understand the plight of the 3 main characters in the movie and [...]
The first two episodes of the first season are the best illustration of the usefulness of this series. The scientific explanation of dreams is detailed and shows how they are formed.
IN order to document the spread of the plague, a number of different maps and graphs are used, allowing the creators to showcase the spread of the plague throughout Europe.
The central assumption of this study is that the work of director Ava Duvernay had the primary purpose of drawing public attention to the problem of modern slavery in the United States of America.
The primary aspect which was noteworthy for me is the existing problem in the economics field of women labor's unproductivity. Waring presents an interesting perspective on the effects of economics on social prosperity.
In her 2009 documentary, Scarl provides the general audience with a glimpse of the world of deaf entertainers, thus helping shed light on the life and struggles of the broader deaf community.
The content of the documentary is proof that the Judiciary is a political playfield for the Democratic and the Republican parties as they struggle for control.
The film then traces the lives of the subjects from the bushveldt, where those on the high social class live, to the townships, where the black children live.
The film entitled "Ishi: The Last Yahi" presents a documentary overview of the events of the beginning of the 20th century when a renowned anthropologist Kroeber used the last representative of a native Yahi tribe [...]
The other important themes accentuated in the film include mass incarceration, racism, social bias, the gender issue, the impact on the environment, the social impact, the ineffectiveness of a prison system, and education.
However, the number of workplaces is almost the same; it means that the employer has a lot of choices, the demand for the worker's decreases as well as the price for labor.
The film was developed between 2007 and 2009 with the aim of exposing the negative aspects of commercialization and mechanization of the American food production industry.
The director and the writer of the movie pride in a deep understanding of the Chinese history as they give an almost accurate recount of the events that unfolded in China between 1911 and 1949.
In turn, the weakness of this approach is that not much attention was paid to the formal elements of this movie and the techniques that the authors applied.
The major theme of this event revolves around the portrayal of the ideals of socialism and patriotism by the citizens. The film discusses on their daily lifestyles and that of the people around them, a [...]
I can compare A Thousand Roads to a dart thrown into the bullseye because the film achieved its two goals with surgical precision. Given the short yet meaningful form of A Thousand Roads, I composed [...]
The film Speaking in Tongues focuses on the experiences of four families with children in a DLI program in California, and interviews educators, researchers, and advocates who support and oppose bilingual education.
In the world of conspiracy theories and a significant amount of fake news, it is essential to understand and distinguish what information is accurate and what is fake.
It explores the ingenuity and resiliency of individuals who have endured persecution, segregation, and the battle for equality because of the speech variety of the African-American community.
Therefore, the labor relations system in place today is the result of injustices, bloodshed, and sacrifices dating back to the founding of the labor movement in 1866.
The dominant gender role expectations for men and boys in contemporary society are that male persons are supposed to have physical power, dominant behavior, and be sexually active.
A sociological analysis of "R.B.G".illustrates the concepts of gender stratification, functionalism, and metamodernism. Firstly, it depicts the struggle for women's rights and shows how gender stratification is perpetuated in society by limiting access to fundamental [...]
Following the example of his grandfather, Arthur T ensured that most of the earned profits were reinvested into the business and continued paying the workers well and offering low prices to the customers.
Psychological aspects of sex, including culture-specific sexual scripts and the influence of one's individual imagination and imposed sexual stereotypes in the media, are also explored.
The second article by Jayne Gackenbach about video games and lucid dreams is a collection of knowledge and ideas about how video games can influence a person's consciousness and cognitive abilities to a certain extent.
The documentary "Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story" follows the story of Cyntoia Brown, who was accused of killing and stealing from Johnny Allen in 2004.
The film tells us that children were locked in rooms without toys and any other objects and it was prohibited for their parents to visit them, which gives a negative impression.
The documentary When the Levees Broke by the famous American director Spike Lee is the film that tells the story of the city of New Orleans after the natural disaster destroyed the very urban areas [...]
This made me think about two things: the professional work of the creators who managed to persuade me of the urgency of the problem and how, in essence, the same way of media influence is [...]
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a documentary movie that helps not only to understand the nature of hip hop but to connect a single style of music with the necessity of such crucial issues [...]
The definition of documentary films addresses such features as the level of control, the institutional base, the structure of texts, and the attitude towards viewers.
After the struggle which was won by the president following the singing of the health reform, a surprise in the support that the president and his party had enjoyed was realized to have faded from [...]
The third and last part of the film was released in 1998."The Decline of Western Civilization" is a documentary film that focuses on the evolution of the punk rock music genre as it changes from [...]
It is identified that most strategic managers often make decisions based on the particular well-being of the company as opposed to the well-being of the people that the company serves.
The diamond trade is featured as a major setback in realization of peace and stability in poor nations. The film is commendable due to its distinctive focus on the diamond trade and other infamous events.
The events that led to the arrest were faulty since they did not involve the establishment of substantial evidence that the three were guilty of the crime.
The main goal of the work is not only the analysis of cinematic works but also the consideration of the general urban dynamics through the lens of cinema.
The dehumanization of Black men, the value of mentoring and having faith in one's abilities, and the passing down of hardships from generation to generation are some of the topics.
The thesis of the movie correlates with the idea that being neurotypical does not necessarily imply being the standard that each individual is to strive for.
Overall, "The T Word" documentary is a powerful call to action, emphasizing the importance of greater recognition, acceptance, and support for transgender people.
The director claims that the United States and Puerto Rico's fates are intertwined. I knew the US and Puerto Rico have a paradoxical political, societal, economic, and territorial relationship.
It analyzed the complicated issues of discretion within the system, racial targeting, and the highest surge in the number of individuals jailed in America's history, presenting a historical narrative rarely heard about prisons and crime.
One of the key actions that can be used to protect and heal communities affected by hate crimes is the investigation of offenders from videos recorded by individuals during such events.
The 2012 Canadian film Stories We Tell is perceived to be the absolute truth and reality behind the family history of the writer and director Sarah Polley.
Jarad had a traumatic connection to seeing his stepfather try to commit suicide, while Juan grew up with the feeling that he was not accepted by his father and constantly felt that he competed with [...]
The film is a documentary and shows the real life and the desire of the husband and wife to create their wonderful farm where they can grow vegetables and fruits, as well as have different [...]
According to the documentary, exhumed gladiators from Ephesus and the claim that they were vegan are baseless on the findings of a single research project.
In addition, the interview with the mother of an athlete, who was prescribed painkillers and found dead because of overdose, persuades the target audience to think about the opioid crisis.
The word Baraka stands for the essence of life or blessing in the Sufi language, and this is one of the most amazing films made, and it has received wide acclaim for its sensitive portrayal [...]
The documentary being discussed focuses on the experiences of three women, the survivors of military sexual slavery in China, South Korea, and the Republic of the Philippines.
Talking about the ethical side of the movie Super Size Me and its hard critics of McDonald's and the style of life offered by this company, it is necessary to admit that its author, Morgan [...]
The Frontline documentary, "Supplements and Safety," provides a thorough and insightful description of the main problems existing in the supplement industry: safety, regulation, and efficacy.
The main goal of this paper is to discuss the concepts of leadership and power, using examples that are presented in a film Street Fight. His slogans emphasized the importance of changes in the leadership [...]
The documentary film NOVA: Battle of the X-Planes throws light on the functioning of the aircraft industry. In particular, much attention is paid to the cooperation of companies representing this industry with military agencies, especially [...]
Through the roles played by Tory, Rachael and Levi, the audience is in a position to understand events in the camp, the learning process and purported gifts that children can use to draw America back [...]
One by one, they appear during the film, first to be introduced and then for the revisit so that the viewers know the beginning and the development of their stories.
It becomes evident that Susan has to be taken to a hospital, but chaos is created due to the miscommunications between the different parties such as the fellow passengers, the villagers, the local authorities, and [...]
The fact that they are comfortable and proud of their big size is amazing and leaves a considerable number of people to wonder what is there in fatness that the women should be proud of.
There is no use denying the fact that it is one of the most fast-growing economies in the world and, that is why it is rather efficient and, moreover, it is possible to predict the [...]
Though the significance of the acceptance of the specified medicine is often overlooked, it is the introduction of the famous pill that was a major step forward in promoting the prochoice view on the issue [...]
When the Levees Broke truly reveals that Lee was driven by the issues this tragedy addressed and incorporates all of the characteristics that distinguish his film style consciousness, talent, and passion.
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