As a noun, it is a film or TV program that shows real events, people, or facts, rather than a made-up story. As an adjective, it describes something that is based on documents or factual records.
Formed from 'document' plus the adjective-forming suffix '-ary'. It originally described things related to documents or evidence. In the 20th century, it came to refer specifically to factual films built from real-life material.
A documentary is basically a 'moving document'—a way of turning records and reality into a story on screen. Even though documentaries aim for truth, they still select, frame, and edit, just like written documents. So they don't just show reality; they shape how we remember it.
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