BY PAIGE FULLERTON

Cinema Vérité

What is Cinema vérité?

It's a style of documentary of filmmaking. The key concept of the movement is to capture (the) immediate of social/ political processes. This was about watching the world unfold, it was the first true observational style of documentary and the truth about cinemas.

Cinema vérité is associated with observational cinema, which include 'best bits' of the film. The key concept of cinema vérité is to capture social and political processes" (Bordwell and Thompson). Between the years of 1958 and 1963 Cinema vérité took on several guises worldwide; candid cinema, uncontrolled cinema, observational cinema and direct cinema, whatever it's guise it was influenced by two major factors, firstly Neo-Realism (the likes of bicyle thieves) and the major advancements in technology and it's main concern was for immediacy.

Man with a movie camera

Documentaries like Vertoy- Man with a movie camera is a great example of camera vérité and observational cinema. It's about a man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.