Cinéma Vérité
Cinéma Vérité (1960-85) represents an application of nouvelle vague cinematographic practices to real events rather than staged ones. In a manner characteristic of French innovation in cinema, it added the conceptions of the camera as a catalyst, the filmmaker as an active participant behind and sometimes in front of the camera, the elimination of devices from fictional cinema, the shooting and recording of real events rather than staged ones, and a visual style that incorporated informality and spontaneity into its "look", including such unconventional "mistakes" as poor lighting and the optically violent movement of the camera, which was frequently hand-held. Overall, cinéma vérité brought about a redefinition of film aesthetics. In turn, this led to the development of a new self-reflexive cinema.
Cinéma Vérité appeared in France in the 1950s and has its origins in Vertov. Its importance to the evolution of nonfiction cinematic technique was its experimention with some traditional techniques: the interview; the biographical format; the kaleido-scopic portrayal of city life; The best-known and probab-ly the most important filmmaker of cinéma vérité is Jean Rouch.
SOURCES
Richard M. Barsam. Non-fiction Film. A Critical History. S. 300, 303.