The world outside: direct cinema and new journalism doi: 10.5007/1984-6924.2010v7n2p424

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to trace a movement of approach and estrangement between direct cinema and new journalism. Both movements were strongly influenced by the realistic literature of Flaubert, Dickens, and others; made use of resources to deal with fictional events and characters; fueled ethical questions; and justified themselves from a number of assumptions about the "real". In an attempt to capture reality through new formats, journalists and filmmakers draw attention to their processes and styles. On the one hand, their strategies seemed radical, but on the other, these movements were operating from a conservative and traditional view of what is the "real" and the possibility to represent it.