So, is this the 'first' mockumentary ?
I thought the Blair witch project was -obviously I was wrong.
Anyone knows any previous ones ?
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) is probably among the first, very realistic horror filmed in documentary style... and the comedy mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984) most importantly, or Woody Allen's Zelig (1983).
I will return before you can say antidisestablishmentarianism. - Blackadder
I will check these out.
One thing though I don't think Zelig was a mocumentary.
The 'GallantConversation' id is on vacation.
"One thing though I don't think Zelig was a mocumentary."
It's unlike any of Woody's other work. It's a documentary about a man who completely adapts his personality and even physical appearance to whoever he's around. But it's fake, it's a comedy. ("Zelig was held responsible for the behavior of each of the personalities he assumed. He was sued for bigamy, adultery and performing unnecessary dental extractions.") So it certainly is a mockumentary.
And the strict lord Death bids them to dance. -Seventh Seal
But is not a mocumentary.It is a full story narrated within the lines of a film,a comedy as you say.
check for Punishment Park (1971) I don't say that's the first pseudo-documentary, but the earlier I can think of
sharePUNISHMENT PARK is a good one, but Peter Watkins' THE WAR GAME and CULLODEN (both made for the BBC in the 1960s) predate it.
'What does it matter what you say about people?'
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958).
A much earlier fake documentary is Robert Flaherty's "Nanook of the North" (1922).
And, of course, outside of the movies there was Orsen Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast in 1938, the first half of which was a fake real-time news broadcast.
Welles was very fond of crossing the line between fiction and reality, Citizen Kane itself is part mockumentary; his F for Fake (1974) is definitely a mockumentary and one of the earliest, except that he unveils the trick at certain points in the narration - yet it still gets you wondering if it's real or not.
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