Read a brief history of cinema verité and review a list of the genre’s landmark titles.

Frederick Wiseman Robert Drew D.A. Pennebaker

The documentary as gritty, rough-hewn truth is a relatively new phenomenon. Documentaries made after World War II, in the 1940s and ‘50s, steered clear of unexplored places. Directors did not intend to rally social change. Instead, the films were propaganda-like explorations of current events—a pastiche of newsreel footage, staged interviews and even staged events. An omniscient narrator told audiences exactly what to think.

By the late 1950s and early ‘60s, however, directors began to break away from this documentary formula. For the first time, new lightweight camera and sound equipment made it possible to take cameras anywhere. The lens could now unobtrusively capture life’s most intimate, awkward or even mundane moments unfolding in real time.

Directors named this new style of filmmaking “cinema verité”—French for “film truth.” The genre eschewed the use of devices like interviews, music, narration and sound effects to tell stories. The footage alone had to speak for itself.

Some of the pioneers of the verité movement include Frederick Wiseman (Titicut Follies, High School), Robert Drew (Primary, The Chair), D.A. Pennebaker (Don’t Look Back, War Story) and the Maylses Brothers (Salesman, Grey Gardens). These directors established a standard of truth in filmmaking that has continued to inspire a new generation of documentarians like Michael Moore, Ken Burns and Errol Morris.

Kraus, who filmed SHERIFF with a small crew from 1999 to 2001, said he was drawn to the verité style after he attended a Wiseman retrospective in Chicago.

Wiseman is known for his edgy and often controversial documentaries on subjects like a mental hospital, public housing, domestic violence and welfare. The films—which allow individuals to reveal their true nature through their own words and actions—have appeared on public television and screened around the world.

“SHERIFF was particularly suited to this style, because I was not interested in capturing a traditional storyline. I didn't care about plot. I wanted sights and sounds and actions,” Kraus said. “I wanted the end result to feel as I felt when standing in those swamps and crime scenes and assembly halls. When I reflect back on the production of SHERIFF, my memories look and sound very much like the finished film.”

Primary, 1960 Producer: Drew Associates Considered by filmmakers to be the most influential examples of “direct cinema,” this documentary closely follows Senators John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey on the campaign trail.

Chronique d'un Été (Chronicle of a Summer), 1961 Director: Jean Rouch Rouch uses the power of the camera provocatively, asking people at random, on the streets of Paris, if they are happy.

Don't Look Back, 1966 Director: D.A. Pennebaker One of the first “rockumentaries,” Don't Look Back follows Bob Dylan during his 1965 UK tour.

Titicut Follies, 1967 Director: Frederick Wiseman Wiseman’s controversial debut film looks at life inside the Massachusetts State Hospital for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater.

Salesman, 1969 Directors: Albert Maysles and David Maysles This classic follows four American Bible salesmen on their routes, as they travel door to door.

Harlan County USA, 1976 Director: Barbara Kopple An Academy Award-winning film that chronicles the heroic fight for dignity and fairness waged by mining families in Harlan County, Kentucky.

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