Documentary film-making has a history as long as that of fiction film-making and began in the late 1800s. From the first developments of film cameras many people found the need to 'document' the life they saw around them. Film gave rise to a new and very powerful way of looking at the things.
Each decade brought with it lighter and easier to use camera equipment, as well as film stock which could be used in a wider variety of lighting conditions. This made films easier to make, and the subjects of documentary widened.
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