It has been noted through the Box office analysts that documentaries has become increasingly successful in theatrical release with films such as Bowling for Columbine, Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins.
In comparison to dramatic narrative films, documentaries usually have far lower budgets. Therefore documentaries are more preferable to film companies because even if they have a limited theatrical release they can be highly profitable. Fahrenheit 9/11 set a new record for documentary profits, earning more than £1.3 million in ticket sales in the opening weekend.
Documentary films have changed dramatically from the past 20 years from the cinema verite tradition. Films such as The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris, that incorporated re-enactments, and Michael Moore's Roger and Me, which placed more control in the hands of the director as they could put their own representation of social groups in the documentary film.
The commercial success of documentaries mentioned may be due to this narrative shift in the documentary form, rather than documentaries belonging to a particular mode. However to an extent has this has led some questioning by critics to ask whether these films could truly be called documentaries. Rather calling these films documentaries critics refer to them as "mondo films" or "docu-ganda." This is because they do not fit into the forms or modes of documentaries.
Through the success of the documentary genre, and the introduction of DVDs, has only made documentaries financially possibly even if there is no cinema release. However funding for documentary film production is not as practiced in the industry this in turn has led documentaries to be in broadcast market. This has enabled the film makers to be influenced by the audiences needs and therefore broadcasting has become their larges funding source.
Modern documentaries have recently overlapped with the introduction of television forms such as "reality television" that occasionally shows elements of documentary but focuses upon the fictional or the staged.
Key example of reality television:
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