Abstract

Is there truth in nonfiction film? Some film theorists argue that documentary films cannot relay truth or knowledge because films are produced with a bias, framed from a particular point of view, edited to persuade and created using the same narrative techniques as fictive films. I address this problem by considering the question of truth from a phenomenological perspective and draw from Heidegger's writings on art and truth. Heidegger challenges the traditional mimetic notion of truth based on the Latin word "veritas" and suggests instead the Greek concept of truth as "aletheia," truth as uncovering or revealing. ;Heidegger's concept of truth as aletheia seeks to get out from under the imperialist rule of "true" or "false" and instead is invested in the process of uncovering and concealing beings. I suggest looking at nonfiction film as a work that shows the play between revealing and concealing rather than as a work which attempts direct correspondence to the world. Approaching documentary film with Heidegger's idea of truth as aletheia is a way to deal with the complexity and tension created by a work which has an undeniable link to mimetic representations of the physical world and an equally significant creative component. ;Heidegger suggests there are two interdependent elements in a work that are in an essential strife. While "world" tends to unconceal, to play to the light, "earth" tends to conceal in terms of sheltering and preserving. Art works have the unique quality of bringing this strife to our attention. I argue that nonfiction film is a site where the interplay of the lighting associated with world , and the concealment associated with earth , is present. This dynamic between showing and not showing is a tension essential to the nature of documentary film. What contemporary film theorists argue undercuts documentary film's credibility is precisely the struggle and conflict that enables documentary to reveal truth. Documentary film is a place where truth happens. Truth is not a single occurrence but is a play between covering and revealing. Revealing has a component which shelters and preserves by disclosing in a certain way