Subhechcha Ganguly 
Documentaries have become a very popular form of expression in the present days . Documentaries are very famous and apart from all other significant qualities caters to the most important quality credibility. The name Documentary came from the fact that. All the information presented are documented and are real. The impact of documentaries is a lot larger than fictional films.
In the 21st century a lot of real-life incidents are happening across the world. Some incidents are known to public whereas there are still some incidents which the public is unaware or oblivion about. Documentaries can act as a powerful tool in revealing these incidents in front of the public. One of the major factors that documentaries contribute is to show all the sides of the coin which is not present in any fictional movies.
Documentary movies do not generally try to establish any fact but its main intention is majorly to represent what was the actual incident that happened and how does it have an impact in front of the audience. Oral history predates documentary sources by a considerable amount. The importance of either is the validity of the information. Oral history relied on the people recounting it sticking to the original information and not embellishing it. However this rarely happens so the facts become distorted as the different recounters put their spin on the story. So whilst the oral history may have some element of fact about it the task of separating fact from fiction can be near impossible. Documentary sources can be relied upon as being far more consistent in their recounting however they are still reliant on the writer’s approach to the truth. First hand accounts should be considered more reliable than second hand reporting although the stand point of the writer should be taken into account.
By Subhechcha Ganguly
