Looking back, the first films ever made were documentaries. In the pre-1900s, the films would usually be footage of a train stopping at a station, people shopping at a market, or a boat paddling in the river. The Lumière Brothers pioneered this part of history. Soon, a narrative got involved, and footage migrated to being largely fictional.
Many regard the true spirit of documentary films being born in Russia, in the 1920s. A young poet by the name of Dziga Vertov. Along with his group, he created a series called Kino-Eye, translated literally as “Cinema Truth.” This was an educational series filmed during the Russian Revolution.
On the other side of the globe, in the USA, Robert Flaherty made a film on the life of a real Eskimo family. Regarded as the first original documentary, it was called Nanook of the North. Soon enough, non-fiction films came to be called documentaries.
The next catalytic moment in the history of documentaries was World War II. Nazi Germany, Britain, USA used the documentary film as a tool for propaganda. Films like Here is Germany, Listen to Britain, and The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress were made during this time. There was a dramatic flair to the documentaries of this time, there was always a portrayal of good versus evil, the political powers wonderfully used the documentary film to spread their message.
When lighter camera equipment became the norm, there came spontaneity in documentary filmmaking. ARRI, the German camera group, was the first to commercialize lightweight equipment. This was called the period of Direct Cinema and Cinéma Vérité. Primary, Chronicle of a Summer, Pour la suite du monde were some of the films that defined this period.
The landscape of documentary filmmaking changed entirely with the advent of television. Documentary films became more accessible starting in the 60s. While there was spontaneity in the matter being shot, the emphasis was now on educational, journalistic content. This era has long gone on and has combined itself with docuseries, and now we have documentaries on everything we could imagine.
Good article