This is the WBZ book Club. I'm Jordan Rich. Documentary filmmaking is still
reaching its stride, with hundreds of well produced docs streaming every single year.
A good way to understand the history of the documentary is by taking a look
at a book called Screening Reality. Our documentary Filmmakers Reimagined America by an Emy
winning filmmaker himself, John Wilkman. The earliest known documentaries try the eighteen eighties.
Film audiences early on wanted a glimpse of the real world, so the
book traces the rise of the famous newsreels short films recording events such as Limberg's
landing or women marching in Washington for the right to vote. Groundbreaking documentary served
as a means to educate the public early on, and then it's on too.
World War Two, with the United States Army tagged some of Hollywood's best
directors, such as Frank Kapper, to produced documentaries to rally Americans around the
fight for freedom. TV brought such documentary series as See It Now, Frontline,
the work of Ken Burns, and a whole host of great programs on
PBS. Screening Reality by John Wilkman, The Book Club WWZ Boston's news radio