documentary
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documentary
A film that presents real events, people, or conditions and is not based on a fictional story. It often serves to inform or educate.
Gestern Abend lief ein beeindruckender Dokumentarfilm über das Leben der Tiefseefische.
Last night, there was an impressive documentary about the lives of deep-sea fish.
This word is made up of 'Dokumentar-' (documentary) and 'Film' (film). The first part is derived from the verb 'dokumentieren' (to document) and describes the fact that the film documents reality.
Dieser Dokumentarfilm dokumentiert das Leben einer Nomadenfamilie.
This documentary documents the life of a nomad family.
In everyday usage, the short form 'die Doku' (the documentary) is used very frequently. Note that the short form is feminine ('die'), even though the long word is masculine ('der').
Hast du gestern Abend die Doku über den Klimawandel gesehen?
Did you see the documentary about climate change last night?
To name the topic of a documentary, the preposition 'über' (about) followed by the accusative is almost always used.
Ich habe einen interessanten Dokumentarfilm über die Geschichte Roms gesehen.
I saw an interesting documentary about the history of Rome.
documentation / documentary
'die Dokumentation' and 'der Dokumentarfilm' are very close when it comes to films about real topics. Both do not show a freely invented story, but report on reality. However, 'Dokumentarfilm' clearly means a film. 'Dokumentation' is a little broader: it can be a film, but also a television or radio program. That is why 'Dokumentarfilm' is more precise when you really mean a film. 'Dokumentation' sounds more natural when you are speaking generally about a program on television, on the radio, or in a media library.
Der Dokumentarfilm zeigt, wie Menschen im Sommer auf einer kleinen Insel leben.
The documentary shows how people live on a small island in summer.
In der Mediathek gibt es eine interessante Dokumentation über gesunde Ernährung.
There is an interesting documentary about healthy eating in the media library.