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
A Dokumentation and a Dokumentarfilm both report on real topics based on facts. Dokumentation can refer to a film, television program, or radio program; Dokumentarfilm specifically refers to a film without a fictional story. Use Dokumentarfilm when the film genre is the focus.
Im Kino sehen wir einen Dokumentarfilm über das Leben in den Bergen.
We are watching a documentary about life in the mountains at the cinema.
Heute Abend läuft eine Dokumentation über das Leben in den Bergen im Fernsehen.
A documentary about life in the mountains is on television tonight.
