Docudrama

The docu-drama is a film genre that mainly applies on television.

In the docu-drama forms of documentary and feature film ( drama) are mixed together. Historically documented events are replayed apparently detail of actors, so the resulting spectacle is complemented by documentary elements such as eyewitness reports ( and interviews ) or news footage that run on statements of the author. Not to be confused is the docu-drama with pure films that were indeed turned to the historical events, but contain no documentary shares. The transition from the documentary with re-enacted scenes from the docudrama is fluid.

Compared with text, photo or tape documents affects the docudrama vivid and lively and thus offers a television fairer representation of the subject. History is more tangible for the viewer. Even the presumed subjective point of view and feelings of the protagonists can be highlighted in this way and transferred to the audience, which is not or only marginally acceptable in pure text or audio tape -based documentation due to the objective distance between the viewer and the action.

The docu-drama offers a different perspective than the documentary, but will not be geschichtsverschleiernd or distorting. Nevertheless, it is partially reliant on speculation especially with the seemingly detailed reenactment of the events and in particular the inner life of the protagonist, as the source location for such a representation is often not sufficient. Conflicting statements in sources and interpretations can be represented only with difficulty by means of the feature film, as the film only one can show one of several possible interpretations.

The docu-drama is through the mixing of the documentary with the usually the entertainment area associated element feature film in particular, the tension between the entertainment expectations of the audience and the claim to historical authenticity. There is a problem to bring the feature film drama with the history from scientific evidence about the event in line.

In Germany very well known are the award-winning miniseries by Heinrich Breloer and Horst Königstein, especially Dead Pool (1997), The Manns - Novel of a Century (2001) and Speer und Er ( 2004).

In Austria, Elisabeth Scharang turned 2007 docudrama Franz Fuchs - A Patriot, which dealt with the criminal case Franz Fuchs. Scenes were supplemented by interviews and documentary footage.