Trusting the Filmmaker

One of the cornerstones of documentary filmmaking is trust. The subject trusts that the filmmakers will present them in an honest and accurate light. The audience trusts that what the filmmakers are presenting is truthful.

Because the filmmaker is often exposing the audience to a portion of the world they are not familiar with or providing them with information they do not already know, the audience must take what is presented to be truthful, even factual. Audiences seasoned in documentary form have found particular tropes, such as confident narration from a fatherly male speaker, to make the work more believable.

It’s hard to believe that back in 1957 a false-documentary or mockumentary about a spaghetti harvest in Switzerland could have fooled many people in London. When the BBC originally aired this piece the home viewing audience expected news and information from the BBC and they were accustomed to Richard Dimbleby’s deadpan voice. What they weren’t expecting on April 1st, 1957 was an April Fool’s Day joke in the form of a documentary.

When many phoned in the next day to ask how to grow their own tree, the BBC apparently told them to “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best”.