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Documentary Film Quotes

Filmmaker lines on documentaries, history, and awareness

These quotes explore documentary film through the eyes of directors and viewers, including memories of first learning what the form even was. For related lines, see our documentary quotes collection.

Until I was 16 or 17, I had heard practically nothing about the history that preceded 1945. Only when we were 17 were we confronted with a documentary film of the opening of the Belsen camp.

Quotes by W. G. Sebald

Phantom Films is an established production house and it will help to spread awareness about the documentary film 'Katiyabaaz' among the audience. I saw this film and I loved it. Then we decided to support this film.

Quotes by Vikramaditya Motwane

I would love to direct a documentary film if any good subject comes my way.

Quotes by Vikramaditya Motwane

When I started my filmmaking journey 17 years ago, I honestly didn't know what a documentary film was.

Quotes by Tony Kaye

About Quotes

I've been called a spy of Israel since 1996, and since I made my documentary film in 2000 the FBI has investigated me as an agent of Iraq. The FBI has also opened up an investigation into my wife calling...

Quotes by Scott Ritter

When I left university I was working for a documentary film company for six or seven years to the great relief of my father whose greatest waking fear was that I would become an actor.

Quotes by Sam Neill

Directing plays lacked the immediacy and connection to real world events that journalism offered; journalism lacked the drama, theatricality and subjective storytelling of theater. It wasn't until I had the idea of making a documentary film about the 1992 presidential...

Quotes by R. J. Cutler

I don't think the subject of a documentary film should be producers on it.

Quotes by Michael Rapaport

We have a documentary film festival in Mexico. It's really original. It's called Ambulante, and it's a film festival that travels around several cities in Mexico.

Quotes by Gael Garcia Bernal

Camera Quotes

I got five kids, and my oldest is a documentary film maker and camera man, and still photographer.

Quotes by Beau Bridges

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these documentary film quotes cover?
They cover filmmakers' personal journeys into documentary work, along with the genre's power to inform and raise awareness.
Does any quote reference difficult historical subject matter?
Yes, one recalls first learning history through a documentary about the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp, discussed here as sober historical fact.
Is there a quote about supporting an independent documentary?
Yes, one describes a production house helping spread awareness of a documentary film after being personally moved by it.
Do filmmakers always start out knowing the documentary form well?
Not necessarily; one filmmaker admits not even knowing what a documentary film was when their filmmaking journey began.
Where can I find more quotes on filmmaking?
See our documentary quotes collection for closely related perspectives on the genre.

Some quotes recall difficult historical subject matter that documentaries have brought to light, described here in a neutral, factual way. See also our about quotes page.