This new edition of Bill Nichols's bestselling text provides an up to date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the distinguishing qualities of documentary and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. Each chapter takes up a discrete question, from "How did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "Why are ethical issues central to documentary filmmaking?" Carefully revised to take account of new work and trends, this volume includes information on more than 100 documentaries released since the first edition, an expanded treatment of the six documentary modes, new still images, and a greatly expanded list of distributors.

"This engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many to teach documentary film." -Choice

"Bill Nichols' work is always original, provocative, and deeply rooted in his understanding of what we're trying to do Introduction to Documentary is loaded with original clear thinking and precise attention to the actual mechanics of documentary making and documentary functioning in the real world Bravo." -Jon Else, University of California at Berkeley and producer and director of The Day After Trinity and Sing Faster