Director: Peter Wintonick
National Film Board of Canada. 1999. $39.95
Length: 103 minutes
Audience: Secondary, Post-Secondary
Topics: documentary filmmaking, global media

NFB video description:

"The That's Entertainment of documentaries - all-star tribute, generously illustrated with clips and interviews, to the 1960s movement that changed the face of non-fiction filmmaking.

New York Times

"The Documentary of documentaries. Information-loaded, topical and personal... A rare shotgun marriage of education, entertainment and enlightenment.

The Gazette

Crisis, Lonely Boy, Chronicle of a Summer - You may not know these films, but you see their influences every day - in everything from TV news to music videos to webcams.

The cinéma vérité (French for "truth in cinema") movement of the 50s and 60s was driven by a group of rebel filmmakers who were tired of stilted documentaries. They wanted to show life as it really is: raw, gritty, dramatic.

Rich in excerpts from vérité classics, this film was the first to capture all the excitement of a revolution that changed movie-making forever.

Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment can be ordered online from the National Film Board.