Mockumentary

Mockumentary (portmanteau of mock documentary. Also, fictional documentary, false documentary) names a film and TV genre, or a single work of the genre. The mockumentary is presented as if it were a documentary, though it is not factual. It is a commonly used medium for parody and satire.

Dramatic examples

• The Blair Witch Project, a horror film in the form of a documentary about a vanished film crew. Also see Curse of the Blair Witch.
• Countdown To Looking Glass, a 1984 cable TV docu-drama presented as a series of news reports concerning an escalation in the Middle East between the US and the USSR, that eventually lead to nuclear war. (This film, however, isn't completely a documentary as it included dramatic interludes).
• The DVD release of Independence Day included a fake newcast covering the arrival of the aliens and their subsequent attack.
• The Last Broadcast, another horror film in the form of a documentary about a vanished film crew.
• Oil Storm, a 2005 fictional documentary on FX depicting a near-future of America's over-reliance on foreign oil.
• Special Bulletin, a 1983 TV movie commenting on the nuclear arms race, which is presented as a mock-TV news broadcast involving a terrorists with a homemade nuclear bomb.
• ', a 2001 satire of reality television, depicting a marathon viewing of a game show in which random individuals kill one another.
• The War Game, a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city.
• Supervolcano, a documentary about the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
• Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon A docu-drama that reports on a (fictitious) attack made by terrorist using the disease of small pox to attack the world.
• Alternative 3 uncovering a political conspiracy to establish a settlement on Mars (television)
• We Interrupt This Program, an DVD extra on the 2004 Dawn of The Dead, depicting a newscast covering the growing zombie epidemic.
• Without Warning (1994) , a simulated news broadcast of an alien invasion.