Search with Subject Headings in the Library Catalogue

1. Go to UTL LibrarySearch Advanced Search
2. Enter any of the Subject Heading found below exactly as it appears in the Search Box 
3. Choose Subject from the Search Filters drop-down menu on the left
4. Press Enter or click on the Magnifying Glass icon

For additional information on subject headings in LibrarySearch, visit How can I use subject headings to improve my searching?

Note: The main heading is documentary films, which is subdivided by country/region, topic, theme, etc. For books about genre itself, the heading is film genres.

Subject Headings for documentary (and related) films

Search for ​Individual Directors as Subject Headings

• Search as above; use last name, first name
• e.g., maysles albert.

Search for Institutions and/or studios as Subject Headings

• Search as above
• e.g., National Film Board of Canada

Search for Early or silent films 

Copy any of the following headings, exactly as they appear, into UofT Libraries Advanced Search and then choose Subject from the drop-down menu.

Search Other Related Topics as Subject Headings

Browse the library shelves:

• Explore books about
  • documentary film are shelved within the Call Number range PN1995.9 .D6
  • individual directors are shelved within the Call Number range PN1998.3.
• Both Innis and Robarts libraries have substantial holdings in their collections;

Oxford Bibliographies Online

Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO): These links will take you to annotated bibliographies that highlight key resources (books, book chapters, essays, articles, reviews) on the topic. Look up the resources using the UofT LIbraries system or contact Cinema Studies Librarian, Kate Johnson if you need help in accessing the materials.  

UC Berkeley Libraries

• Documentary Film 
• Ethnographic Film 
• Propaganda Film 
  • War Movies and War Propaganda 
• Reality TV 

British Film Institute

• Docusoaps and Reality TV 
• Free Cinema: a selective filmo-bibliography 

How to Find Journal Articles

• How do I find an article by title in LibrarySearch?

Interdisciplinary databases

• Google Scholar (incl. substantial film content)
• ProQuest (incl. substantial film content)
• JSTOR
• Project MUSE

Film-specific databases

• *American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog (1893-1975) contains detailed production information about specific films, as well as citations to contemporaneous reviews from newspapers (i.e. New York Times), trade & industry publications (i.e. Variety), popular magazines (i.e. Motion Picture Herald, Photoplay), and review publications (i.e. Monthly Film Bulletin) among others.
• FIAF international Index to Film Periodicals (1972+) 
• *Film Index International (1900-present) includes directors who a) have made a fiction film shown theatrically that is over 50 minutes in duration and was released between 1928 and 1965, and b) have made a fiction film over 60 minutes in duration, post-1965.
• Film Literature Index (1976-2001)
• Film & Television Literature Index (1913-present)

*There are no direct links to online content from these sources. See How to Find Journal Articles above, for instructions on how to use a citation to find a journal article.

• Annuaire du film documentaire
• Canadian index to periodicals and documentary films 
• Point of view (Documentary Organisation of Canada) is a magazine from the Canadian Independent Film Caucus that discusses the art and business of independent documentaries.
• Senses of Cinema 
• Studies in documentary film vol. 1:1(2007)+

E-books

• Hongisto, Ilona, Soul of the Documentary. Framing, Expression, Ethics
• Schoots, Hans. Living Dangerously: A Biography of Joris Ivens
• Waugh. Thomas, The Conscience of Cinema: The Works of Joris Ivens 1926-1989

Reference

• A Companion to Contemporary Documentary Film 
• Anthony Slide. Before video: a history of the non-theatrical film. 
• Ian Aitken, ed. Encyclopedia of the documentary film.
• International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers 
• Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film