Screening Reality: How Documentary Filmmakers Reimagined America

"Enthralling . . . A valuable resource for cinephiles, this sweeping history will ignite a new enthusiasm for the form among readers less well-versed in the genre." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A many-faceted, dynamic, and thought-provoking history of nonfiction films in America . . . This monumental exploration reminds us that 'evidential truth' is essential to liberty and justice . . . Let the real be real; let truth ring true." --Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

"An illuminating, encyclopedic history of nonfiction film . . . A capacious celebration of film's potential to show us the world." --Kirkus Reviews

"Well-documented . . . Wilkman consistently cycles back to one important message: no matter how fuzzy the lines between fiction and fact, truth should be forefront in the minds of documentarians. Our supposedly posttruth era and the pitfalls and ease with which we augment reality are threads through the narrative . . . Wilkman makes a compelling case." --Library Journal

This illuminating, comprehensive history of nonfiction filmmaking examines how truth has been represented on screen since the first moving image. - Shelf Awareness

"Authoritative, accessible, and elegantly written, Screening Reality is the history of American documentary film we have been waiting for. " --Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES film critic

Jon Wilkman has accomplished the near-impossible in this informative and highly readable new book. A respected documentarian himself, the author brings first-hand experience to the subject. Dip into any chapter and you'll find yourself comparing notes (for the book is openly opinionated) or being reminded of films you want to see. It is a towering achievement, and a volume I know I'll be consulting on a regular basis. - Leonard Maltin

"Fantastically well researched and written, Screening Reality raises the bar for anyone who wants to write about the history of documentaries and documentarians, with invaluable insights into today's truth-challenged times." --Peter Davis, Academy Award-winning director of HEARTS AND MINDS; author of GIRL OF MY DREAMS

"In Screening Reality, filmmaker Jon Wilkman provides a fascinating look at the many ways documentary (and so-called documentary) cinema has shaped and distorted our vision of American history. It is a remarkably comprehensive study, tracking the course of documentary film from the actualities conjured in Thomas Edison's Black Maria to the true crime series streamed on Netflix. Wilkman commands a skill set that is perfectly suited to the task, lacing his insights with the filmmaker's understanding of the craft and the historian's respect for the facts on record." --Thomas Doherty, Professor of American Studies, Brandeis University

"Jon Wilkman offers an engaging, valuable history of American documentary and nonfiction media from the fresh and badly needed perspective of someone who has worked in the field-particularly Television documentary-for fifty years. Lively, enjoyable and highly informative." --Charles Musser, Professor of American Studies and Film & Media Studies at Yale University and producer/director of Errol Morris: A Lightning Sketch.

"Jon Wilkman's Screening Reality is both readable and informative. The entire history of documentary film in the U.S. is here, examined with efficiency and style. A truly splendid achievement." --Anthony Slide, author of New York City Vaudeville and former Resident Historian at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

"Floodpath attempts to rescue the disaster from obscurity . . . The author captures many heartbreaking stories of survivors . . . The effect is powerful." --The Wall Street Journal on FLOODPATH

"Popular knowledge of early Los Angeles's struggle for water owes much to the film Chinatown, but documentary filmmaker and writer Wilkman shows that the real story of L.A.'s water is as fascinating -- and devastating -- as the fictionalized version." --Publishers Weekly on FLOODPATH

Engaging and deeply informative, an essential piece of cinematic, and social, history. - Alta