Why is documentary film research necessary?

By Max Hellier @ 2025-10-23T05:01 (+10)

Research is a crucial exploratory phase that takes place before a filmmaker picks up a camera, offering a chance to discover what a project could truly become. This period allows filmmakers to find their characters, which might take weeks of locating candidates and conducting preliminary interviews with potential subjects and journalists. You may need to conduct dozens of conversations before discovering that one compelling character who will anchor your film. Building relationships and testing how people present on camera during this phase, helps you avoid the costly mistake of shooting formal interviews with people who ultimately won't work for your documentary.

Research often requires travel to conduct investigations that can't be done online. You might need to visit a remote village to ask locals about a character who has no internet presence, or spend weeks speaking to dozens of people to gain access to crucial characters, archival footage, or materials. This phase involves watching through hours of archival content to verify the story exists in the material, and poring over documents, research papers, and transcripts to confirm there is substance to pursue. It's during this time that you analyse whether the story and characters you've found are strong enough to sustain a feature documentary and series.

Sometimes research even means following someone around for a few days with a camera to test whether what you think is there actually exists on film. Through this process, you understand all the nuances of your story, whether that's complex family dynamics or unexpected elements that could become central to your narrative. Research helps you figure out your audience and platform based on the story you're discovering, which in turn informs how you'll shoot during production.

You'll also research other films on similar topics to determine whether this ground has already been covered, whether those films succeeded, and if there's space for another version of this story, or whether you can use existing projects to your benefit.

This phase is also when you verify stories and facts, roughly calculate production costs (perhaps you've found four key characters across four different continents), and analyse the potential impact of your film and how that impact might be measured. All of this groundwork ensures that when you do move into production, you're making informed creative and financial decisions based on solid research rather than assumptions.

Examples of Documentary Film Research:

The Act Of Killing (2012)

Director Joshua Oppenheimer spent two years locating and filming people across Sumatra and Malaysia to understand what they had done and why. The 41st person he filmed ended up being their main character. He decided to replay the footage of Anwar back to him, and only then, in that exploration, did he come to the idea for the film. He wouldn't have arrived at his story without those initial research interviews.

The Fire Of Love (2022)

The team catalogued hundreds of hours of archival footage and thousands of photos for a different project before concluding that it should be a standalone film and before they knew what the story approach would be.

While reading Maurice's book, they found one specific line: 

"Myself, Katja and volcanoes is a love story." 

That single sentence inspired the whole direction of the film.

Good News...

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the EVFA Research Grant, which is a new initiative to help documentary films tackling topics of ethical consumption (food, animals, culture, and climate) reach mainstream audiences - ensuring that if enough people see it, awareness turns into change.

It's tough for documentaries with this focus to secure early-stage research funding, even though it's often so vital - so we've launched a Research Grant to provide filmmakers with an opportunity to turn their ideas into research-backed, fundable projects with mainstream appeal.

Read more details about the grant here!

APPLY NOW: https://forms.gle/Z5iPBENR1AZUer97A