History Main / Mockumentary

* ''Fraktus: Das letzte Kapitel der Musikgeschichte'' tells the story of the German experimental electro band (and supposed inventors of {{Techno}}) ''Music/{{Fraktus}}'' and their not-so-voluntary reunion after 25 years. ''Music/{{Fraktus}}'' themselves are actually the comedy duo Studio Braun.

* {{AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar}} is framed as a television documentary filmed ten years after the titular war.

* In the British series ''PrehistoricPark'', the main character uses a [[TimeTravel time portal]] to bring dinosaurs to a modern nature preserve. In spite of the ''Franchise/JurassicPark''--like premise, the show is filmed in the style of a realistic NatureDocumentary. Further blurring the line between fact and fantasy, star Nigel Marven is an ornithologist and documentary host in RealLife. Egregious tagline: "Extinction Doesn't Have to be Forever".
** This series follows from ''Walking With Dinosaurs'' and its sequels ''Walking with Beasts'' and ''Walking with Cavemen'', as well as its prequel, ''Walking with Monsters''. All of these were filmed like National Geographic-esque nature documentaries, complete with CameraAbuse, except that they rotated around prehistoric life portrayed using a variety of special effects. Also in the series - and far more mockumentary in tone - was ''Chased by Dinosaurs'', starring Nigel Marven again, which was basically ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''The Crocodile Hunter''; and ''Sea Monsters / Chased By Sea Monsters'', which also starred Nigel and was a countdown of the seven deadliest prehistoric oceans and their top predators (orthicones (shelled squids); ''Cymbospondylus'' (a type of icthyosaur); ''Dunkleosteus''; ''Basilosaurus'' (an ancient whale); ''Carcharadon megaladon''; ''Liopleurodon''; a menagerie of beasties (mosasaurs, sharks, monstrous fish, six-foot toothed seabirds). Nigel went shark-cage diving with a megalodon, and [[Film/SharkAttack3Megalodon John Barrowman]] wasn't invited.

* ''Las Hurdes'' by Luis Bunuel falls halfway between this trope and DocumentaryOfLies. He did actually go to poor areas of Spain to shoot and was addressing real social issues, but some events appear to have been staged or restaged and at least a few of the statements made by the UnreliableNarrator are BlatantLies. How much is true and how much isn't is just part of a surrealist package.

* ''The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades'', a 92-page biology in-joke describing a fictitious order of mammals that walk, climb, dig and/or catch insects with their noses.

--> '''Marti [=DiBergi=], ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap''

** ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'', the story of an aging British rock group in their fading days of stardom. They struggle with playing continually smaller venues, incompetent band members, and the reality that they may be losing their fame.

* ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (1938): This TropeMaker was a RadioDrama adaptation of the HG Wells novel, written and directed by Orson Welles as part of his Mercury Theatre of the Air program on CBS radio. The first half of the program was presented as a PhonyNewscast, the overwhelming versimilitude of which - coupled with heightened public anxiety over the prospect of war in Europe - resulted in many listeners believing the play to be an actual news broadcast on a Martian invasion. The resulting panic, though not nearly as wide-ranging or destructive as legend would later have it, boosted Welles' career and resulted in numerous FCC regulations requiring disclaimers in future mockumentaries.

A fictional drama that poses as a documentary. When not an outright comedy (such as ''ThisIsSpinalTap''), the Mockumentary almost always involves some kind of disaster (even the BBC's recent one about a space voyage involved a crew member dying). Fake news reports done by real life newsreaders are common, along with interviews with 'experts', real or fictional. A Mockumentary will often provoke controversy.

->''"October 30, 1938, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity: Creator/OrsonWelles broadcasts ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', sending the nation into panic over a supposed alien invasion. Amazed by its success, Welles planned an ambitious follow-up: an innovative radio adaptation of Creator/WaltWhitman's ''Literature/LeavesOfGrass'', in which the famed poem is expressed in a series of fake news bulletins and incredible sound effects (the majestic "yawp" is accomplished using a glass bottle and a balloon). Listeners fall for it again: Across America, hysterical citizens run through the streets singing the body electric, and falling in love with teenage boys."''
-->-- ''Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire''

* ''SpecialBulletin'' (1983) -- An NBC-produced movie about a nuclear standoff in the port of Charleston, SC, which caused mild panic despite frequent disclaimers that the work was fictional. The final scenes of the film drop the conceit in a time-skip to several months afterward.
* ''CountdownToLookingGlass'' (1984) - A fairly unexceptional made-for-TV movie about news broadcasts on the verge of guess-what.

* ''{{Ghostwatch}}'' (1992) -- A ghost story presented as a live TV broadcast. Caused much controversy, due to many people, again, not realizing it wasn't real. Even though the actor playing the ghost was credited.
* ''WithoutWarning'' (1994) -- Telefilm involving a bunch of asteroids headed for Earth, made as a long special news report. Features a cameo from ArthurCClarke.
** Despite the commercial wipes clearly depicting it as a work of fiction, television networks received a high number of calls from viewers duped into thinking it was real.

* ''Tout ça (ne nous rendra pas la Belgique)'' (2006) -- A hoax news broadcast aired on December 16th, 2006, on the French-language Belgian TV station RTBF, reported that the parliament of the Flemish-speaking region of Flanders had seceded and that Belgium as a nation had effectively ceased to exist.. The program featured interviews with real politicians ([[EnforcedMethodActing not all of whom were in on the hoax]]) and a staged evacuation of the royal family from Brussels. Thousands of panicked phone calls were placed, worried citizens rallied outside the royal palace, and several ambassadors sent panicked messages to their capitals. Thirty minutes into the program, the Minister for Audiovisual Affairs ordered RTBF to admit the hoax.

* A local example: the comedy-sketch show ''Series/AlmostLive'' used to be produced by and air on the NBC affiliate in Seattle, Washington. One week (on April Fools Day) they "interrupted" the show with a serious-seeming "newscast" which announced that the landmark Space Needle had fallen over in a windstorm. Enough people believed the report that the station later issued a formal apology.

** Likewise, the DiscoveryChannel's ''Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives'', broadcast for Shark Week 2013.

-->-- '''''Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire'''''

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj8UOdFs5Go&context=C3de6871ADOEgsToPDskKNlqODDsL4mW0GosRCicuu Hearts of Dorkness]], which has a WebOriginal page in progress, is a mockumentary akin to TropicThunder's Rain of Madness, a satire of Hearts of Darkness, in this case being a teenager-produced shoestring-budget short that chronicles four geeks and their catastrophic efforts to create a 200 million dollar Skyrim film. .on a budget of their pocket change.

* {{AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar}} is framed as an Osean documentary filmed ten years after the titular war.

* The Belgian [[BlackComedy pitch-black comedy]] ''ManBitesDog'' is about AffablyEvil SerialKiller being followed around by a film crew. The documentary style made the [[{{Gorn}} violence]] even more disturbing by giving viewers the uneasy feeling that they're watching a SnuffFilm.

* ''I'm Still Here'' chronicles Joaquin Phoenix's transition from actor to aspiring rap artist, which involved Phoenix's public persona and appearance changing drastically; he became introverted, mumbled uncomfortably through interviews, and apparently put a moratorium on personal grooming as evidenced by his disheveled hair and new, gnarly beard. During the filming period, few were certain as to whether Phoenix was serious about becoming a rapper or if the entire thing was a [[Creator/AndyKaufman Kaufmanesque]] ruse. Only after the film premiered did Phoenix confirm that the ordeal was a hoax, and he began appearing in interviews as his old, well-groomed, clean-shaven self.

** Likewise, the DiscoveryChannel's ''Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives'', broadcast for SharkWeek 2013.

* ''Film/{{Kenny}}'' is 2006 Australian mockumenray following the life of a plumber who works for a corporate bathroom rental company.

* ''{{Cloverfield}}'' (2008) -- AttackOfThe50FootWhatever, documented on a handheld camcorder by an ordinary schlub.

* ''{{REC}}'' is portrayed as a TV program where a journalist and a cameraman cover the night shift of one of Barcelona's local fire stations.
* ''Film/LakeMungo''
* In the ''TropicThunder'' special DVD edition, there was a documentary of the movie within the movie and how it got derailed. [[spoiler: This had elements of DocumentaryOfLies at the end when it was implied that the actors disappeared into the jungle and got blown up.]]

* The amazing HarryPotter fanfilm [[http://rhettswanson.com/Battle_of_Hogwarts__Harry_Potter_Documentary.html The Battle of Hogwarts]], a fictional documentary, set in the present, that chronicles "the lives and stories of those who survived the fateful battle [[HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows 20 years ago]]".

* ''ThePoughkeepsieTapes'' is a horror movie in this style. In a rare example for the horror genre, this was made to look like an actual documentary, rather than just shaky cam.

* ''CannibalHolocaust'' (1980)

* ''BehindTheMask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon'' is about a group of documentary filmmakers following a wannabe [[SlasherMovie slasher killer]] who wishes to be the next [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason]] or [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]]. Most of the movie is done in this style, showing his preparations for his coming killing spree, before turning into a conventional slasher flick in the last fifteen minutes.

* ''I'm Still Here'' chronicles Joaquin Phoenix's transition from actor to aspiring rap artist, which involved Phoenix's public persona and appearance changing drastically; he became introverted, mumbled uncomfortably through interviews, and apparently put a moratorium on personal grooming as evidenced by his disheveled hair and new, gnarly beard. During the filming period, few were certain as to whether Phoenix was serious about becoming a rapper or if the entire thing was a [[AndyKaufman Kaufmanesque]] ruse. Only after the film premiered did Phoenix confirm that the ordeal was a hoax, and he began appearing in interviews as his old, well-groomed, clean-shaven self.

* Many, if not all of the ''TopGear'' Challenges. Crossing a dessert in Africa or a reaching the North Pole in a car appear as very genuine documentaries about cars in extreme environments. But then you have others that include things like Jeremy hilariously rolling over a car in the background of a live news broadcast or the Stig falling with a car from the deck of an aircraft carrier and dying. Or the one in which they tried to test cars for their usefulnes as getaway cars and robbed a bank in Albania and got in a chase with the police during which James died by jumping of a cliff, only to be back the next episode.
* The AnimalPlanet documentary ''MermaidsTheBodyFound'', about the fictional discovery of a mermaid-like body and the supposed science behind it.