pseudodocumentary

plural pseudodocumentaries

1. A film that mimics the style of a documentary but is not actually produced by filming real events

   A sort of pseudodocumentary, "Kaleidoscope" takes a generic event--here, "Sally gets a second cat"--and describes it through rapid-fire testimony from "witnesses" (their roles are given them by the audience)--Sally, the second cat, a neighbor's dog, etc.

   1988 May 20, Lawrence Bommer, “Cardiff Giant's Comedy Sideshow”, in Chicago Reader

   1 more example

   In 2004, while he was a film student at New York University, he made a pair of shorts — both called “Buy It Now,” one narrative, the other pseudodocumentary — about a 15-year-old girl who sells her virginity on eBay. Mr. Campos posted an actual auction on the site, eliciting nearly 4,000 responses that bid the price up to $2,000 before the ad was removed.

   2008 October 5, Dennis Lim, “Young and Out to Redefine What’s Real”, in New York Times