The document discusses the theory and history of documentaries. It states that the aim of documentaries is to report real events and situations using real footage and reconstructions. Documentaries can cover political, historical, social, and cultural issues as long as they are based on facts. The documentary genre was developed in the 1930s by John Grierson and his team at the General Post Office. Grierson coined the term "documentary" in 1926 and shot real people and situations without analysis.