Cinema vérité

Cinema vérité is a French phrase meaning, literally "film truth". The term comes from the literal translation of Dziga Vertov's Kino-Pravda series and the intentions behind it: to use film as a means of getting at "hidden" truth. Cinema verite is not to be confused with Vertov's work, however; the term is used to refer to the style developed in France by the directors of the nouvelle vague and others.

The nouvelle vague directors emphasised non-professional actors, unintrusive filming techniques, the use of genuine locations rather than sound stages, naturalistic sound without post-production. Growing out of documentary techniques the desire was for observational realism rather than 'Hollywood' fantasy.

Films that offer examples of the genre include Breathless (1960), Chronicle of a Summer (1961) and the D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don't Look Back (1967).

The film movement Dogme 95 features similar tenets.