Documentary?

I saw Africa United as part of the Nordisk Panorama documentary competition as was left slightly confused and suspicious on a number of points.

On IMDB it's listed in the genre of comedy but it is a self professed documentary. I have not seen any review or information on this film other than the general blurb provided by the filmakers, but I found this 'documentary' had a very contrived and unrealistic vibe. I felt that many of the scenes had been staged and were seemingly based around some sort of script, insomuch that the players new where each scene was heading. Of course these are actual people so there were moments of genuine reality in there, but far too few. The fact the director Ólafur Jóhannessón also took a screenplay credit would also suggest this documentary's credibility is questionable.

This is not critism per se, the film was excellantly made and was engaging, but I found myself distracted by this mis-trust, constantly analysing scenes for tell-tale acting gestures, which I found alot of. Indeed if this were to re-label itself as a mockumentary of sorts, then I would have enjoyed it a great deal more, as it is a nice uplifting story with many funny moments. It is more a question of can this be classed as a documentary.

This film is part of a new wave of artifical documentaries, such as Supersize Me, where an ideal story is thought up before production thus compromising its integrity. These filmakers have too much time and money at stake in the films success to leave it up to fate, and through clever editing and a slight bending of the truth they reach their pre-planned destinations. The director himself admits this, saying that he wanted the film to follow the 'Rocky formula' and 'making the material fit into that structure- was a big task'. Again, this is not so much a critism, but this style of documentary is not fair to those filmmakers who do use real life, and rely on their editing skills and pure luck (in capturing interesting moments) to make a good film.

Overall I left the cinema feeling like I'd been cheated, further compounded by my fellow viewers, as they were all of the opinion that it was all completely factual and honest. I have since looked into the facts surrounding this film and I still think it's not playing fair, please if anyone else has seen this film can you give me your views?