'One Day in September' is a 1999 documentary film (IMDB, 2015), directed by Kevin MacDonald, following the terrorist event at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, in which eleven Israelites were captured and later killed by Palestinian terrorists on September 5 1972. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of a documentary is "Using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject". (Oxford Dictionary, 2015) There are generally six type of documentary. (Alex Burton, 2009) Poetic documentaries, which focus on editing, style and patterns, rather than on a subject matter or people. Expository Documentaries, which speaks to the viewer, and has a deliberate agenda to persuade the viewer. Observational documentaries attempts to simply, and spontaneously, observe lived life with a little to no intervention, and usually relies on voice-over, music or reenactments. Participatory documentaries rely on the filmmaker to be part of the film, making direct contact to the subjects, and having their presence influence the film. Reflexive documentaries draw attention to the fact that they are representations and try to distance themselves from realism. Performative documentaries gives the viewer a strongly personal and subjective experience on it's subject matter. (Alex Burton, 2009) By looking at these six types of documentaries, it is clear that 'One Day in September' is an observational documentary, as it observes the 1972 event by looking back at the subject with photos, interviews, voice-over and music.
'One Day in September' has a very broad visual style of documentary storytelling. It interviews people directly involved by the event, edited with archive photos and films from the event, and uses rock music from the same era as the Munich Olympics. To add to this, there is another angle that the documentary chooses to feature, the marriage of Ankie and Andre Spitzer, Andre being one of the hostages and later victims.
